Harbour City Films

Taronga Centre's 2011 Bridal Showcase!!

2011-03-10T15:13:00.000-08:00

You may of heard of Taronga Zoo - but did you know that it has its own wedding service and reception area? That's right, neighbouring is Taronga Centre.

Exquisitely positioned where you get the chance to view the famous Sydney Skyline and Harbour views. The dining is impeccable and with its great wedding services. Many grooms and brides have enjoyed Taronga's blend of beauty, fun and even the chance for you to meet some of its cute, cuddly friends!

To see an example of our videography for Taronga Centre - go to Jeff and Diana's Wedding

BLESS THE BRIDE WAS A SUCCESS!!!!

2011-02-27T15:37:00.000-08:00

It was an awesome moment. The Hills Centre, in Castle Hill, had a huge line-up of potential brides, their parents, bridesmaids, friends and were serenaded by Jeremy on the violin.

Opening at 10am and there was a great response. The first 200 entrants received a free gift bag with a number of goodies, one of which was Harbour City Films' cuddly teddy bears and chocolates!!!!

This year was Bless the Bride's 10th Anniversary, and it was highly celebrated in style. With fashion shows, competitions, and huge choice for brides - from designers, entertainment, hospitality, function rooms, photography and stationary, it was a bridal dream!!

We had a wonderful number of brides interested - and those who spoke to us, received a very, very, special offer.

Diary: BLESS THE BRIDE EXPO!!!! - Sunday 27th Feb - DON'T MISS OUT!!!

2011-02-25T06:10:00.000-08:00

You have heard it from us! With all the interest of weddings this year - we have been very fortunate to be apart of one of Sydney's amazing bridal expos - BLESS THE BRIDE at the Hills Centre, Castle Hill.

As you enter, we will happily greet you! And, if you are one of the first 200 people to enter, you will receive a wonderful showbag of goodies and a very special offer from us.

So, don't delay!!!

BLESS THE BRIDE
THE HILLS CENTRE, Castle Hill (Carrington Road)
SUNDAY 27th of February, 2011
10am - 5pm
Cost: General Public ($10), Pensioners ($8), Children under twelve (free)

Call: (612) 9899 7055

Feel free to come by and seek any questions.

Make a booking with us on Sunday and receive a very special offer!!!! - Mention "special offer".

February 14th: St. Valentine's Day Week at Castle Towers!!!

2011-02-25T05:18:00.000-08:00

What a great week it was! Starting on St. Valentine's Day, Harbour City Films was drawing a lot of attention with their model couple dressed as bride and groom, handing out teddies, chocolates and, of course, roses!!!

It was a great buzz for many interested couples. Some of our videographers were there, happy to answer questions, help with enquiries and assisted in displaying samples of our work!

The whole week had a great number of interested people, and we are happy to say, Castle Hill's Castle Towers really provided us a wonderful welcome.

February 2nd: Annual Bridal Showcase Middle Harbour Yacht Club

2011-02-25T05:02:00.000-08:00

On February 2nd of 2011 - we had a great night displaying our gear on the Upperdeck at the Middle Harbour Yacht Club. A collaboration of bridal services stunningly presented many choices as couples walked in to learn about each case.

Harbour City Films gladly provided answers to many new brides and many were spoilt by our treats.

A New Horizon - A New Chapter for Harbour City Films!

2011-02-23T03:43:00.000-08:00

It's 2011 and you may be wondering if we have forgotten about this blog site - no, we haven't! Rather, a lot of new things have come!

Harbour City Films continues its wonderful videography ethos of providing natural, beautiful and candid (aka unobtrusive) videography for wedding couples and presenting them in a splendid manner.

Meet Jay Finocchiaro, the new owner and director of Harbour City Films. Jay holds a Diploma of Film from Sydney Films School and has professionally worked in the entertainment industry since 1991. He has worked with a number of award-winning professionals in the realms of festivals, theatre, films and events and happily expands his knowledge and experience, bringing onto the team a number of highly experienced professionals.

Since January, of 2011 - Harbour City Films has had a continual growth of weddings. With our ever-expanding team, we have been able to proudly provide the following:

Accept wedding videography requests within a week's notice
Provide our service to more than one wedding on the same day
Allow more couples to use our service

We are also becoming more aware that people should know more of our presence. Harbour City Films is becoming more and more popular and recently have made its presence known at some popular bridal expos. To find out where we are going to, next, watch this space!

A Photo Shoot with Shane O'Neill from O'neill Photographics

2010-03-24T21:40:00.000-07:00

We LOVE filming weddings with Shane O'Neill from www.oneillphotographics.com.au and this is why... (Harbour City Films is launching a new website with Full HD video online including footage from our Canon 5D cameras shortly... In the mean time please bear with this lower quality)

Blu Ray Wedding Videos

2010-03-22T20:26:00.001-07:00

Harbour City Films is one of a handful of Sydney Wedding Videographers who offer wedding videos in the Blu Ray format. Weddings are always filmed in widescreen High Definition and can be output on standard DVD or Blu Ray, the choice is yours. Please ask us about our Blu Ray packages today.

Wedding Video Awards

2010-03-22T20:01:00.001-07:00

Harbour City Films has achieved several awards for outstanding wedding videography in the past 4 years. We are often asked by couples if we have any awards so perhaps it is time to share with you our Australian achievements...

NSW 2009 ABIA Awards - Video Production - Finalist
NSW 2008 ABIA Awards - Video Production - Finalist
NSW 2007 ABIA Awards - Video Production - Finalist

These are Bridal Industry awards, where nominations are by previous couples who rate us as one of their favourite wedding suppliers. I am extremely proud of these achievements as being a boutique studio we are competing against larger wedding video businesses that have a greater pool of clients to vote for them.

Harbour City Films will continue our drive in 2010 to achieve ever more stunning weddings videos with the addition of our Canon 5D 35ml cameras & lenses. They will be the same candid and natural wedding videos with the new generation stunning image quality.

What else to look for in a wedding videographer

2009-12-08T15:30:00.000-08:00

Here are some additional attributes of a wedding videographer that we beleive are essential to ensure the best wedding video possible of your day.

1)Effort & Energy – Feature Film length wedding videos are at their best when the 2 to 3 hours of footage included in the film, is a condensed version of all footage captured rather than being the original 3 hours of video filmed by your videographer. The more raw footage that is captured on the day the better, as the content of the film then becomes a highlights of special moments and subplot storylines, rather than a tedious documentary of every second filmed by your videographer. It stands to reason then, that your videographer should display a keenness for inputting plenty of effort and energy on the day and this is probably reflected in their manner during the meeting and booking process.

2)Physical fitness – Unlimited filming on your wedding day requires stamina, and to make that footage creative and interesting requires even more. Peak physical fitness is essential to maintaining drive and effort to be constantly altering angles and proactively seeking out new moments to capture. The aura of a wedding comes not just from the main action on the bride and groom, but is created by guests, passers by, scenery, tiny details and more… To capture all these elements during every scene on your wedding day is essential to a high quality wedding video, so your videographer should look capable of endurance.

3)Creative agility - the ability to think creatively for up to 12 hours continuously is only part of the job for a wedding videographer. The videographer must also consider technical components - lighting, framing, colour, focus, depth of field, frame rates and audio quality. A good wedding videographer will focus strongly on content – constantly seeking out candid moments to capture that have high interest value. Once these moments are caught, the videographer considers what other shots are required to accurately recreate that scene on film including detail, scenery, close up shots etc to frame the moment during editing. The videographer then must consider shot variety and style to assist in the finished DVD’s interest factor. In essence, your videographer needs to consider multiple concepts simultaneously if you are to receive an interesting high quality wedding video.

These are the concepts Harbour City Films adheres to for capturing the highest quality candid wedding videos possible.

Wedding Video Testimonials

2009-12-02T15:00:00.000-08:00

I am always so engrossed in filming and editing weddings that I forget to update the website and this blog regularly. It has been a while since I shared some recent wedding testimonials with you so here are a few I've dug out of my inbox this week during its monthly spring clean!

Hi Rachael
Just wanted to extend my huge thanks to you.
We have viewed your dvd a number of times now and just love the footage. Such wonderful memories to reflect on.
Thank you!!
Warm regards
Lucy Connolly (Bouloux)
Ceremony only package

Hi Rachael,
Hope you are well!
Just wanted to say a big thank you – we loved the video!
Nicole Feggans - Womans Day Magazine

Hi Rachael

I just realised as I read your email that we got so carried away enjoying our the DVD’s that we totally forgot to get back to you about them! Rachael, I cannot begin to tell you how blown away we were by the magnificent finished product that you so delicately put together. I can’t even imagine how much work has gone into those DVD’s but from the bottom of my heart I want to thank you so very much for all your efforts. You are so talented.

The DVD’s have been watched by everyone a few times through now so you can imagine all the laughter and tears that have ensued ;) I can’t help thinking how long a day that must have been for you and yet the finished product comes out looking like such a tireless, effortless work of art.

Terri Dobinson

Hi Rachael,

The highlights DVD is amazing!!! I was literally blown away by the whole thing - I absolutely love it!!

I was out on friday night so I didn't get to watch it until saturday. I ended up watching it 5 times - i just can't get enough of it. The angles you have captured are amazing, combined with the music and the way you have included snippets of the speeches, its just incredible. It had my mum in tears within the first 10 seconds. Plus i totally forgot that dom said "a beautiful day, a beautiful bride" - i love how you captured that moment. Makes my heart melt.

I just can't fault it at all - you make us look like movie stars!! Its well worth every penny. I can't wait to show it off to everyone.

We haven't watched the whole feature film yet, but of what we have seen that looks like quality viewing too.

Thank you again for being a part of our day. You were so easy to work with.

Alison & Dominic Ivory

I wont bore you with any more wedding video testimonials but I have heaps here and I love receiving them! It's part of the enjoyment of this amazing job in beautiful Sydney.

Pre-Wedding Photo Shoot at Lavender Bay

2009-10-22T16:28:00.000-07:00

As seen at Sydney Football Stadium Monday 5th October 2009

2009-10-07T00:40:00.000-07:00

Harbour City Films was recently asked to be involved in Football United - a program that supports refugee children settle into Australian life through soccer. When children arrive from war torn countries or from refugee camps overseas, Australian culture is very foreign to them. The process of learning about their new environment is very stressful as they are not just navigating Australian culture, but the cultures of other ethnicities within the communities they settle in. Football United provides these kids with a stable and peaceful environment in which they can play the game they love, have a release from everyday pressures, and importantly, meet new friends in similar situations to themselves. Football United is a haven for refugee children to start to integrate into Australian life.

On Monday 5th October 2009, this video was played at the Sydney Football Stadium, in support of Football United and the international recognition received recently from FIFA. The program has been invited as one of only 32 teams worldwide to attend the FIFA Football for Hope tournament held during the last week of the 2010 world cup in South Africa. This is a huge achievement for Australia, as we will now have two teams representing our country at the 2010 world cup in Johannesburg. Harbour City Films was asked to capture the spirit of these refugee kids with the completely candid filming style we utilise at weddings, and we are delighted with the results. I have been inundated with possitive feedback since Monday's match, so thank you to everyone who forwarded their wellwishes and also thank you very much to Alex Zar without whom this video would not be possible. I hope you enjoy the video and for more information about how you can be involved in Football United, please do not hesitate to send me an email.

Video can also be seen at http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=63943328

World Cup 2010 - Australia's 2nd team

Free Wedding DVD

2009-08-23T23:25:00.001-07:00

Harbour City Films Wedding Videography is all about making your wedding experience the best it can be. Upload a free DVD copy coupon for more value in your wedding video package today.

http://maps.google.com/coupons/page?oi=lbc&did=0_14577862779962666212&cid=N1YWU1MDU72O35WL&hl=en-US&gl=US

Hindu Wedding Video

2009-08-16T22:46:00.000-07:00

Indian weddings are a favourite of ours to film and edit as they're just so colourful and festive (with yummy food!). Here is a short sample of a fusion Hindu ceremony... hope you enjoy. Please see below for more information on wedding video packages or call Rachael on 0401 093 230. We are happy to offer the flexibility to stretch packages across two days to take in Henna Night festivities as well.

Hindu Wedding Video from Rachael Hastie on Vimeo.

Harbour City Films: Pre Wedding Shoot#links

2009-08-12T21:12:00.000-07:00

Harbour City Films: Pre Wedding Shoot#links

New Website coming soon...

2009-08-08T21:52:00.001-07:00

Harbour City Films is getting a makeover! In the mean time please see our latest packages below. All Packages include unlimited venues - Bride & Groom’s homes, ceremony, tea ceremonies, photos & reception, henna nights (Whatever fits in the time).

... and dont forget, for two weeks only we are giving away FREE pre wedding shoots - so get your bridal party together for a pre wedding day of filming fun! Create a Save-the-Date video uploaded online, or a video invitation or even a film skit to play at your wedding reception. Its a fantastic day of filming fun, a great way for your bridal party to get into the spirit of your upcoming wedding and an excellent hens or bucks activity. So make an appointment to come and discuss ideas for your very own film clip today. We cant wait to have some fun with you.

Wedding Video Packages

2009-08-08T21:38:00.000-07:00

RUBY PACKAGE

FILMING - 6 hours single camera Wedding Day coverage

EDITING - All original video and audio on DVD (or hard drive) - Fully interactive motion menus, scene selection, laser disc imprinting etc… PLUS.. All Mini DV master tapes in HDV (video negatives)

BRONZE PACKAGE

FILMING - 8 hours single camera Wedding Day coverage

EDITING - Comprehensive Documentary DVD - A comprehensively edited full length wedding video with all original audio from the day. The production is beautifully finished with a mini highlights set to your choice of music. DVD includes fully interactive motion menus with scene selection, custom photo quality casing & personalized titles and credits.

SILVER PACKAGE

FILMING - 8 hours single camera Wedding Day coverage

EDITING - Highlights DVD (10-15 minutes) (See Demo DVD for samples) PLUS.. All original Video and Audio on DVD - Fully interactive motion menus, scene selection, laser disc imprinting etc…

GOLD PACKAGE

FILMING - 8 hours single camera Wedding Day coverage

EDITING - Highlights DVD (15 minutes) (See Demo DVD for samples)PLUS.. Comprehensive Documentary DVD - A comprehensively edited full length wedding video with all original audio from the day. The DVD includes motion menus with scene selection plus custom photo quality casing with personalized titles and credits.

DIAMOND PACKAGE

FILMING - 8 hours Wedding Day Coverage
- 2nd camera from ceremony onwards
- 3rd camera operating at ceremony and during speeches
- Steadycam mounting for gliding cinematic footage

EDITING - Highlights DVD (15-20 minutes) (See Demo DVD for samples)PLUS..
Feature Film DVD - The Feature Film is exclusive to Harbour City Films. It is the most extensively edited full length wedding video available in Sydney. Maximising every shot, every moment and every emotion, the Feature Film is a beautifully paced, professionally structured movie that follows the events of the day as they happen chronologically. Full natural audio is retained for both ceremony and speeches with your own chosen soundtrack enhancing video and audio during the scenes between. The film is beautifully completed with an emotive recap of the day set to personalised credits. With other little surprises, the Feature Film is no ordinary Wedding Video. We guarantee no boring bits! DVD’s contain custom titles, motion menus, scene selection and DVD extras. They are laser imprinted with custom title
& images and encased in professional grade photo quality covers.

Pre Wedding Shoot

2009-08-08T21:31:00.000-07:00

Pre Wedding Shoots are all the rage at the moment and we have a range of packages to suit all fun minded couples. From online Save-the-Date videos to Video Invitations and Reception Video entertainment, Harbour City Films has a huge repertoire of ideas to create exactly the type of pre-wedding film that will have you and your guests smiling. Here is a simple pre wedding shoot with Jay from Photos by Jay www.photosbyjay.com.au. Pre Wedding Shoots are free with every package from Bronze ($1800) or above for the next two weeks - including uploading the clip online - so book your wedding video with us right now!

Salvatore Coco MC in action

2009-05-20T20:33:00.000-07:00

Egyptian Wedding

2008-03-06T18:41:00.000-08:00

NAME: Julia & George Wahbah

CEREMONY: Saint Anthony's, Guildford

PHOTOS: Bradley's Head, Mosman

RECEPTION: Main Event Function Centre, Blacktown

Sri Lankan Wedding

2008-03-06T15:38:00.000-08:00

NAME: Rosh & Nosh Navendra
CEREMONY: St Paul's Anglican Church, Burwood

PHOTOS: Pier 9
RECEPTION: Daltone House, Pyrmont

IMAGES: Harbour City Films Wedding Videography (direct from footage)

Rosh and Nosh were a videographers dream. A stunning couple, full of personality and fun, there were so many moments to capture on their wedding day that pulling the highlights together involved some very tough choices. The vivid contrasts in colour were stunning, and so was the bride in both her traditional white wedding dress and the stunning golden sari debuted during their wedding reception.

To Rosh and Nosh I thank them for the fantastic memories I will never forget, of their rather elderly Minister, who found place during the service to enquire about living arrangements. The astonished admiration on his face, at securing a "roof over their heads" in seemingly unattainable Pyrmont, is a scene I will always remember. A 350 strong congregation in uproarous laughter is quite an atmosphere, and paints a perfect picture of how the rest of the wedding day transcribed. The fun and energy that Rosh and Nosh created around them, stands out as one of the most memorable and enjoyable weddings I have been priviledged to capture.

Rachael Hastie

Oops too busy

2008-01-16T14:43:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to everyone. It has been a busy Christmas/New Year period for us here at Harbour City Films, with the summer wedding season in full swing. Unfortunately we have not had much of a chance to post new blogs recently as filming and editing has taken precedence over admin duties. However as with every New Year, resolutions are made, and ours for 2008 is to keep up to date with our blog!

Because 2007 was so busy, we have reduced the number of weddings we will be filming in 2008 so we can continue to invest time in keeping up to date with technology and practices within the filming industry. Creating the highest quality productions also requires a fresh perspective at each wedding and by reducing the volume of weddings we film and edit, we can avoid falling into a production line mentality. Harbour City Films have always offered the highest quality and most personal wedding videos and we will continue to experiment with new techniques to further advance the industry in 2008.

To all of our 2007 customers, thank you for allowing Harbour City Films to be a part of your special day and we wish you all the very best in the lead up to your first anniversary! To all of our 2008 customers, thank you for inviting Harbour City Films to be a part of your wedding day, we look forward to every wedding and the filming challenges and opportunities they provide, and most of all we enjoy sharing your day with you - both on the day, and the weeks following in post production!

With warm regards,

Rachael Hastie
and the team at Harbour City Films

Danny & Lisa Dimitrijevic

2007-08-13T19:50:00.000-07:00

Ceremony: Saint Sava Church, Flemington
Photos: Botanic Gardens, Opera House, The Rocks, Luna Park
Reception: WatersEdge, Walsh Bay
Photography: Passion for Pixels

Danny & Lisa's wedding video is absolutely beautiful. From the church ceremony we headed into the city for the beautiful harbour backdrop and spent several hours in four different locations taking video footage along with JP from Passion for Pixels photography. JP & his father "Papa" (Papa is the passion and JP is the pixels!) are brilliant photographers to work with as they understand the requirements of wedding videography.

This wedding video was brilliant to edit because of all the stunning images within the footage from all the effort everyone invested going to all the different sites. Lisa is a lady with vision! With Danny & Lisa's permission, we may enter both the Wedding Highlights, and Feature Film into a wedding videography competition. So thank you guys for having such a beautiful vision for your wedding, I loved being there on the day and the weeks reliving it during editing too. Rachael Hastie

Up and Blogging!

2007-08-13T19:10:00.000-07:00

We are very excited to finally be up and blogging and sharing our world of wedding videos with you. This blog was created so that we may provide a useful forum for both existing and potential clients. We hope our existing clients will enjoy the images we intend to take from their wedding videos and post online shortly after their wedding. We also hope this will be a useful forum for couples seeking a wedding videographer, and aim to give you an insite into our exciting profession and the types of service we can offer you.

To all of our couples whose weddings we have been invited to in the next 18 months, welcome to our brand new blog and we thank you in anticipation of sharing your special day here with others.

To any couples seeking a videographer for your wedding, please enjoy our coming posts. You are welcome to request sample dvds from any of the weddings that are posted here. Please visit our website for further information or email rachael@harbourcityfilms.com.au to have a complete info pack sent out to you.

From all of us here at Harbour City Films, thank you for sharing our work.