Justin Porter believes that each marriage ceremony tells a novel story, and it’s as much as the videographer to search out that story. And, within the case of Justin Porter Media (JPM), they delight themselves on being the go-to staff to search out the tales and moments that far too usually go uncaptured. JPM’s distinctive, documentary-style marriage ceremony movies, delivered to life with speaking headshots, candid moments and exquisite B-roll, are actually not like something occurring within the trade.
Being the founding father of JPM, Justin Porter is on the heart of each mission JPM takes on, supported by his staff and his important gear. We had the chance to sit down down with Justin and dive into his background, course of and his recommendation for videographers trying to break into the trade.
A love for storytelling from the beginning
In line with Justin, he “bought into weddings unintentionally.” The truth is, his introduction into video creation was on the favored short-form video platform Vine.
“I picked up a digital camera and I needed to be taking pictures Vine movies again when Vine was like the recent factor to be on,” Justin tells us. “I bear in mind seeing folks like King Bach and like Zach King, like a few of these guys simply creating stuff in 15 seconds. And I used to be like, ‘Man, I need to do that.’”
That curiosity in short-form comedy rapidly morphed right into a fascination with cinematic visuals.
“Earlier than I knew it, I used to be binge-watching Movie Riot and Matt Johnson. And I’m obsessed at this level with ‘How can you make one thing?’ Like, in my head, taking pictures it in my lounge and it seems to be like a film was an indication [that] you made it.”
Ultimately, Porter tried his hand at his personal initiatives. Like many creators, Porter’s early initiatives weren’t profitable. He shot music movies for “50 bucks … 100 bucks right here and there. Generally it was only for some pizza,” Porter says. However he was blissful to be getting paid to do what he liked. Nonetheless, all of it modified when he did his first marriage ceremony 9 years in the past.
“They paid me 650 bucks … in my head, I had simply hit the jackpot. I used to be like, I made it.” From there, he centered on weddings and, in consequence, his talent experience grew. Nonetheless, over time, he grew bored with the same-old, tried-and-true components of marriage ceremony movies.
“I bear in mind telling my spouse … I’m carried out doing weddings. I’m uninterested in it. I’m capped. I actually need to do one thing artistic. This isn’t fulfilling.”
However she gave him a pivotal piece of recommendation that shifted his total method to taking pictures weddings: “You need to simply shoot a marriage such as you’re filming a film. Simply fake you’re doing a film … you bought a venue; that’s your location. Your expertise is the bride and groom and the household … you bought set design and wardrobe. That’s decorations and the outfits that everyone’s sporting.”
From then on, Porter embraced a philosophy of capturing extra than simply stunning montages.
“I needed to inform myself … there’s no rule to filming a marriage. If I don’t offend anybody, don’t upset anybody, don’t take away from the intimacy of the day, why can’t I convey a lightweight? Why can’t I interview a visitor?” Porter tells us.
This method led to the formation of JPM and a completely new fashion of marriage ceremony filmmaking — one which envisions {couples}’ tales as a actuality documentary.
Constructing belief on the marriage day
It’s a novel method to weddings, one which Justin admits isn’t for each couple. Nonetheless, for {couples} who cherish recollections and need to have fun the connection via storytelling, this fashion is correct up their alley.
To get these candid moments, Porter and his staff prioritize their relationship with their purchasers. “We construct rapport off digital camera … I name it gathering intel, and I’ll simply have a dialog with them.” This method helps Porter draw out genuine particulars. “To get deep, we bought to construct a bond. You nearly bought to really feel like I’m simply your pal in an effort to open up and actually simply be snug peeling again the layers.”
That method interprets into emotional interviews with members of the family, candid conversations with friends and, usually, once-in-a-lifetime footage. “We filmed a marriage final September, and … the bride’s dad handed away. And we have now like the perfect father of the bride interview, like sit down, on digital camera interview doc fashion. And we put collectively like a bit of memorial of the factor. He simply spoke so extremely of her, how proud he was of her. A few of these like actually emotional moments. And he bought tremendous emotional. But it surely’s like none of that might have existed had we not began this fashion.”
The important gear that makes all of it occur
In fact, none of this storytelling can be doable with out dependable gear. Early on, Porter realized that lesson the exhausting manner. In 2020, he misplaced almost 9 terabytes of footage because of storage errors. “My coronary heart dropped. I had two folders in my complete file explorer. All the things was gone … I’m speaking all the pieces.”
The expertise compelled him to overtake his total workflow. Right now, he depends on a 3-2-1 backup technique that features two NAS techniques and automatic uploads to Dropbox. “It was the toughest capsule to swallow, but it surely wasn’t almost as exhausting as [making the] name. I needed to name 4 brides and inform them I don’t have a single clip. Like your complete marriage ceremony, each single reminiscence that we’re speculated to be getting [was] gone.”
This is without doubt one of the experiences that underscores the significance of preserving his knowledge secure, as a result of nobody needs to inform a pair that they misplaced their footage of their special occasion.
Porter depends on OWC’s Envoy Professional Elektron SSDs all through his manufacturing pipeline. What he loves most concerning the Envoy Professional Elektron is how sturdy it’s. “I did a evaluate on these items and I slammed this tough drive. I’m speaking all the pieces I had … I dropped it in water on a livestream.” The drive nonetheless labored positive regardless of all his exams. “I used to be like, ‘Guys, that is the perfect freaking exhausting drive ever … I simply begin spitting out details concerning the OWC Elektron, how briskly it’s … pull out the drive [out of the water]. I gave it a shake, plugged it into my Floor Professional. Increase. The entire thing pops up, all my information on there.’”
For Porter, all of it comes right down to peace of thoughts and the reassurance that his knowledge is secure.
“I like the truth that I do know that my footage is protected once I put it on.”
His belief in OWC merchandise now extends all through his total ecosystem. He makes use of many merchandise from OWC, from CFexpress playing cards to card readers to transportable SSDs. “[For] all my cameras, we use the CF Specific playing cards from OWC. Their card readers [are] lightning quick … particularly copying Thunderbolt 3 and your Thunderbolt 3 ports from an OWC dongle on to an OWC Elektron. It’s like, I’m speaking like 5, 600 gigabytes, like inexperienced line the entire time, simply lightning quick.”
That pace makes a distinction throughout grueling marriage ceremony schedules. “We had been in Italy, for instance, we’re filming, we had been there for 5 days and nearly day by day we ended at like 10 o’clock and needed to begin the following day at like 9 a.m. or 10 a.m. And so … we’re drained, we’re simply sizzling, we’re beat up. And it’s like, let’s switch footage. And as quickly as we pop the playing cards in … it’s so fast.”
On-line content material and neighborhood
Past weddings, Porter has additionally constructed a powerful on-line presence, thanks partially to his spouse, who first began posting behind-the-scenes clips with out him realizing. “Earlier than I knew it, she’s like, ‘Babe, you bought to obtain TikTok. We bought 300,000 followers.’ And I’m like, ‘300,000? What are you speaking about?’… I didn’t even have the app.”
Right now, Porter shares all the pieces from modifying livestreams to behind-the-scenes footage, mixing schooling with authenticity. “The most important factor that I’ve realized via my platform is [people] like to see our development and journey.” Via his work telling the tales of others, Porter additionally needs to inform his tales to encourage others trying to break into the trade. His recommendation to these new filmmakers is to discover and create what resonates with you.
“‘Discover out when you prefer it. And when you prefer it, run with it your manner,’” Porter says. “Block out the noise …”
A brand new strategy to do marriage ceremony movies
Porter has turned JPM right into a model constructed on authenticity and reliability. To JPM, it’s all about discovering and telling the distinctive tales of their purchasers, not simply making a slow-mo montage. That mindset has allowed him to redefine marriage ceremony filmmaking, and, with the assistance of OWC’s storage options, seize and ship moments to {couples} that they’re going to need to bear in mind.
To be taught extra about OWC’s answer merchandise, you possibly can go to owc.com.
