Chris Fig Productions Blog

Valentine's Day Wedding at the Empire State Building

2011-02-15T21:14:00.000-05:00

It’s an annual tradition for couples to tie the knot on Valentine’s Day atop the Empire State Building in New York City. The event is sponsored by TheKnot.com which held an online contest late last year selecting the very best love story submissions. In all, 14 couples won the opportunity and one of them was Lindenhurst, New York firefighters Sarah Carpino and George Callahan.

Long Island Wedding Videographer

Surprise Birthday Party & Marriage Proposal Dinner

2011-02-12T11:23:00.000-05:00

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Sherman surprises his girlfriend, Christina, with a birthday party and dinner at her aunt's house in Franklin Park, New Jersey. Except it wasn't simply a surprise birthday party, it was also the setting of a marriage proposal. After Christina's family and friends sang "Happy Birthday" to her, Sherman dropped down on one knee and professed his love for her and asked for her hand in marriage. She lovingly accepted and they will be getting married this May in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

Wedding Videographer NJ: Chris Fig Productions - 646.535.6185

A Wedding Video is Necessary

2011-02-12T11:15:00.000-05:00

*Video Courtesy of Dream Video Productions

If you are solely planning on hiring a photographer to capture the magical moments of your wedding, you may want to think twice after reading this.

Wedding photography certainly has its perks. A photographer can record a kiss, a hug, or even a smile as a beautiful image forever cemented in time. For this reason, couples feel that pictures are all that is needed to document their perfect day. However, pictures are only stills of a single point in time. They are one-dimensional and lacking any back-story or sound. To truly capture a momentous occasion like a wedding, videography is the key.

In the past, prospective customers frequently looked down upon the wedding videography industry. Particularly with the rise of video in the 1980’s and continuing into the 1990’s many wedding videographers produced poor work and offered even worse customer service. Such videographers contributed to the development of a stigma that was attached to the industry as a whole. Due to the fact that wedding videography, invented in 1980, was such a new industry, there was a lack of quality control and hence sub par work. Those in charge often performed so poorly because they hadn’t yet formulated a proper approach to treat video as well as their customers.

All of this changed in the beginning of the 21^st century. With the start of the 2000’s came in a new wave of wedding videographers, with a different approach to the industry. Today’s videographers no longer see a couples’ wedding day as just another gig, but rather the opportunity to film a family documentary. Videographers of this era recognize that a wedding is the one special day where 200 people from two different families come together, perhaps for the first time, to celebrate the union of their loved ones. Therefore it is important to the videographer that he or she chronicles the first kiss, the father and daughter dance, and even the surprise guest who travels hundreds of miles to be at their families’ wedding along with all of the other special moments that may occur.

That is why videography should not be ruled out simply because there will be a professional photographer present at the wedding. Photography and videography offer different aspects of documenting an occasion. Videography chronicles the entire story in moments instead of single framed images. When a crowd circles around a groom and his father-in-law as the two exchange jokes and laughter occurs, a photographer can only document the smiles or the crowd. A videographer will make the crowd, the joke and the laugh all visible and audible for the couple’s family to watch on video for years to come. Wouldn’t it be a pleasure for a couple’s children to see their parents’ wedding and be able to relive the moments as if they were actually there?

It is the role of a professional videographer to know just when such moments will occur. A modern experienced videographer is seasoned to anticipate when a spontaneous and exciting moment during a wedding will occur. He or she knows that it is recounting those moments along with the standard events like vows and dances that will make their customers happiest. The goal of the videographer is to tell the tale of a special occasion, while offering those other dimensions that photography can’t, like sound, motion, story and spontaneity.

Author: Chris Fig Productions & Samantha Riddell

WeddingWire Bride’s Choice Award 2011

2011-02-07T13:24:00.000-05:00

Best Wedding Videographer: Chris Fig Productions - 646.535.6185

The Woodlands at Woodbury Wedding Video

2011-02-07T13:19:00.000-05:00

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Video Production: Chris Fig Productions - 646.535.6185

The Thayer Hotel Wedding Video Recap

2011-01-28T11:23:00.000-05:00

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Wedding Videographer Hudson Valley

Man Strips Naked In Church Before Wedding

2011-01-22T08:10:00.000-05:00

On August 20, 2010 at St. Elizabeth's Church in Manhattan, New York, a mentally disturbed man enters the church 45 minutes before a wedding and begins to undress himself. Ultimately, he strips completely naked on the altar and soon thereafter the NYPD arrest and transport him for psychological evaluation. For more information, visit: Viral Video

Video Production New York

2011 Pick – The Knot Best of Weddings

2011-01-21T16:20:00.000-05:00

Today, Chris Fig Productions was notified by The Knot that we were selected as a 2011 Pick The Knot Best of Weddings in Wedding Videography. It was based on an overwhelming number of positive reviews that brides and grooms had written about the quality, service, and value of Chris Fig Productions.

We strive for 100% customer satisfaction and this award reaffirms our commitment to providing our clients with the utmost service. Chris Fig Productions prides itself on promoting the wedding videography genre and educating brides and grooms on the importance of having their wedding day documented professionally and respectfully.

Thank you to all the couples who took the time to review our work. We are sincerely grateful to have had the opportunity to record your special day and produce the video of it.

Wedding Video New York

Wedding Reception Dance Highlight | January 16, 2011

2011-01-16T10:37:00.000-05:00

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Wedding Videographer

Engagement Video Recap - New York City

2011-01-12T08:38:00.000-05:00

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Wedding Videos

Marriage Proposal | Engagement Video | Rockefeller Center | Christmas

2010-12-29T07:53:00.001-05:00

Wedding Videographer

iPhone 4

2010-06-08T10:50:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, Apple premiered the new iPhone 4 and it seems like Apple has raised the bar once again for smartphones. I won't go into a long detailed review of the phone but I will highlight what I think is an absolutely incredible feature for a smartphone.

The new iPhone 4 can shoot 720p HD video at 30fps and then will have offer iMovie as an app that will allow you to edit HD video right on your phone. Absolutely mind-blowing! I don't qualify for an upgrade from my 3GS, but I certainly will look forward to testing out this feature on the new, incredible iPhone 4.

Read more about iPhone 4

Chris Fig Productions
Wedding and Event Videographer

A Moment In Time by the New York Times

2010-05-11T09:59:00.001-04:00

On Sunday, May 2, 2010 at 15:00 UTC or 11:00am Eastern Time, the New York Times asked everyone in the world to snap a photo at that exact moment in time. As a filmmaker and world traveler, I answered to the New York Times request. Visit A Moment in Time and select the photo on the globe just over Greenland (Be sure to sort by "All", "Recommended", or "Community"). It's the photo I submitted which shows an airplane cabin of passengers. At that moment in time, I was flying from Frankfurt, Germany to Newark, New Jersey, returning home from celebrating my one-year wedding anniversary with my wife in Europe. Unfortunately, I failed to include my name for a photo credit, but if anyone wants to verify the authenticity of the photo, I can show you my plane ticket for seat 42A. :)

This New York Times project was an excellent endeavor and I certainly hope it becomes an annual occurrence and more people around the world participate.

Chris Fig Productions
New York Wedding and Event Videography

Yankee Tickets Giveaway Winner!

2010-04-22T10:08:00.000-04:00

For the past two weeks, I had a promotion on Facebook & Twitter to gain more fans and followers by giving away (2) Free Yankee Tickets to the June 1, 2010 game. View the video below to see who was selected as the lucky winner. Thanks to all for participating.

Chris Fig Productions
New York Wedding Videographer, News Reporter, & Filmmaker
http://www.chrisfig.com

Yankee Tickets Giveaway by Chris Fig Productions!

2010-04-07T09:50:00.002-04:00

Enter to Win Two Free Tickets!

Step 1 - Become a Facebook Fan or Twitter Follower of Chris Fig Productions by April 21, 2010 at 11:59pm

Step 2 - Write on Chris Fig Productions' Fan Page "I'm a fan of Chris Fig" or Tweet @ChrisFigVideo "I'm a follower of Chris Fig" and that will serve as your official entry into this giveaway.

Step 3 - Have your friends become a fan or follower of Chris Fig and have them write or tweet "I'm a fan of Chris Fig because of (your full name)" and that will serve as their official entry and your SECOND entry into this giveaway.

Random Drawing will be held on April 22, 2010 for (2) Free Yankee Tickets to the June 1, 2010 Yankee game vs. the Baltimore Orioles in the Terrace Section.

The winner's name will be posted on Facebook & Twitter. Good Luck!

Chris Fig Productions
New York Wedding Videographer, News Reporter, & Filmmaker
http://www.chrisfig.com

ChrisFig.com 1.5 - Wedding Video New York

2010-04-03T18:09:00.000-04:00

Between editing non-stop and shooting interviews for the Macaulay Honors College, I've been very focused on updating my website. My goal is to create a wedding video central hub, full of entertaining and fun content for clients and visitors. Omesh, my web designer, and I have been working very hard to make the site simple to navigate but packed with tons of videos to watch - almost a YouTube for Weddings. In addition, we're looking to improve out search engine rankings on Google, Yahoo, and Bing so when someone types into the search box "wedding video", our site will rank very high. I encourage you to take a look at ChrisFig.com 1.5, and this summer we'll be premiering ChrisFig.com 2.0. I'm super excited about the possibilities.

Chris Fig Productions
New York Wedding Videographer, News Reporter, & Filmmaker
http://www.chrisfig.com

Chris Fig Productions Company Photo

2010-03-15T15:16:00.003-04:00

Wedding Couple in NYC, originally uploaded by Chris Fig Productions.

All businesses have one photo that encapsulates everything about them. Well this photo describes my company, Chris Fig Productions.

In 2005, when I first started Chris Fig, I shot Jennifer & Christopher's wedding at the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan. I was 21 at the time and was just trying to have fun.

So as Jen & Chris were entering the hotel, I asked "Is it okay if I have you stand in the middle of the street to capture a NYC landscape shot?" Without hesitation they agreed. I posed them right in the intersection, and waited a few seconds for a taxi to come speeding by. And that's how this shot was setup. It was over in 10 seconds.

5 years and 200 weddings later, I still love this shot and I never get tired of looking at it. A moment in time at a New York City wedding.

Chris Fig Productions
New York Wedding Videographer, News Reporter, & Filmmaker
http://www.chrisfig.com

Bronx Trolley Tour - City Island & Arthur Ave

2010-03-10T11:52:00.002-05:00

Last week I documented Bronx Borough President, Ruben Diaz Jr., and 25 concierges from Manhattan luxury hotels for a full day tour of the Bronx's most popular sites aboard the Bronx Trolley. Stops were made at the Lobster House on City Island, the Bartow-Pell Mansion in Pelham Bay Park, and the Arthur Avenue Cafe in Belmont.

The tour was a big hit and the concierges were excited to start recommending destinations in the Bronx for their guests to visit.

Watch on YouTube

Chris Fig Productions
New York Wedding Videographer, News Reporter, & Filmmaker
http://www.chrisfig.com

Westchester Magazine's "Wedding of the Month"

2010-03-01T11:40:00.001-05:00

Westchester Magazine's "Wedding of the Month" for November 2009 was the wedding of Nadia Pinedo & Matthew Fante, whose celebration was documented by Chris Fig Productions. They had selected the Highlight Documentary and requested a very cinematic recap.

Westchester Magazine - November 2009

View Recap on Youtube

Christopher Figueroa
www.chrisfig.com

Devil's Kitchen Ice Climbing

2010-02-26T20:11:00.004-05:00

I love what I do because new shoots bring new adventures. Today, I was second camera for "Bronx Flavor" starring Justin Fornal as Baron Ambroisa which airs monthly on Bronxnet Television.

We drove up to Devil's Kitchen, a massive ravine of iced waterfalls, in Hunter, New York. With Justin and crew shooting at the base of a 100-foot ice waterfall, I was tied to a tree perched 10 stories up on the side of a cliff capturing panoramic shots of the scene. Filming was very exciting as I was in a sitting position in the snow with only a camera and tripod with me and it was amazing. But the mile hike out of the ravine after the shoot was extremely difficult and exhausting. It was by far the most taxing thing I've ever had to do on a shoot. The town of Hunter had over 3 feet of snow fall on it today, and trying to climb out of the gully with camera and tripod in hand buried in snow was.... well all I can remember is how hard I was breathing to get air in my lungs.

Overall, it was a great shoot. Justin and Ray (the DP) were great to work with and be on the lookout for the character of Baron Ambroisa who is a force to be reckoned with. You can watch all episodes of "Bronx Flavor" at www.bronxflavor.com

Christopher Figueroa
www.chrisfig.com

Fashion Week 2010 - NYC

2010-02-19T10:32:00.002-05:00

Check out my latest news package on NYC's Fashion Week 2010 Fall Collection.

Christopher Figueroa
www.chrisfig.com

ChrisFig.com 2.0

2010-02-16T23:45:00.000-05:00

Today I met with my friend and web designer Omesh to discuss the future of Chrisfig.com. We created my site in 2005 for the sole purpose of creating a visually appealing site to showcase my wedding videography. But now in 2010 we had to talk about the future of the web and how my site will be a part of it.

We decided to eliminate the Flash portion of my site altogether and invest in HTML5 markup and build an infrastructure based on Wordpress.

In 6 months I will have a search engine optimized site, a chrisfig blog, and a client blog that will allow me to upload a client's entire wedding video to my site. And further down the road offer a ChrisFig app and Live Streaming video. I'm very excited and can't wait to see ChrisFig.com 2.0

Christopher Figueroa
www.chrisfig.com

Snowed In Tuesday

2010-02-10T16:15:00.001-05:00

With over a foot of snow falling on NYC today, I spent it improving my Google Ad campaign. Between Google & The Knot, Chris Fig has so far booked 20 weddings for 2010. And today, Jared & Shalini hired us for their 06.27.10 wedding at the Essex House in NYC. Marketing & Advertising is crucial to our success.

Busy Monday

2010-02-08T11:48:00.001-05:00

Michael & Caitlin have just confirmed hiring Chris Fig Productions and selecting the Highlight Documentary with the Bride's Prep for their Aug. 8, 2010 wedding at the Woodlands at Woodbury.

Spent the morning completing Jennifer & Yuval wedding video. Now on to Janet and Terence's wedding edit. A very good Monday so far.

2010 Census Visits the Bronx

2010-02-05T14:16:00.002-05:00

On January 28, 2010, the 2010 Census Road Trip stopped in the Fordham section of the Bronx to discuss the importance of filling out the 2010 Census questionnaire.

Setup for Medical Promo

2010-02-03T09:49:00.000-05:00

Brewster, NY

Hearts for Haiti

2010-01-21T00:15:00.001-05:00

Tonight I put on my reporter hat for Bronxnet Television to cover a fundraiser called "Hearts for Haiti". It was held at Arena nightclub and the suggested donation was $20 with over 700 people showing up to hear music from DJ Kiss, DJ Mos, DJ Tony Touch, & DJ Clue. Speeches were given by Mayor Bloomberg & Miss USA. 100% of the proceeds are being given to NYC Mayor's Fund which will then be sent to Doctors without Borders. This event was such a great success due to social networking sites such as Facebook that spread the word throughtout New York City in only a matter of days.

Tune into Bronxnet TV on Channel 67 on Cablevision or log onto Bronxnet.org on Friday at 10am or 6pm to watch my news package.

International Shipping

2010-01-19T15:43:00.001-05:00

Chris Fig Productions is an international brand. Today I shipped a Basic Documentary wedding video package to Australia. In the past I've produced wedding videos for clients in England, Ireland, Scotland, and Dubai.

Happy Bride!

2010-01-18T23:42:00.002-05:00

The most rewarding part of my career is when brides and clients are satisfied and thankful for the videos I've created for them. The following is an email sent from Kristine, whose wedding was on October 24, 2009.

"Hi Chris,

Just wanted to let you know the video came out GREAT. we love it!!! Thank you so much for doing such a great job, I really appreciate it.

I also recommended you to my friend Jared, who may be calling you in a few days! His Fiance's name is Erin , just in case she calls!!

Thanks again for everything,

Kristine"

2010-01-18T12:37:00.001-05:00

I received a call today from Jarod & Shari who after meeting with about 10 videographers, have booked Chris Fig for their October 9, 2010 wedding at Tappan Hill. This venue has one of the top rated cuisines in my book. It is top notch. Jarod and Shari chose the Highlight Documentary. We look forward to shooting their wedding day. But since Jarod is a huge Yankees fan, as am I, we hope the Yankees win their playoff game that night since we'll be unable to watch. Good luck Shari and Jarod with the rest of your wedding planning.

2010-01-17T17:50:00.001-05:00

Michelle and Ashan hired Chris Fig Productions today to shoot their wedding video for their May 21, 2010 wedding at Roundhill in Washingtonville, NY. They chose the Basic Documentary with Photo Montage and Recap. We look forward to documenting their day.

2010-01-16T18:24:00.001-05:00

Today, Kris and Ana hired Chris Fig Productions to shoot their wedding on July 18, 2010 in New Paltz. We look forward to documenting their special wedding day.

Welcome to the Chris Fig Blog!

2010-01-15T21:19:00.008-05:00

For 2010 and beyond, I will updating this blog each time I complete a project - be it a wedding video sample, a news report, a short film, or commercial. Please check frequently for my latest projects. But I've attached one of my favorite wedding clips from a wedding photo shoot in Grand Central Terminal for Jennifer and Christopher's July wedding.