Crash Course

Our friend’s sister is getting married in a hurry, because the groom has to ship off to Iraq. They had a videographer lined up, but because they had to change the date and fast-forward everything, that fell through.

So they asked me. Yikes! I’ve videotaped two weddings, one of which qualified as a complete disaster. It’s not rocket science, but it’s not easy either, especially if you don’t know what you’re doing — like me. Sure, I know some of the technical details of how to operate video equipment, but there’s more to a good wedding video than that. And you basically have one shot to record one of the most important events in these people’s lives, so you’d better get it right.

I love weddings, but the thought of having to videotape one makes me break out in a cold sweat. But that’s beside the point, because in this case I couldn’t do it. It’s four hours away, so it would have to be an all-day affair, and I’ve got work obligations.

So…

Xy volunteered, and I just gave her a crash course in how our crappy little video camera works, and instructed her on the finer points of using our even crappier tripod, which actually broke (again) during the tutorial. It’s mended with a paper clip.

As I gave her pointer after pointer, she started to feel the pressure and began freaking out. “I can’t do this!” I laughed. Better her than me. But she’s nervous because she actually cares, which means she will likely do a halfway decent job, as opposed to someone who takes a cavalier approach and makes an unwatchable video.