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Ep. 127 - Worrying more about gear than telling your client’s story does them a disservice - Savannah Groves image

Ep. 127 - Worrying more about gear than telling your client’s story does them a disservice - Savannah Groves

E117 · Get a "Heck Yes" with Carissa Woo Wedding Photographer and Coach
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102 Plays11 months ago

Happy Woo Wednesdays!

I have Sav in the Get a HECK YES house, the girl behind the phone! She's  been filming weddings on her iPhone since 2019, and now is teaching others how to use the powerful camera they already have in their back pocket!

Sav hopes to  encourage you to start with what they have so you don’t have to have the latest and greatest of everything for your gear kit in a world of commercialism and consumerism  You are the magic behind your work, NOT your gear

Hot topic: Worrying more about gear than telling your client’s story does them a disservice.
1. A skilled filmmaker who understands light, story, composition, color etc can take even the cheapest or most outdated equipment and still work with it.
2. Storytelling will stand the test of time and will be what moves your clients to show their film to the children, grandchildren, etc, and a big part of storytelling is audio. I integrate high quality audio with my films.
3. Gear is just a tool. The meat of what matters in your work and business is how well you serve your clients, listen to and meet their needs, and give them an heirloom that will last generations.

They can get my ‘Shot on iPhone Course for beginners’ for $5 until the end of 2024! We will do code “WooPod”

Connect with Sav

https://www.agirlandherphone.com/

https://www.instagram.com/agirlandherphonevideos

You can get her ‘Shot on iPhone Course for beginners’ for $5 until the end of 2024! We will do code “WooPod”

Connect with Carissa

https://carissawoo.thrivecart.com/salesbreakthrough - Use code HECK YES

https://www.instagram.com/carissawoo

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Transcript

Introduction and Promotions

00:00:00
Speaker
Happy Woo Wednesdays everyone! I've been doing business audits for all wedding professionals for the last two weeks. It's called Heck Yes Sales Breakthrough Business Audits and for a limited time only it's only $50 with promo code
00:00:17
Speaker
Heck yes, I'll link it up in the show notes. You fill out a questionnaire. I dive deep into your business, to your Instagram and your online presence and your website, and I send you back a 45-minute video explaining what you could improve on, what you could do better, how you could get more leads and bookings, and just fresh eyeballs on your business. So it's pretty much like taking your business to the doctors. So hop on that deal. It's not going to last forever.

Guest Introduction: Savannah Groves

00:00:47
Speaker
So anyways, in episode 125, that was two episodes ago, I had my friend Vivian Hanasolshold. She's a content creator for weddings. She makes content videos and she also makes them for small businesses. So that was really cool. I just learned about that like a couple months ago and blew my mind.
00:01:09
Speaker
But today I have Savannah Groves, a girl, and her phone. And she does something completely different, but she also uses her phone. She's actually the videographer at a wedding. And yeah, she really sparked my eye because her work is incredible. Her videos bring me to tears.
00:01:27
Speaker
And of course, she got my attention because she does things differently. She uses her iPhone to capture everything. And I learned so much about how to make my iPhone videos better. And I was just so excited, like the apps that she shared and the tips and tricks and the lenses she tells us to buy, which are pretty affordable. And today's topic is, worrying more about gear than telling your client's story does them a disservice. So we're gonna hear all about that. You are going to love this episode.

Podcast Focus and Goals

00:01:55
Speaker
Enjoy.
00:02:00
Speaker
Welcome to Get a Heck Yes with Carissa Wu. I'm your host, Carissa, and I've been a Los Angeles wedding photographer for over a decade. I've traveled the world, built my team, and seen it all. I now coach wedding photographers hit 10K a month and build a thriving business. In this podcast, we are going to deep dive into how top wedding creatives get that heck yes from their dream clients. We are not holding back on the struggles of the business and how to push through the noise, some healthy hustle,
00:02:26
Speaker
mindset shifts, up-leveling your money story, time packs because I'm a mom of two, a little bit of woo-woo, and most importantly, self-love and confidence are just a few of the many things we will talk about. I want to give you a genuine thank you for following along my journey.

iPhone Videography Approach

00:02:41
Speaker
I hope to inspire you every Woo Wednesday so that you say heck yes to listening to this podcast. See you guys soon.
00:02:51
Speaker
Hey everyone, welcome back to Get a Heck Yes with your girl, Carissa Wu. I have a very special guest. I'm super excited. Her name is Savannah Groves and she goes by Sav and her Instagram is a girl and her phone video. Dude, when I saw her videos, literally like energy was popping out of her feed. She uses her iPhone to shoot weddings. She teaches others how to use her iPhone and these videos are like insane. They look better than like, I don't know, 10K cameras.
00:03:21
Speaker
Just her storytelling is insane. I literally am like buying all this up in your Amazon, like making me broke this morning.

Savannah's Background and Personal Life

00:03:29
Speaker
Hopefully you get a little commission off of that. But I just love everything about you. And I haven't been this excited about a podcast for a very long time because I do know I never talk about this subject ever.
00:03:41
Speaker
Ooh, okay, I'm excited. We can kind of sprinkle some newness for your listeners today. Yeah, I have. Well, I'm actually friends with this girl, Viv Socials, and she does like content creation too. But what you do, you guys do something so different. And yeah, we're gonna get into it. So first, just say hello to the audience and tell everyone who you are, Sav.
00:04:04
Speaker
Hello audience. My name is Savannah Groves. My friends call me Sav. Carissa, we're not friends. So you can call me Sav. I'll answer to that girl with her phone, Sav, whatever. So first and foremost, I'm a wife and a mom. I have an almost four year old little boy. And so, you know, that takes up
00:04:34
Speaker
all my time. That's the best part of my life is my boys. And then I'm also vice president of a fiber internet company. It's my family's business. So that's actually my like, you know, put the bread on the table nine to five my real job.
00:04:55
Speaker
Um, so I actually, this is like my passion, the thing I do on the side, but, um, and some people are like, how do you do that? But my dad is actually also a professional drag racer and he has always done like our phone and internet family business. So I told myself, Hey, if he can do his thing, then I can do mine.

Creative Upbringing and Filmmaking Passion

00:05:16
Speaker
And here we are. Oh, that's crazy. My head's going to like my different. I'm like, internet drag racing.
00:05:27
Speaker
We're just doing all the things we've got one life so we're just cramming we're cramming it all in our one life. Yeah, I'm actually really I'm really shocked because for a girl that has such a lit social media and to be a mom and to be 27 and to have a full-time job like that's pretty dang impressive so
00:05:47
Speaker
Thank you. Thank you. Don't look in the corners of my home. There's laundry and dishes. This box is very narrow. It just shows our pretty little faces. That's right. Yeah. It's like, listen, when you're doing something, there's always like three other things on the back burner that aren't getting taken care of. And that's just life. So we're rolling with it. Wow. I love it. So you're kind of like an early mom too. Had your kids a little early twenties.
00:06:16
Speaker
Yes. My husband and I, we got engaged not long after meeting, I think eight months after we met, got married a year after. So we were 20, 21 and 22 respectively. I think we're about to come up on our five year wedding anniversary on March 2nd. So that's pretty exciting.
00:06:35
Speaker
And then Jonas was our surprise three months after we got married. So it was very fast, very quick. We were very young. I was very stressed. I had no idea. Oh my gosh. I was not planning on becoming a mom. I always knew I wanted to be a mom, but never knew that was in the cards for me. A girl on her phone was just picking up and it was

Technology's Impact on Art

00:07:01
Speaker
crazy. And then obviously COVID hit.
00:07:04
Speaker
It was a wild ride. Interesting. We'll get to that in a sec. Let's talk a little bit about you growing up. Stop growing up. What were you like as a kid, your dad being a drag racer? That's very amazing slash scary. What was your mom like and just how did they raise you to become this amazing entrepreneur wearing different hats?
00:07:32
Speaker
Um, Sav in school, I was a theater kid, a show choir kid that still like singing and all that stuff. Still like my first love. I sing at church.
00:07:46
Speaker
and things like that. So I've got to keep that in my life. But I also would make these YouTube videos with my friends. So, you know, my friends knew if they were coming over for a sleepover, we were going to get my little camera out and I had a green screen and we would film like music videos and I would edit them on this really cheap software or on iMovie, you know, throwback kind of stuff.
00:08:17
Speaker
I just loved it. I thought it was so fun. Somehow that turned into what I'm doing now. We can talk about that a little bit, kind of that connection, but they were always my biggest supporters buying me equipment, encouraging me to put stuff out on the internet, watching every single video that I made that I look back now and I'm like, oh my gosh.
00:08:44
Speaker
It's just cringy, but we were having fun and that's all we knew. So somehow that carried over to what I'm doing now, but always very supportive. My dad, yeah, drag racing is very scary. He loves cars, so I've always grown up around cars, grown up going to races with him. I actually did drag racing for a couple of years when I was a kid.
00:09:08
Speaker
So I raised junior dragsters and I still, we still have it. Actually we're saving it for Jonas in case he wants to do it too. So yeah, but he, it is scary. He had a pretty big wreck almost two years ago.
00:09:27
Speaker
and completely destroyed his car. He's lucky to still be alive. You just never know what's going to happen. It is super dangerous, super scary, but it's so much fun. There's nothing like it. Thank the Lord. I grew up in theater as well. I did
00:09:43
Speaker
by my birdie. And I sing at church, but just in the audience. That counts. Yeah, in my front row, getting my gut on. This girl that edits for me, my video, Deanna, she does YouTube too as a kid. And I think you guys are the same generation, but she was like, yeah, like my parents, they didn't let me go out. And then because of that, I learned like how

Starting a Business with an iPhone

00:10:11
Speaker
to edit on YouTube when I made YouTube.
00:10:13
Speaker
So I was always thinking, I was like, should I like not let my kids go out of the house so that we become a part, learn all this stuff? Yeah, they can make so much money doing all of this stuff. Yeah. What did you like, what did you create as a kid? Mind you, I didn't get YouTube till like college. So your generation was like all about it. So walk me through that a little bit. Oh my.
00:10:37
Speaker
just embarrassing. Okay, so there was this style of video whenever we got our hands on cameras and YouTube accounts where it was like music videos and every line of a song, you're lip syncing to it and you're taking it very literally like what the song is saying, you have props, you're acting it out, you're doing it.
00:11:02
Speaker
We would pick the song we wanted to do, which was usually like Kesha or, oh gosh, what else? Kesha, I'm trying to think of what, Taylor Swift, all of those songs that were big back in the late 2000s, not quite the 2010s. Wow, that's dating us a little bit.
00:11:27
Speaker
It's fine. You know, so we'd go through all the lyrics and we'd storyboard, okay, for this line, this is what we're going to do. We're going to get this prop. So we would make props and we'd have costumes and we'd go around filming at different locations. I mean, this is like a multiple day production because it would stay at my house for a weekend. So some shots we'd plan for nighttime, some shots we would be like, okay, we got to wake up and do this shot in the morning. I mean, it was, it was wild. Okay. You're kind of blowing my mind. Like no offense to my other guests, but I kind of like talking to young people.
00:12:00
Speaker
Okay, I have like an interesting question because I never asked this to anyone in your generation, but what was it like maybe like growing up with so much technology and like a phone and you know, I seen it on all these documentaries like hurting people's mental health and people suicidal comparison trap. Has it affected you or what were like kind of the
00:12:27
Speaker
I don't know, the hardships that you've gone through just growing up in so much like the era of like social media and technology and YouTube and Instagram and you know, everything.
00:12:39
Speaker
Yeah I mean the thing that comes just like top of mind of what you're talking about is that I remember a time when like you couldn't be on your landline because you know someone was trying to be on the internet and things like that so I remember back then and now we are to where we are now where we have cyber internet and gigabit connection and just self-lug shameless plug.
00:13:02
Speaker
Yeah. And so it's like I've watched it go from like it's very early beginnings to what it is now. And I continue to see it just rapidly and exponentially progress increase. And I think that's

Storytelling vs. Gear Focus in Business

00:13:19
Speaker
what kind of the ethos behind my business that I kind of talked about a little bit is like trying to use what you have. Don't feel like every time something new comes out, you have to run an upgrade to it.
00:13:32
Speaker
So, I feel like in growing up in an age where everything is progressing so fast, as soon as you get something, it's on to the next, it's on to the next, televisions, cell phones, we have Nokia's and we have Blackberry's, now we have iPod touches, now we have iPhones, and it just was very much like this, you always have to have the next thing, you always have to have the upgrade, you always have to have the new color.
00:13:59
Speaker
I feel like that created in my generation this air of consumerism, extreme consumerism.
00:14:08
Speaker
And so that's what I, you know, bad timing, because I literally just upgraded all my phones to iPhone 15 for maxing. When I waited and I saved up, I just couldn't wait anymore. I was dying for that Apple prologue. But what I normally try to do when I'm being good is, you know, try to, you know, recognize what I have, realize it's a good tool. The real magic behind my art is me, not the thing that I'm using.
00:14:38
Speaker
And so I feel like it helps me to kind of take a step back and be like, I don't need that. You know, it's, it's okay. We're going to use what we have and not fall into this trap that I feel my age fall into. Yeah. Like my, I'm trying to be budget friendly, like go with my money. And like I broke the.
00:15:00
Speaker
camera part, but it still works. So it would probably cost like 200 to fix but like, works whatever, you know, and, you know, just having that mentality, oh, I gotta get the next thing next thing like it just, it could make you sick. Honestly. Oh, yeah, honestly, addicted. But that is hot topic. Let me ask you a couple more questions before that. I would say like,
00:15:27
Speaker
I guess we could jump into it. How did you start shooting weddings on iPhone? That's so crazy. Pardon this short interruption, but guess what? I have a new program. It's for all wedding professionals. It's called the Triple Threat. We redo your brand messaging, the homepage of your website. Part two is we do all your marketing.
00:15:53
Speaker
create a beautiful brochure so you could start getting on Prefer venue vendor list and we do all your sales so we actually make you a sales presentation leading your client to the heck yes so you get paid. I have a free 20 minute demo training. It's only 20 minutes. Go to my Instagram at Carissa Woo
00:16:16
Speaker
and DM me the word DEMO. I will send it right over. It's how to get 10 to 15 quality leads in your inbox per month. Enjoy guys. Krista Wu is a LA based wedding photographer who's actually turning business coach. She helped me grow and change and I'm so proud to call you coach.
00:16:39
Speaker
Tell us how you're feeling.

Dealing with Criticism and Mentorship Passion

00:16:40
Speaker
Like, I want to just know a little bit more about your thoughts. It's beautiful and you're awesome. It's beautiful. I'm speechless. I just like the fact that it feels like myself. I feel myself when I see this. Oh, man. Well, you got me pumped and excited for this. Carissa, thank you.
00:16:59
Speaker
So weird. I know. It's like, how would you, why would you? So like I said, I started on YouTube and, um, making those videos. So here I am now. I'm not doing that in high school. I'm doing theater. I'm doing show choir, not really doing anything with photo or video or anything like that. And then one of my friends gets married.
00:17:25
Speaker
And I literally have to say it's only divine revelation or intervention or inspiration because I don't know what would possess me as a bridesmaid to be like,
00:17:39
Speaker
This is my friend I love so much. She can't afford a wedding videographer. I'm going to go around with my iPhone and take some videos and use this very basic level of knowledge of iMovie that I have and put something together for her because it would be better than nothing. It has to be better than nothing. Totally.
00:17:59
Speaker
So I snuck around like a little ninja and took pictures of, or not pictures, took videos of all the stuff on my iPhone 7. Wow. So this was in 2017 just for context. The first time I ever did this, ever had the idea to do it.
00:18:15
Speaker
I send it to her while they're on their honeymoon. Obviously she loves it. She goes crazy for it. Totally unexpected. Fast forward a year. And one of the bridesmaids from that wedding is getting married. She doesn't have a videographer. We literally run into her on her way to her rehearsal dinner. So like the night before her wedding. And she just so happens to mention like, I'm running late. I'm buying these candles. I'm already regretting not hiring a videographer to like capture all of this.
00:18:43
Speaker
And I just kind of thought I'm like, well, I did this for her, like, would you be willing to let me just come? Like, I don't have gear, but I won't charge you. I won't get in the way. Would it be okay? And she's like, yeah, if you don't have anything better to do, like, of course. Yeah.
00:18:59
Speaker
So I went, that got posted on Facebook and my like personal Facebook messages just started to blow up. I had like five people message me in an hour and be like, are you doing this now? Because we need someone affordable. We need someone next week. We need this.
00:19:19
Speaker
And I looked at my husband and I was like, I may have accidentally just started something. Wow. So I made a Facebook page that night and like discovered Canva for the first time, made a little logo and slapped it up. And I literally filmed for four years straight, never took a break until
00:19:42
Speaker
like early 2023, I took I gave myself a six month break from filming and editing because I had never had a break since and that's kind of it just it was born and it was just like a catapult like it just I mean that video must have been impressive because like now looking back like I did have like my cousin take
00:20:05
Speaker
video on his phone for like my friend and stuff, but then they never really like branded themselves as it, like you are. And the quality wasn't that good. So you definitely had the eye and the talent for it. Did you, you started in 2019, right? That is whenever I went like full fledged. So like 2017, I first had the idea. Okay. For 2018, I filmed that second wedding that got posted and 2019 was like my first full wedding season, like
00:20:35
Speaker
I'm booking weddings, people are paying me for them. That was like my first full wedding season. Wow. Okay. So are you there like the entire day? Yes. Okay, cool. And then do you mind if I ask you like the price point? Oh, absolutely. Now this, this is like different now than how it used to be. I started out like a lot of people, I'll tell you now, my, my price right now is 3000. Good. Is my price.
00:21:04
Speaker
Um, when I started though, like other people, I was literally texting my friends saying, can I please come film your wedding? If you don't have a videographer, I won't charge you. I won't charge you. I just want to come. Cause some people look at my stuff and they'll be like,
00:21:20
Speaker
Well, nobody will pay me that. And it's like nobody would pay me that whenever I first started either. I probably filmed five weddings for completely free at the beginning. And you know how it is. I'm investing in gear. I'm investing in software. So I'm getting negative in the tank, trying to build this thing up to what it is now.
00:21:43
Speaker
And I mean, I even had, I even had some friends say, no, thanks. Yeah. You know, big shot to the ego. I was like, Oh, that hurts. You know what I mean? Sorry, you deny my free work. I'm like, really? Like, I thought it would be better than nothing. You really think nothing is better than me? Okay. Moving on.
00:22:07
Speaker
Um, no trauma here. It's fine. They probably are kicking themselves because it costs $3,000. They have reached out to me. They're like some of my biggest supporters now and they're like, that is my number one regret.

Importance of Story in Wedding Films

00:22:22
Speaker
is not having you there. So I'm like, it's okay. It all is what it is. Everything works out the way it's supposed to. Never any ill will towards that because I was just starting out. It's like this girl, she doesn't know what she's doing. So when I first started, I had to start charging though because then my demand got so high to the point where I was like, oh my gosh. So I charged $500 for a long time, like way too long.
00:22:47
Speaker
So it went from 500 to 800 and then you know how it goes. It's like if you still are in too high of demand, you just have to keep raising your price until you find that where your exes meet, where you're not in too much of demand and you're getting paid a fair price.
00:23:05
Speaker
Yep. And so right now 3000 for me has been that sweet spot, which in, um, I'm kind of in like two different markets. I'm in a, um, like a Southwest Missouri market and then like, uh, Kansas city, Missouri, which is a lot bigger. And for my smaller local market, I'm the top end of the range as far as price goes. And then in the Kansas city market, I'm kind of more on like the lower to middle.
00:23:30
Speaker
So also you have like your education side as well. Yes, I would have to say you have really good energy on your Instagram. Thank you. I kind of want to just I was like, Oh, I should just talk and you know, you I don't know if you just pop up on my feed. But it's like, whenever I see a video from yours is very memorable, which is very hard to do these days because it's just like scrolling, scrolling, scrolling, scrolling. So what was it like to just
00:23:58
Speaker
start talking about it because, you know, when I, I was always about the iPhone and like I worked at Apple store for like many, many years. And when cinematic, you know, came out, it changed my life. And now I'm like, be real clean. I would rather post my iPhone videos opposed to my videographer because I just take so long, you know, I can't get the footage, you know, I'm gonna have to like open up the files, look for them. So what like
00:24:28
Speaker
Encourage you to start talking about it teaching teaching others You know your for everyone mentorship and just being so passionate about this like what? What are you trying to do with? Changing the world your messages like where does it come from?
00:24:48
Speaker
I mean, honestly, it came from, I was being asked so much. I was being DM'd so many questions all the time. And I've never shied away from helping someone without compensation or whatever. Also, if someone asked me questions in the DMs, I'm not like, y'all answer if you pay me 500 bucks. You know what I mean? Yeah, I like that too. It just got to a point where like,
00:25:15
Speaker
I was answering questions and I had over a handful of times where people were like, I want more. Do you offer a mentorship? And after that happened over a course of like a little over two years and happening over and over, I was like, I think this is something I'm going to have to do because I think there's a high enough demand for it.
00:25:39
Speaker
felt very unqualified to do it, first of all. Second of all, I feel like our market, our wedding market is being so saturated with education. I did not just want to be another person out there putting out a course, doing this, doing that. So I was very hesitant to do it.
00:25:59
Speaker
Um, cause I feel like our market's so saturated. Anything I do, I want to know that I am providing so much value with whatever I'm doing and that there's a high demand. And so luckily I took the jump with the for everyone mentorship program. Actually I, I got a mentor or like a mentee. I got a mentee before I launched it just to kind of test the waters and see fell in love.
00:26:26
Speaker
fell in love with being a mentor. And it really is just like, it's different than just answering questions in the need. Like it's way more personal and way more in depth. And like, my style is very much nothing's off the table. Let's talk about everything. And it's all face to face and hands on. And I just, that's probably been my favorite part of a girl on her phone so far is the education. Wow.
00:26:52
Speaker
So you're lucky. It's like you're kind of in the league of your own. So when someone does hear about your story, it's very newsworthy, I would say.

iPhone Advantages in Videography

00:27:05
Speaker
I know content creators are coming up, but it's different to be like the sole videographer at a wedding with your iPhone. And I'm sure during Hot Topic it's going to come up, but I think people are dying to know like the benefits of
00:27:17
Speaker
Choosing someone that uses just her iPhone versus someone that's investing, you know, has these 10, 20K cameras, Sony's, whatever, but we'll get into it. So tell me your hot topic and we'll just hop into three tips. My hot topic is worrying more about gear than telling your client's story does them a disservice. All right. What does that mean, girly girl?
00:27:46
Speaker
So what that means to me is I never even knew, let me give a little backstory to my hot topic. I never even knew this was a topic, an issue, anything like that, until I actually started sharing more in around April of 2023 on Instagram, kind of really honing in about, you know, I am a girl who films weddings, who uses her iPhone. It used to just be, I would post my wedding films and my name was a girl on her phone and draw the conclusion if you want.
00:28:15
Speaker
I really started to drive home the fact that I'm doing this on my iPhone and that's cool, that's okay. And other filmmakers were very quick to tell me that's not okay. I got a lot of hate on the internet for probably six months. It was a very bad time. Really? Yes.
00:28:40
Speaker
I realized after talking with people and my clients, I was making my clients happy and things like that. That's whenever I realized there are people out there who care more about
00:28:52
Speaker
their gear than like the art side of it or telling their story on their wedding day or their couples love story and things like that. And I think, I don't want to say that's what sets me apart because there are so many filmmakers out there. I would say more good than bad that care more about the story than anything else. And that's how it should be. So what that means to me is like,
00:29:18
Speaker
You know, your clients aren't hiring you for the camera you're using, they're hiring you for you.
00:29:27
Speaker
the way that you tell a story, the way that you, you know, your energy on a wedding day, kind of like what you're saying, like, you like my energy online, my clients like my energy for their wedding day, you know, it's things like that. That's so important. Because this person, your photographer, your videographer are going to be with you all day long. You really need to like them. Yeah, or it's gonna be like awkward.
00:29:53
Speaker
Yes. Yeah. Me as a wedding vendor, I'm a very strong, in my opinion, I'm a very strong wedding vendor. I'm vocal. I'm excited. I'm organized. I'm there. I'm just like what it takes to be a good wedding vendor on the day. I'm down for anything, down to do anything, kind of gal.
00:30:17
Speaker
So something that I don't do though is just because I use an iPhone doesn't mean that I don't invest in certain areas of my craft. That doesn't mean that I don't invest in education that other filmmakers who you, Sony, are investing in.
00:30:37
Speaker
That doesn't mean that I don't shoot and log and that I don't understand shooting in manual. I do shoot in manual on my phone. I do shoot and log. I'm doing all these things. I understand color. I understand lighting. I understand composition. I understand all of these things.
00:30:55
Speaker
I think it's important to note that I'm not just like, well, I shoot on an iPhone, so let's just point it and see what happens. Interesting. So I would say that's like my big tip is that a skilled filmmaker who understands those things can take a cheaper or outdated model piece of equipment and they can still make something happen with it.
00:31:18
Speaker
Yeah, and I feel like iPhone is less intrusive. I'm not going to name names. I don't know what they're called. But I was at this wedding, and I kid you not, they had 20 videographers there in every corner. And they were running around in circles. I couldn't even get a clean shot without a man being in there. And I'm sure the video is amazing. But it's very, like, what's the word? I would say annoying.
00:31:48
Speaker
Um, I wouldn't even think the couple would know all these people. They're not like uncles. I have 20 uncles that are videographers. Can you imagine? It's like, no, it's like the one time that you would say like, Oh no, my uncle's doing the video and it might actually, you know, it's not just an iPad that they're showing up.

Tools and Editing Process

00:32:09
Speaker
My second tutor is like the nicest person in the world. He was like, I'm going to like sock this guy, like I love bait.
00:32:16
Speaker
So many benefits of, you know, you there maybe like less intrusive, like you're like, they're cheerleader, you're hype girl, you're very professional, you're getting the shot, but you're not like you don't have this big old screen in the face. And also people are very introverted. And sometimes it could be like intimidating with all this crazy gear and like
00:32:35
Speaker
people changing it out and then it takes forever. Like they have to take all these breaks and like, you know, with the crazy 20 pounds on their back and they get like totally burnt out and they have to sit for the whole like beginning of the reception, you know? So there's a lot of benefits.
00:32:51
Speaker
It's fun. I don't know if you're familiar with Runaway Vows. They are big in the wedding video community and they hosted a luxury wedding filmmaker workshop in Utah this past October and a girl on her phone showed up and it was wild.
00:33:08
Speaker
But it was so fun to see everybody like balancing their huge Ronin's with their big cameras. And then there was me with my handheld rig and my phone. I'm just standing there like, I'm ready. Are you guys ready? Let's go shoot. Like, what are you guys waiting for? Come on. Let's go. My bag feels great. I could do like a jumping jack right now and you got like a top on one leg. I know. So like, wait, like I'm running, I'm zooming, I'm, hoo-hoo, I'm here, I'm there, I'm everywhere. Yeah, good point. Yeah, good point.
00:33:38
Speaker
What is your favorite storytelling technique or tip or something you learned for the past four or five years? I want to think more about this, but just incorporating audio to me is like... But honestly, a couple of the things that come to mind is who is important to the couple?
00:34:05
Speaker
you know, not just focusing on getting pretty shots of the couple, but who's important to them. How can you get audio, something that they're going to cherish for a lifetime from their wedding film? So what is the photographer not shooting?
00:34:22
Speaker
Maybe focusing on that, giving your couple the biggest overall remembrance of their wedding day and a way to do that is maybe to not film everything the photographer's getting. Maybe give them a different perspective of what might have been going on in that moment, for example. Interesting. Yeah, a different perspective. Do you share your album after the wedding? And do they get all the footage right away?
00:34:52
Speaker
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00:35:18
Speaker
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00:35:37
Speaker
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Capturing Meaningful Moments

00:35:47
Speaker
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00:35:50
Speaker
by giving you back hours in your day. Find what success looks like for you with 17 hats. Get started for free at 17hats.com and use my code, heck yes. And it's gonna give you guys a 50% off your first annual membership. How amazing is that? Back to the show. So I do offer raw footage as like an add-on.
00:36:17
Speaker
But pretty much all the footage goes home with me and gets my solid state drive and then it, and then we start editing. Yeah, that makes sense. So different from like content creators. I was going to ask like, what tools should someone use today? They could be most of the people listening to our wedding professionals, but is there like a lens they should purchase and why? And just make people spend money right now.
00:36:46
Speaker
Oh, I got this. The best thing you can spend your money on, two things. Like the two things that, if I could only pick two things and I could only film weddings with these things, these would be the things. A BeastGrip Pro Rig, two different brands here. So this is my favorite. This is the BeastGrip Pro Universal Rig.
00:37:11
Speaker
What it's going to do is it's going to give you the feeling of a handheld camera. So a little bit extra stability. So I'm going to show you how it pops in. Literally just like that. Scott finger grips for extra stability. You can get beast grip lenses so you can like move this part over or you can use like moment lenses.
00:37:38
Speaker
like what I use, the Moment 58 millimeter. It's beautiful for portraits. I mean, it's my go-to lens. It's gonna offer about like a 2x zoom over your wide lens on your iPhone. It's gonna create beautiful depth of field, beautiful colors. It captures light beautifully. It just like takes your iPhone camera just to the next level. And it's only like 110 bucks, right?
00:38:06
Speaker
It's yeah, something like that. There's always sales going on. Another alternative, which is also Moment Brand.
00:38:12
Speaker
is this rig. It's way sleeker. I actually like the added stability on the beast grip, but if you were looking for something sleeker, like I know my content creation girlies love this. My mentees that are local, I will actually just like give them this to try it. They're like, it's a game changer. Interesting. Yeah. Sometimes the hands get shaky. So I could imagine. Oh yeah. That's really easy.
00:38:38
Speaker
It just attaches with the magnet for the mag safe. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And another thing I love about it is that you can kind of double it as a tripod. Oh, crazy. Yeah. It'll stand up on its own on either like vertical or horizontal video. And the same thing goes for the B script. Wow. So what do you edit on now for weddings?
00:39:03
Speaker
Um, I have always been, well, I guess not the first one. The first one I was iMovie like I talked about, but final cut pro girly through and through. Nice. Nice. Nice. Nice. Would you say like, also it's easier to edit from the iPhone photos as opposed to, or would it be the same? Oh, I would, I would not edit on an iPhone. I could not. Okay.
00:39:30
Speaker
I will make, I'll make little things like for social cap cut if they're like little things, but what always got to be on the computer. Okay. Got it. Got it. Got it. What is your best? Get a heck yes. Sales technique. Since you're on, get a heck yes.
00:39:47
Speaker
Um, I would say let the couple talk about themselves and make the couple talk about their wedding film or their wedding photos or like whatever profession you're in. So like a question I will ask my clients that really tells me a lot.
00:40:06
Speaker
if we're going to be a good fit to work together is on your one year anniversary. I'm like really summing this down. I make it like a whole big question. I really lead up to it. But the basic of the question is it's your one year anniversary. What do you want to see in your wedding film? Okay.
00:40:23
Speaker
I love that. Let them talk about that. Then they talk about their grandma who just got diagnosed with cancer. It would be really important for them to see her, to hear her voice, maybe do an interview with her because maybe she won't make it to Christmas or whatever. There's a lot of really
00:40:41
Speaker
deep parts to being a part of capturing a wedding, like a lot of bittersweet things. There's always, there's always like tension, parents are divorced. There's always someone just got diagnosed with cancer or the mom died when they were a kid or something. There's always some element of like heaviness on a wedding day. But I think that's important that we like can, can capture that in a way that, you know, it, it makes their wedding day a full, real,
00:41:10
Speaker
day that they can relive. I don't know if that's the way that I'm saying it. It's not all just like pretty sparkles. Yeah, it goes deeper. I love that question of what would you like to see on your anniversary? I never heard that one before. Oh, cool. Well, I probably didn't come up with it. Maybe I did. Maybe I came up with it somewhere. We'll just put a little TM next to that. Yeah, yeah. No, it's so powerful.
00:41:38
Speaker
it seems like you really go deep in the story, storytelling. Yeah, we're getting up to five minutes left. So I just wanted to see if you have any other words for Hot Topic and then I'll go into rapid fire questions. Oh, okay, fine. I guess like just to end on any kind of no
00:41:59
Speaker
If you feel like somewhere deep in the deepest part, the deepest pit of your soul that you want to make something, I don't care what it is.

Audio Importance and Creative Path Advice

00:42:07
Speaker
If it's iPhone films, if it's photos, if it's paper mache, I don't care what it is, start doing it.
00:42:14
Speaker
and use what you have and that can either be your end all be all tool like it was for me like I'm an iPhone filmmaker through and through it could also be the stepping stone that gets you to the gear or the tools that you want to use to make the art you want to use. No matter what tools you're using don't let anybody discourage you from making the art that you're proud to make the kind of art that you want to make
00:42:37
Speaker
Truly, everybody has their own seat at the table. You are worthy of your seat. If they are not giving you a seat, pull one up to the table and make people let you sit there. Girls preach. This is awesome. I love that. That was very motivational. On Sunday, I went to my uncle's Lunar New Year party, and it was just so special. I really appreciate all the auntie and uncle's being there.
00:43:06
Speaker
you know, they're not going to be around like forever. And I just took some footage of like the lion dancing, like the sushi, the food, the kids, the pinata. And I was just like smiling ear to ear, like when I was editing in the bath bath, like, and I put like the crazy rich Asian song on and it was just like
00:43:26
Speaker
such a beautiful memory. And it doesn't fit my brand at all. I talk about sales and branding, but it was just so special to me and the way that I captured it. And I sent the video to my uncle and the whole family. So it's so beautiful what you could capture on your phone and edit. I think I just edited it in Instagram.
00:43:52
Speaker
Yeah, it doesn't matter. You will always look back on that with fondness and you will always be glad. I'm so glad that I took a couple of shots of that and you will always look back and remember that nicely. I have one quick thing I want to say to encourage couples if that's really quick. For sure. Anybody listening that's getting married and is self-conscious about hearing their voice
00:44:14
Speaker
I just want to say like, or you don't think you want audio in your wedding film because you watch someone else's wedding film and you didn't like that they were reading their vows or whatever. It's all of that. You, you need to have audio in your wedding film. I promise you because
00:44:30
Speaker
God forbid things happen in life. When something happens to the people we love, one of the things you're going to start looking for, for example, are voicemails. Oh, shoot. You're going to start looking for anything where you can capture their essence again. Wow.
00:44:48
Speaker
And if you can have something like a wedding film where you're all dressed up, you look the best you've ever looked in your life, hear their voice, have them present, I promise you, you will not regret having that. You can only do it once. It could be your grandma, it could be your partner. I mean, I'm just saying, God forbid, but I just implore, I just beg people. I'm like, I don't care if you hire me, hire someone and have them do it because
00:45:17
Speaker
you will not regret it because things happen and like you need to capture these people while you have them. Wow. You just got really deep. That was really, really deep. I did not even think about that. I just, I see on Facebook people saying, Oh, do you have any photos of my mom? You can send me or anything that you could just give us. Like you're just holding onto those voice messages, those audio bites, those sound bites.
00:45:44
Speaker
Yeah. Get audio for your wedding. For sure. Okay. Rapid fire questions. Um, your mom of two boys, right? Nope. Just one. Okay. One boy. This one's four years old. Um, what is your biggest like mom time hack? Ooh. Mom time hack. Oh my gosh. You said rapid fire.
00:46:07
Speaker
Oh, I'm not good at this. I'm not good at spending my time. I'm a good hat. Just put the phone away. It's so hard. Just put the phone down and just look at your kid and smile at them and just soak them in. I'm so bad at that, but trying to be better. Yes, yes, yes, yes. That's the best answer for what we're talking about. The iPhone. Put the phone down.
00:46:36
Speaker
Okay, what is your favorite iPhone app?
00:46:42
Speaker
Ooh, one that's not obvious, like Filmic Pro or something that I use all the time, Dazcam. I tell everyone, you don't have to be an iPhone filmmaker. Dazcam, you can take vintage-looking photos and videos on it. I have heard from multiple of my friends who use real vintage cameras that it almost perfectly emulates the film cameras that you will spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on. Get Dazcam, it's so fun. Okay, bye, Steph. I'm like, I'm downloading right now.
00:47:11
Speaker
Maybe a couple bucks a month if you want the premium. It's so worth it. Oh my god. So excited. I'm all about that. Let's see. You're pretty, you know, you're hustler. Where do you see your business? And then that's like, I don't know, two years like growth wise. Oh, I hope I just like continue to add, like,
00:47:37
Speaker
like iPhones and positive experiences for my couple before their wedding day, on their wedding day, after their wedding day. But more than anything, as like I'm a mom, like wanting to grow my family is I just want to continue to achieve a balance that works for me, works for my family as I continue to like, hopefully add members to the family that a girl on her phone is something that can sustain through those changes. And something that can, you know, grow with our family.
00:48:07
Speaker
you know, we can find that balance. Yeah, you're old soul. You're already talking like a 40 girl. I already had hip reconstruction. So I feel like Oh my god. Okay. This is the last question. But I would say like it's a
00:48:28
Speaker
tiered question. But what do you see for like the industry, the wedding industry, as a whole, because I feel like a lot of people are struggling with leads, and maybe it's like your generation that's going to take over the world. But like, where do you see it going? And maybe like any advice for someone just struggling to get leads or to make ends meet or to be inventive? What would you say to them to like get them out of their funk? Oh, I mean,
00:48:53
Speaker
I almost feel like weird giving someone that advice because I haven't personally been in that position. I've never been in like a do or die situation to where like my art feeds me. So I almost like I'm way more privileged than I deserve to be able to just do my art on my time, you know, anything. But that's good advice because you have like, you know, something else up your sleeve too.
00:49:21
Speaker
Honestly, I don't want to sit here and be like, you just got to hustle, you got to work with that because truly, my art isn't the thing that feeds me. There are so many people that their art is their full-time job. I don't feel qualified to give a word on that. I would just say a word of encouragement.
00:49:42
Speaker
you're doing the dang thing, go back to the first day whenever you like took a chance on yourself and like quit that job or you decided this was gonna be your full time and just remember that fire you had and just there's gonna be hard days and hard seasons but you will always come out of it.

Closing Remarks and Engagement Encouragement

00:49:58
Speaker
Oh, I love that. That was great. Tell everyone where to find you and about your $5 things that you're giving us with a code. So yeah, you're hooking us up.
00:50:09
Speaker
Yes, I am a girl on her phone, videos, Instagram and TikTok. Those are like the coolest places you can find me. You can watch all of my films on YouTube. And then yes, I have a $10 course. It's like a bare bones beginner basics shot on iPhone course I taught in person. I recorded it. It was like lecture style at a studio.
00:50:38
Speaker
and it was ten dollars to get a ticket to that so i made it ten dollars to buy the recording so it's already affordable but just to do a little something
00:50:49
Speaker
that I have not done. I've never offered a discount code or anything for this. But we're going to do, I think, code WOOPOD. And instead of $10, you can get it 50% off for $5 until 2024 is over. So you have all the time. It's 30 minutes. It'll be five bucks. I mean, who doesn't have 30 minutes and five bucks at some point during the year. And it covers all of the gear I use. There's a question and answer session at the end.
00:51:17
Speaker
Um, it's just, it's jam packed. Yay. Thank you for that. I really appreciate it. All right. A girl and her phone video. Good job.
00:51:31
Speaker
Thanks for joining me this week on Get a Heck Yes with Carissa Wu. Make sure to follow, subscribe, leave a review, or tell a friend about the show. Take a screenshot and post to IG. Tag me! Also, don't forget to download my free guide on how to become a lead generating machine. See you next time, wedding pros!