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Did you miss my Live Talks at The Video Show 2021? Here’s everything that happened!

by | Sep 29, 2021

The pandemic limited us all in one way or another. 

For me as someone passionate about sharing and imparting my knowledge and experience one of the most frustrating limitations was not being able to speak at events and host workshops in person.  Essentially I was not only prevented from helping those facing their own struggles but also I couldn’t simply meet and great like minded people.. 

It’s 2021. I received the call I’d been waiting for a long time – the fabulous news that The Video Show was confirmed to take place in September.  As an Ambassador for ‘Women Who Photo & Film’ and a videographer who’d hosted many talks over the previous four years at the show I was only too happy to accept the organisers invitation to appear again on stage at the show.

But there was a catch (more on that below) 

Gone are the days when you can simply check-in online and pop your boarding pass on your phone … dig out your passport and off you go!!!

Now there are so many things to get organised for a trip to the UK, compared to the weddings I’d filmed earlier in the year, traveling to Nice and Vienna (that’s because the UK is no longer in the UK of course!) Sure I needed to get entry forms for those countries proving I was ‘double-jabbed’ but flying to the UK was a whole different level.

What made matters worse was having to organise everything in certain steps – one leading to another…  I had to book a PCR test to gain access to the UK…but then I had to wait until the day before until I could actually take the test. Had it been positive then everything else that had gone before, including the costs. Would have been void and a total waste of money.  I had to arrange a Day 2 PCR test on arrival in the UK.  But I was only going for a few days and didn’t really have one official address as I was on business.  Once I booked that test I was given a reference number so I could apply for my Personal Locator Form – again something I could only arrange within 48 hours of departure.  It was SO stressful.  When I landed in the UK I picked up the test and took it to Birmingham with me and then spent over an hour in the hotel room trying to fathom out the extremely difficult instructions … and that had nothing to do with the actual self-testing but the registering, confirming, reaffirming and sending off the test.  

Returning to Switzerland was actually far more simple … may I say, THANKFULLY.

I have to say I absolutely can’t wait for it to be like it was before because this is enough to put anyone off traveling to the UK for any reason whatsoever.

But before all the admin I had, of course, to write the presentations I had been asked to give.

The demonstration on ‘How to Set up Multiple Cameras and Audio Devices’ came easily to me to put together. It’s a topic I get asked for advice about all the time.  

One of the major challenges of filming a wedding is setting up multiple cameras and audio equipment for the ceremony. It shows us just that, 

The idea to set up my cameras and sound gear live on stage while explaining the choices I make and how they impact the final product, would be easy to do but there were technical and logistical demands in order to show my audience exactly what my cameras were filming.  Thankfully the fabulous Video Show team was on hand and both talks ran smoothly on the day.

“Emma’s talk, ‘How to set up multiple cameras and audio devices for a wedding ceremony’ at The Photo & Video Show at the NEC was beyond insightful. Little tips like not having your camera facing directly down the aisle and having two angles at the front of the aisle with the same angle but with one more zoomed in. If you have enough cameras then these were all really great advice for someone starting out, like myself. Even things like her assertiveness when talking to other guests about holding up iPads up during ceremonies just gave me the backing and confidence to start taking action when I come across it during a wedding. “

– Sarah Day, One Day Film Productions

Another of my talks, ‘Storytelling through Cinematic Videography’ has also been another hot topic when it comes to both corporate and wedding videography.

For this talk, I dived into the art of storytelling for moving images. I talked about my ‘storytelling style and ethos’. I covered the language of film and rules of syntax, filming and editing tips, the use of using sound design to drive your story, as well as explored why storytelling is so important in all videography.

My other solo talk, ‘The Price is Right: What to Charge for your work’ was held in the Masterclass Pro area.

I absolutely loved this talk as I was in my element while I discuss the tricky issue of what to charge, whether you’re in weddings, corporate or commercial filmmaking.   

As an entrepreneur or small business, navigating the industry can be difficult, but getting your pricing strategy right can make things so much easier. So I covered what factors to consider when determining your price range, as well as how to communicate that effectively to clients.

“Emma’s talks were informative, clear and concise. I specifically came to the show to hear her talks and I was not disappointed. They were all very appropriate and helpful for my line of work”

“I specifically enjoyed Emma’s talk on pricing. Her presentation was very informative, fun and easy to follow. Her view on pricing was also refreshingly different from what I’ve heard before. Overall, her talk was informative and inspiring, I feel motivated to make some changes to my business now!”

– Kerry Todd, Songbird Films.

And finally, I also hosted a talk with Rick Bronks from Satureyes Media. He hates weddings (and most people!) and as you know I love weddings.

During our talk there was much banter while we discussed my ‘unconventional filming style’ for wedding videos, we shared clips from our work and tips on how to convey stories about people who just happen to be getting married.  And lastly but by no means least we played a round of ‘Wedding Film Bingo’ …  a chance for Rick to prove that all wedding films look the same with the same cliched shot selection and a chance for me to prove his wrong.

I’m happy to say …. I WON, with no one in the audience getting even close to shouting out, that they had a full house!

‘Weddings but not as we know them’ gave me a real insight on how you can really make a wedding video different to everybody else’s without the clichèd shots everybody is used to. Since hearing Emma’s talk I’ve adjusted my pitch on what I sell to my couples and intend to start becoming more of a storyteller than just a highlights videographer. Big thanks to Emma for her encouragement and straight talking advice. Such an inspiring woman and a great person to have leading the female film creatives in this industry.”

– Sarah Day, One Day Film Productions.

Another result for me at the show this year, as well as connecting with loads more amazing fellow videographers and being able to help them with their struggles and problems … both during the talks and afterward – was connecting up again with Canon Europe …. Watch this space.

I also became a ‘Zoom Creator’ – also more news on this to follow shortly with a few giveaways for my Evolve Students :-)… keep reading…

Another great success this year for The Video Show and I cannot wait for more in the future…  for instance, check out Swiss Photo Day in November, where I’ll be sharing my storytelling secrets once again.

Here’s also what Marlon Williams who attended my speeches had to say,

“Many of these sorts of talks that I attend I find are sales pitches where the speakers skirt around the real points and instead give these in paid tutorials or mentor sessions. This was not the case for Emma, she got straight to the point and didn’t hold back on delivering the key information. She provided insight into the world of wedding videography from her experience and encouragement and advice for anyone looking to enter or grow within the market. Many of the points just really hit home. One example was when talking about growing your business she pointed out that you need to leave aside time for growth, as otherwise, you will get stuck in the same place. This became a real point of realisation for me as I often find I get caught up in a mountain of work and forget to take time to think about the future. Just one insightful point of many across the 5 talks of hers that I attended. By far the most useful for me at the show and a speaker I will be sure to return to in future years.”

-Ronan McKernan

And he’s not wrong – working on you and your business is so so important.

It’s been such a crazy year right? With weddings back on many videographers have simply been working non-stop on that aspect of their business. What I call ‘the doing’ … filming weddings, editing weddings and delivering weddings. BUT this means they’ve neglected the other areas of their business – working on growth and development,

I know COVID-19 made it difficult for all of us, and that many of you would have been wanting to attend these live events to help with that but of course you couldn’t make it because of restrictions, workload or just still not being totally confident with being at live events with so many people in attendance. I am sorry for that but it doesn’t mean I cannot help you, because I can.

I created a page with a lot of free resources, free training, and gifts, including 15% OFF on all of my courses Exclusively for VIDEOSHOW 2021, but now I am opening this for all of you until 30th September 2021., after that, we will be closing this site.

So if you ever wanted to be a part of my coaching program, work 1-to-1 with me, have all I learned in my 20-year career packed into easy-to-learn guides, and take your wedding videography to the next level then this is your chance!

Click here to claim this unbelievable offer

Have any questions or do you want to tell me your story? Just hit the button below and let’s hear it! I love hearing people’s stories!

Let’s talk