Every Couple Says They're "Bad on Camera" — Here's Why They're Wrong

In this episode, wedding filmmaker Kyle Hustis breaks down the craft behind his energetic, personality-driven films and makes the case that confidence, not gear, is the real skill most filmmakers are missing. He walks through how he directs couples on the wedding day without compromising their experience, his "18 ways to shoot one moment" approach to staying creatively nimble, and why the couples who insist they're "bad on camera" tend to become the heroes of his best work.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

The couple immediately telling me, like, hey, we just want to make sure that you know that we're not that good in front of the camera. They disqualify themselves. We're not cool enough to be in these kinds of videos. And I just want to like give them all a big, great hug. It's like you're all literally amazing.

SPEAKER_00 0:13

I know we've all had those weddings where the couple just wouldn't loosen up. Every time the camera was pointed at them, they froze. And then when we finish the film, it falls completely flat because there's no personality. And in the back of your head, you blame them for it. But in this episode today, we're going to reveal that it was never the couple's fault. It was always our opportunity. The opportunity to make the couple feel comfortable in front of the camera. The opportunity to show them how amazing they are.

SPEAKER_01 0:37

Because truthfully, if you watch some of Kyle's work, he basically says, listen, 95% of these people are pretty terrified of a camera. And so that was like my mission was to like crack them open like an oyster. And by the end of that night, they had just totally let loose, totally let free. My only job is to like put up a mirror in front of that day and say, like, you guys are amazing. Like, here's the proof.

SPEAKER_00 1:02

And some of his best films come from couples who actually counted themselves out. Not because he got lucky with the fun. And that's the whole shift. The uncomfortable, awkward couple in front of the camera isn't bad luck. It's your job to make them feel comfortable. And that's really what we unpack in today's episode, alongside some of Kyle's filmmaking philosophies and techniques of the gear he uses and his process in the filming weddings. This is the how to film wedding show. I do want to unpack more about the actual craft of how to film weddings from your perspective. For myself, I can be a little bit more passive, kind of fly on the wall. Watching your work, it's clear that you're leaning into more of like the cinema route, which is just, it's beautiful, and I just have to explore it. So the first thing I want to kind of dive into is, you know, when it comes to directing versus documenting for you, where is your where's your line? Like how do you approach directing on the wedding day?

SPEAKER_01 2:04

Oh, that's a really good question. And I'm really glad that we've talked about this, like probably in detail, like our on our own podcast, because I I can appreciate most filmmakers that would maybe market themselves as like documentarians or like we only see the candid moments. And I feel as though it's good marketing, but it's not so much like it wouldn't be enough for maybe myself personally personally, considering it's been about 11 years, and through that I feel like we all have kind of like shared experiences when it comes to like this journey where we start as like we all start as documentarians because we really don't know what else to do. Because especially, you know, back back in our day, it was very much like we're like in the corner, we're not really saying very much, and okay, yeah, we're documentarians, meaning that we're just like kind of watching the moments as they happen and then putting it back on screen. And then I think as you gain like more experience, I always advocate for like newer videographers to become good directors because this job is no longer like cool people with like nice camera. It's like people that like have a presence, people that are very much a part of the day. And that includes having to get out of that shell, practice a little bit of courage and bravery, and actually like start like posing people and getting them well composed and getting them well framed. And and like that's probably the biggest piece of advice I have to like newer people is like you could really at least at first, or you know, I know that we all have those little bit of nerves on a wedding day, but I think the biggest piece of advice would I be to make yourself a presence early because that's gonna make it a lot easier for you to continue to make yourself known and be that much more comfortable with directing couples during the wedding day. Because at least for me, it's it's kind of like this mixed bagged of what's of what's expected of me. Because if you watch like a full video of mine, there's probably a hybrid of like stuff that I've made look good and also stuff that that is purely just like documentary, like uh just like documentary filmmaking where I'm just like watching the moment and then having the courage to not to not let it be on the cutting room floor and actually using it in a wedding video because that's what makes like the day perfect, right? It's it's the shift between like what was perfection back in the day, maybe like the early 2000s, where it's like, no, perfection means using the best of the best in slow motion, perfectly framed, perfectly um edited, and and a little bit slower, a little bit more whimsical. And nowadays, in my opinion, uh description of the perfect wedding film is is the authenticity, not to take away from what I from what I'm directing, but I think they both go so well hand in hand because a lot of couples for me, depending on who who wants me to be there, will either really appreciate the fact that things are so authentic and I'm using maybe clips that other people might not use of like a scream or someone falling down, just however it fits in that story. And also a mix of oh, there's other people that really love my editorial work and love the fact that even though they might might not be so confident in themselves to do so, they they look really good. They are the hero of the story because I kind of put them at ease, directed them, put them in cool spots. And a common thing that I always do, because again, being the documentarian in my opinion is a lot easier, is if I post sorry, is if I if I pose them and then they felt a little bit uneasy about it, and I'm just kind of just like being a dad and and kind of just like putting the attention back in myself as the silly one and not so much them as like the people that feel awkward. I'll show them those clips all the time, like, look how cool you guys look. And it's like, oh my gosh, I didn't even realize. And so a lot of it, like I said, is just like Kyle is here or or Jared is here as another person, not just like watching. Like, I can't believe how like intimately involved he is on the day, whether it's just like me watching or me having like a more involved hand. I think that what makes the difference in what you see maybe in my films is when I've done workshops before, people ask, like, how are you feel like you always you're always center? Or how do I feel like you're always getting like these really cool shots? Are they all models? Are they all not? And I say, Listen, 95% of these people are pretty terrified of a camera. But it's just my experience of in and getting over the fact that like, okay, I decided to be a director, therefore I'm okay with like being involved with moving them around, talking to them um during their wedding day. So that's a long-winded answer to your question, but I feel as though like that's a very important aspect of what it is to be a specif specifically a um a uh let's see, um a specialist. So that's what I want to say. A specialist as far as like wedding videography and not just like a a video producer or like a video editor per se.

SPEAKER_00 6:33

One thing that, as you were saying all that, that really comes to mind was an episode I did with Mason Wakefield where he had said, You're not gonna have a good wedding film if you have no ideas. And that kind of like struck a chord with me because I'm like thinking, wow, like that's that's actually that's so true to a sense, because if you're only relying on what you document and you're not like having like an idea or creative thought in certain situations that could bring out a little bit more personality of the couple, or could help like heighten the emotion like within the edit later on, or if you're just relying on what the photographer does on wedding day, that's where you kind of might find your work to feel a little bit more stale.

SPEAKER_01 7:21

And and not to say that it's always easy. I do feel as though it's always necessary. But given the fact that like maybe my branding comes across, especially a few years back, came across really strong, uh very personality forward branding, where it's like, listen, I'm just like the fun, silly guy. And on top of the fact that the videos and and you know, in the opinion of those that wanted to hire me were pretty good, it's like okay, we can't wait to Kyle for Kyle to be there because he's just gonna be a hoot. So the pressure's always kind of on, you know, you know how exhausting it can be from to go from wedding to wedding to wedding and always kind of bring that energy. They deserve it, you know, of course. They the pressure is always kind of on to have like, and not to say that I have to work through any kind of like emotion that I don't want to. I get there and then as soon as like they're having fun, of course, like I'm at ease too, and I'm having a lot of fun. It's just it's just a matter of like making sure that no matter where you find yourself, you're kind of bringing that energy or at the very least, like bringing that passion, which is very, very fulfilling in and of itself. So there was one time where uh very recently actually where I was doing a wedding and in the discovery call, the the couple, you know, they were great. They were very like kind of to themselves and immediately telling me, like, hey, we just want to make sure you know that we're not that good in front of the camera. Because as of recent, I think there's been this unnecessary pressure for couples that might want to hire me to kind of disqualify themselves because they think, uh, we're not, we're not, we're not. And it feels so weird to say. I don't even like saying it, but it's just been like a matter of like the fact where they disqualify themselves that like we we're not we're not cool enough to be in these kinds of videos. And I just want to like give them all a big great hug. It's like you're all literally amazing. My only job is to like put up the mirror, put up a mirror in front of that day and say, like, you guys are amazing, like, here's the proof. And so I knew that ever since I got on that discovery call with them, that they were immediately, you know, telling me we're not that great, we're not that great. And I'm like, I bet you are, I bet you are, and like trust me. And so that was like my mission was to like crack them open like an oyster. And that that video, at least what I got from it, I was so happy and and proud of them because like, yeah, they started off like I'd say something like kiss or hug or whatever, and they're like, uh, and it was just immediate, just like, I can't believe we have to do this for me to make like a funnier remark or just to after they've done it, like, hey, was that so bad? Was that so bad? And they look beautiful. And I just and by the end of that night, they had just totally let loose, totally let free. The bride had let me know, like, look, I'm not a hugger, and she like gave me like three hugs. I'm not trying to say this, obviously to kind of like to to boast my own abilities, but just the fact that because those hard, especially like as an introvert, like me and you, this meet me a little bit uh farther back, it's kind of like this very fulfilling moment where someone didn't believe they could be the hero of this story, to then be the ultimate hero and have like the most perfect wedding day, not because everything went perfectly, because of course it didn't. And those moments are even just like a part of that video where it's like it's not bad, but it's like imperfect, and that's what makes it perfect. But they very much like because they let loose and because their vendor team was so much better at at being a part of their day than they had previously imagined, because they don't know what they don't know, they had the most amazing day, which made obviously all of us feel very good.

SPEAKER_00 10:49

Let's just be honest with ourselves for a second. If you're a wedding filmmaker and you've been doing this thing for four or five years, even if you've been doing it for two, if you filmed 20 to 30 weddings a season, you've probably felt it at some point. The pressure, the stress of deadlines, staring at empty timelines, watching your backlog continue to rise while you're filming weddings on the weekend, you're doing family stuff during the week, and you start to wonder how in the heck am I gonna be able to sustain this? Truthfully, that's the big question we all ask ourselves at one point because that fire, that passion, that hustle, that grind, that ambition that we had so fiercely at the start of this journey does start to dwindle because we get exhausted, we get tired managing everything by ourselves. And that's really where you start to realize that when it comes to entrepreneurship, when it comes to running a business, you need help. You need people that can be in your corner to alleviate some of those burdens so that you can get back to doing other things in your business, doing other things in your life, and focus on what really matters. And that's really where Uncut Gems, the official presenting partner of How to Foam Weddings, comes into play. They're not just the presenting partner here in this episode. They are also my tried and trusted video editing team that I've been using in my wedding business, Wayward North. They really have taken my films, taken a lot of the backlog off my plate so that I can focus on making videos like this, or I can focus on spending time with my family and still retaining the same quality and expectations that my couples have when they watch their film. And they have been kind enough to offer you guys listening 60% off of your first edit. So head over to Uncut Gems. I will link them down in the show notes below. Use my code HTFW for that sweet discount and see if they can be a good fit for you.

SPEAKER_01 12:31

One of the things I think one of the benefits that that filmmakers like you or like me or like a lot of people have is the fact that I I didn't start off, you know, I didn't go to film school. I didn't start off with like a very black and white concrete idea of like how media production should be. I went into it like just doing wedding video. And because it was the wild, wild west back in 2015 when I started, it's like, what does a wedding video even look like? Well, I again there's like a general idea of what it looks like, but like how can we shake that up a little bit? Is it okay if I introduce this song? Is it okay if I introduce this moment? And luckily for us, you know, 11 years later, people love it. I mean, people are like, and a lot of that is thanks to thanks to other videographers in other countries that just kind of open the door to the creative uh opportunities where we find out there's a demand and come to figure out, hey, us that we're wanting to do things out of the box or right out along right all along, as far as like making the imperfect wedding video, um, all that is to say is that the day, the day is fluid. Like so much of it is seeing a thing, seeing something, seeing architecture, seeing a moment, and just having that bravery, like I said, to be like, oh my gosh, is it okay if we pause right here for a second? This looks incredible, without without compromising their their experience. Sometimes for a lot of these couples, again, I'm I'm foundationally an editorial videographer. Sometimes their experience is my directions. Like they're looking forward to me saying things and to me framing them up and having them look so cool and having them be the hero. That's a big experience that they they want me to be saying more. And a lot of other people's experience is going to be me saying a little bit less, but still telling that beautiful story. So that's where it kind of broadens the net as far as like what's expected of me according to the strengths that I have built over time.

SPEAKER_00 14:15

Yeah, swapping lenses into your wedding films because they do have this main character energy. They're they're fun, they're energetic, they're lively, um, just so personality driven. Um, and it's clear when you watch it. And so I'd love to dive into some of the techniques that you're using on wedding day. Um, something like just like this in your bag of tricks that you you pull out on every wedding, um, and some of the inspirations that you have. Ooh, technique.

SPEAKER_01 14:43

Oh my gosh, that's a good question. Um, it's been a minute since I've been asked about anything like maybe technical or like technique. Um, I I'm a guy, so naturally I'm a little bit of a gearhead. I try not to let that consume me, but I feel as though it's a necessary evil. It is.

SPEAKER_00 14:59

I'm with you. I'm in the same boat.

SPEAKER_01 15:01

And I don't I try not to be over, over like I said, people have built umpires with with one camera and a 35 millimeter and more power to them. That's incredible. I feel as though when the argument is made, like, hey, more gear does not make you a better better filmmaker, absolutely I agree with that. Like, more gear and more things by itself does not make you a better filmmaker. But the talented filmmaker with the right gear is gonna be all that much more uh potentially dangerous, like they're going to use that and they're just going to, and I've always tried to keep that in mind. I'm like, is this going to elevate like the knowledge and the skills that I have as far as like creating a visual that evokes more emotion according to what I can do? And so, yes, there are a few things that I have like in my arsenal, like on a day, like on my person, I like to have now as many, as many ways of like getting a moment as I can within the eat within the realm of doing it quickly, doing it efficiently without without taking away any kind of any kind of uh moment from the bride and groom because of anything that I might need to pause. So, for example, like I have my my camera in my hands and it's kind of built out with the rig and the monitor and the battery and all that. And in my opinion, a zoom lens is like if we were to stick with one lens forever, it's going to be a 24 to 70 or a 28 to 70. I have a 28 to 70. I I love the fact that those things go down to F2, so I don't really have to compromise too much as far as like lighting situations. Um, and then on my hips are an anamorphic lens, a 35, and on my other hip, my A7S3 camera, which is my B cam with a wide 17 on there, just for the sake of, I can put one camera down and I can get another one and I can get a good wide. Anything that I can, I I I say I've said this before, anything that I can to diversify a visual, um, I'm pretty sure I say 18 ways in one moment. So here's the here's the example that I'll that I'll put out where if I have one camera and I have three lenses and I have uh three different shutters different frame rates that I can that I can switch very quickly, and also two stabilization modes, that's already 18 different ways of getting a single moment, right, within the palm of my hands. So three three uh lenses by three uh what did I just say by three different frame rates that makes three by three that equals nine by two different stabilization stabilization modes within camera, eight that's eighteen. So it's kind of like this nerdy way of saying, like, I want to get this, but I I want to have as much in my pocket as I can that when I have an idea on how this could look even better, I can do it within like a blink of an eye. And that's what you might see as far as like, oh my gosh, how did he get this wide, or how did he get this cool flare, or how did he get this really tight shot? What seemingly in a very in around the same around the same time as as one another. So that's like one of the nerdy things that I do on the day, as far as like the the name of the game is Evoking Emotion. So if you there was an interview that I saw from the cinematographer of Sinners, and I don't know if you've seen that movie or not. It's beautiful, it's incredible. And her whole purpose was like, listen, you know, we use this camera, we use these kinds of lenses, and we did it so in a in all these different ways of doing it, because it helps tell the story through visuals. Like, okay, this may be a still shot of someone driving a car, but why does that make me feel a specific way, even though the concept is really is really simple? It's because the execution is is immaculate, and that's that's basically like my philosophy on a day. It's like it may be simple concepts, like a still shot of a flag or a still shot of someone driving by, but I would just want the execution to be extremely thought out from a filmmaker's perspective, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_00 18:47

Yeah, absolutely. I love hearing everyone's process and approach to capturing the wedding egg because like I feel like I always find different variations, which is which is great because he's like this, there's just no one size fits all approach to it. And yeah, I I kind of have the whole fast like straps as well. I have my super eight, and then I have another camera with like an additional lens, usually like a like a 35 prime, and then I'll have my handheld where it's like just 24 to 70. And photographers are always like, this looks insane. I don't know. Like, I don't know how you're like m managing and navigating, but and I am solo. I mostly film solo. I do occasionally have a second when I, you know, need to have some support. Um, but for the most part, I'm I'm going at it solo. And generally I my philosophy is uh a tripod is oftentimes one of the best second shooters you'll ever have. Um you know, just a well-placed tripod in the right position. I never compromise on it. I always have a like a secondary tripod just for like the safety of it all. You know, just in case, like whatever it is, I'm just I'm acting a fool behind the camera. I'm trying something different and that I have never tried before. I need that just reliability to cut back to. But no, I love I love hearing that, and I love the I was gonna ask if it was anamorphic because there was one shot in one of your films that was like, man, the swirlies, the swirly voca got me, and I was like, dude, that looks so good.

SPEAKER_01 20:12

I oh no, I appreciate that. I I probably have one too many anamorphic lenses now because I felt too deeply in love with with it. There's there's some others that would probably probably do me a a better benefit than but seriously, like a 30, like a 35 uh 1.33x squeeze anamorphic is kind of like my go-to. Yeah. And yeah, it like I said, I'm not trying to like necessarily like do do too much, and I know that I could I could potentially just have too much on me because just like you said, like also what I forgot to mention was like yes, super 8 across my body and also a a VHS camera at my hip, too. And when I get on these discovery calls with these clients, it's like again, someone that's totally unfamiliar, unfamiliar with wedding video might think not not might not imagine those things, especially the VHS part. Like, this is it, this is it, this is a very authentic early 90s high-eight VHS camera. And how I explain it, when I explain like I don't necessarily go into the different lenses, but if I say like my camera versus my drone versus the super 8 versus the VHS, they're all they're all different mediums to evoke different emotion. They're all they all have a means to an end. Like I'm happy that like that 4K image of an anamorphic looks so good, but it can't tell the same story that my VHS camera can when I pass it to a guest and they go around and they ask questions to all the other uh all the other guests at the wedding and well wishes and advice. I could never ever do that. So the the running joke that I do when I'm like at a wedding and I'm like going from VHS to super eight back to like my A Cam is like I know that I like I know I I'm sorry, I know that that you can tell that I like what's going on because I'm using about four different mediums right now. And that probably gets like a laugh like 50% of the time. Like, what is he talking about? But like that's how you know I'm really enjoying the moment.

SPEAKER_00 22:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:00

Because like I'm just trying to, like I said, get as many different ways of shooting it as I possibly can. And uh, like I said, they're just like who cares if the if the if the VHS is, you know, you can you can look at it from a quality perspective, like, what are you talking about? That's like not that high resolution at all. It doesn't really matter. What what matters is what it does in here for all of us that were born in the 90s or whatever, because of like, oh my gosh, that makes me feel a certain way when I was young. Yeah. And so I'm just glad more than anything, the fact that people are so open to these concepts where I'm not it's not gonna be, at least from my from my lane, from from the clients that want me, it's not gonna be picture perfect in the fact that it might be like this very long, like Dior commercial, which again, I'm I'd be happy to make if someone wanted it, but that's not that's not as much expected of me now as much as it is like telling the best story possible.

SPEAKER_00 22:54

As an educator yourself, what is like a common pitfall that you find many wedding filmmakers struggling with? I'd love to hear your perspective on that.

SPEAKER_01 23:06

I feel as though number one would be confidence, probably. And number two, I think there's a lot of value in and I try not to like doubt, I'm not I try not to be the dad that says, like, hey, listen, buddy, like you have a lot of potential. Sometimes you just like need more time. A lot of times it does come down to reps and and repetition in like the editing room. They people might get on like one-on-one calls with me. It's like, how did you even think to do this? And I don't really have a good answer for them, other than the fact that I've just edited so many videos. And and I try to console them with the fact that listen, and I've been doing this for 11 years, and I'm glad that like you look up to me and whatnot, but there are people like you don't have to be like me, you don't need to take 11, 12 years to get to where I am. Like, there's people that just started last year that are already industry, industry leaders because like they're they're just so talented. And I see this, and I and I talk them up in the fact that like you're so much better than I was a year in. You're so much better than I was two years in. Like, like, don't don't don't worry. Like, sometimes it just comes down to time, especially in the editing room. I I feel as though that's probably I'm I don't think I'm the best necessarily the best shooter or the best director in the world. Um, I do feel like I'm a fairly okay editor. I've I've if I will say one thing about myself, is that I'm a fairly okay editor. And a lot of that just comes down to what they're lacking is just like time in the editing room, um, uh studying about how to use your tools in the editing room. Another aspect is just the confidence, like I said, to like direct on a wedding day. And and and thirdly, and this is like a nice, a nice to have, but it's a need to have for me, a nice to have for a lot of other people. I do tend to use second and third shooters a lot during the day. And at first it was hard because a very common thing when you hire second shooters, you don't really know what to do with them. It's like, I don't really know what I want you to do. If you have great delegation skills, you're that is movie making. Like for my very close friends, like Cameron or Jacob with Sancho Films, a lot of these people that I know really really well in Arizona, this it's kind of this part of this community that I that I've helped to foster, they know my shooting style a little bit, but they also know how I'm gonna direct them. Whereas like if something's happening, say during processional or say during the portraits, it's like, okay, and I'll be very technical. It's like get this shot, get them in the lower third, have it at this frame rate. Like it's just kind of instant. I think that goes under talked about, but insanely valuable as far as like knowing how to delegate your team. Again, that takes time.

SPEAKER_00 25:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:34

But I just want that to throw that out there. It's like when you have a team, know how to use them because bouncing to and fro uh moments in the day, you know that it looks so good because you saw it and you knew how to communicate that with someone else who was who was helping you on the day of the wedding.

SPEAKER_00 25:51

Yeah, I always say you really do need to be an adept, like masterful lead shooter before you start kind of bringing on seconds or third. And because what's gonna it happen, and inevitably this is something that everyone runs into. I myself ran into it. It's you know, I wasn't a a confident lead shooter shooter just yet, and I was bringing it on seconds, and I was frustrated in the edit when I was like, well, why didn't they capture it like this? Or why didn't why didn't they hit record until after? Yeah. So you do need to truly build those reps before not saying before. I mean, hey, make the mistakes, learn from the mistakes. I feel like that's how I learned, that's how a lot of people learn. Experience is going to be the best teacher there. But I will say just when it comes to delegating, clarity in your communication solves a lot of frustrations later in the edit. Being very visual with your communication, like you were saying, hey, frame them in the lower third quadrant, use the rule of thirds, um, make sure that there's nothing muddying up the frame, make sure there's all the distractions are out like clutter, water bottles, whatever it is. Um, just being very clear in how you want them to capture it, in what frame rate, in what picture profile, just so that there's no, you know, there's no mistaking like what they're doing. And I mean, not saying you have to be like a micromanager, but like if it's someone that you haven't worked with before or someone you're trying to train to retain, then that's where you kind of can help them get to you know the the place you want them to be.

SPEAKER_01 27:24

Exactly. Yeah, no, exactly. And and to get into, again, more of like a technical aspect is that I am an advocate of knowing certain cinema rule cinema rules, not so you necessarily have to follow them exactly, but just so you know how to use them or break them in a way that benefits you. So a common one that we did talk about quite a bit was at our first workshop was like, listen, like the 100-180 degree rule, the as far as like shutter speed and and frame rates go, like that was very valuable to me once I learned it because I was okay as a newer filmmaker just cranking my shutter to get the exposure right. But as we all know, as we get more experience, you're sacrificing other things, such as like motion blurred, just just again, it all comes down to like the emotion you want to invoke. For so long, I would look at really experienced filmmakers and I would think, why does a shot of like flag a flag waving or a car passing by or someone just like saying hi, why is that making me feel the way that my film doesn't look when I'm when I'm basically shooting the same thing? And come to realize it's because they're shooting, you know, they might be shooting in log, which I know is more difficult, uh much more difficult color profile, but yields a lot better uh benefit on the back end if you're willing to learn it. They're keeping to the 100-180-degree shutter uh shutter speed rule, which creates that amazing motion blur for what you're used to seeing in most feature films. Like those are just like the rules that I don't advocate anyone to necessarily stick to because I'm more libertarian about people doing their jobs more than anything. But if you know those rules, you know how to break those rules to your benefit. You know how to increase that that angle or decrease that angle in order to tell a different emotion, whether it be during reception or whether it be during portraits. So a lot of my discovery calls, I are kind of like this conversation with you, you and me, where I'm not necessarily talking these very specific dynamics of filmmaking, but I'm talking about the passion of filmmaking. And it it's less like businessy and more it's like, I know you're talking to me because you love video. I love video too, and here's why. Like I just love the fact that it's like ever-evolving. I love the fact that there's different like things coming on, different tools, different ways of telling the story. And I very much believe in in educating yourself when it comes to those cinema rules and when it comes to color science, when it comes to sound design, because like I said, if you if you too if you stay too comfortable for too long, you're going to you're you're going to feel threatened by by people coming in that might be simple content creators. And no, and no, no kind of like uh dig at them or anything. I love all the content creators that are in the valley. I think they're extremely talented. But I think the ones that are honest with themselves know that videographers and them, for the most part, serve a different, serve a totally different kind of kind of demand. One is serving servicing immediacy and the fact that they will get all these these moments within 24 hours. And the other, at least what they should be doing if they're if they're really, really into their craft, is servicing this this fulfilling story making for them. Like they're they're servicing more than just like the beautiful one-off clips. They're cute, they're creating a little movie to make you feel a certain way, not necessarily see a specific thing, but to feel a certain way. And I feel as though that can only really happen if you get really, really deep into the weeds of like what it is to make to make a movie.

SPEAKER_00 30:43

It's funny that we're talking about this because literally last this last week, I had released a video about this very thing. Um and I'm I'm more like you, I'm very libertarian with the rules. I'm in the camp of you should understand the fundamentals, you should learn the rules, know what they mean, know what they do, know the feelings they impart. But you should also get back to the like the basic concept of what our job ultimately is, and that is to document the moment, whatever the cost. And if that means that you have to sacrifice your shutter, then do it. If that means that you have to because let's just paint this scenario where it's a beginner or it's someone like me that's 13 years in. There, when it comes to the wedding day, most of the like gold moments like are completely unscripted, happen in a split second, and it's it's in those moments where that's where you're gonna learn the it's like the repetition of those scenarios where you start to develop that muscle memory, that instinct, that intuition of like, hey, I'm already, I'm already locked in. My exposure's good. I got the ND filter, it's dialed in. But there are other scenarios where your instinct is just crank the shutter for a second. And there's no right or wrong. It's just as long as you capture the moment. And I think a lot of people in those comments, because when you get into this topic specifically, there are a lot of people who are just very passionate about filmmaking and about cinema and just trying to do your best work. And I can't fault those people because I'm I I appreciate that stance. But the that passion can sometimes just kind of misconstrue the messaging of or just really the fundamentals of our job and our role, and that's to document. Um but to your point, you should learn those rules. You should learn the fundamentals, you should keep practicing. Like no one's gonna be a master at the craft. I mean, obviously, we're gonna get better. There's levels to filmmaking. Some people are at level one, some people are at level 30. Okay, like we're always meant to be learning and growing in this area and in this craft. But I just, I always try to just bring people back down to reality sometimes when it comes to wedding videography and filmmaking serving couples. It's just like we're there to serve too. Like we're there to you know, have that connection with you know their family's moments through our camera. So it's like if that means we have to kind of ditch the technical just to serve that moment, we should do it. But then we should also learn how to get better at um capturing that spontaneous moment through obviously, yeah, the right ways.

SPEAKER_01 33:43

Because at the end of the day, um I other wedding filmmakers or the or other end industry professionals are not are not my clients. And I know that goes without saying, but I think it'd be easy to be like, hey, I'm I'm glad that other filmmakers like my videos, and I obviously I'm a big fan of a lot of other people, but like you're not my clients, and I'm not your client. And it's very I'm very fortunate and lucky thing to think that like everyone seems to be extremely happy with their wedding videos right now, yeah. And and to say that like I drew inspiration from here or there, people drew inspiration from me, it's it becomes at the end of the day pretty irrelevant because like, are my clients happy? Did I do right by them? I think I just posted on Threads today, it's like you it's just about a matter of like, is my business uh founded in the passion that I have, and am I also over over-delivering? Because I think that's how you grow a creative business, is by not only delivering but over-delivering. And in a creative business, it's like, okay, obviously when it comes to deliverables, I'm that's it's pretty black and white, but like how am I over-delivering on like their expectations? Like, I don't I think you know to get to a spot where you have to where you want to be, you have to deal with maybe shooting at a venue or at a place where you're kind of shooting a lot at, and it's hard to draw inspiration from that, and maybe you find yourself in like a lot of backyards, and you you look you look to others that are whatever made at whatever it may be, like around the world, around the country. It's like you have to understand too, it's like it's really easy to compare, but at the same time, it's like how much are you over-delivering to your clients currently, as far as like this whatever it may be, like like time in their video, or just like these extra little tools that you that you did, or maybe these extra interviews, or just like a video that they just weren't expecting because like for let a thousand dollars, fifteen hundred dollars, you just blew them out of the water, and you blew them out of the water again and again and again and again and again. And it's and it's and it serves both of you because like it's really fun to do that. It's like yeah, it might be like a a comparable or not a minuscule, it might be like a considerable amount of work, but that's what I talked a lot about with John is the fact that like this job compared to like other jobs that I've had before, and I've shared the story a lot with when it came to my ICU nursing job and and whatever the other things that I used to do before, so like to help my family and to be a provider for my family. It's uh it's okay, it's always totally okay for me to over-deliver creatively on this job if it means I keep I keep getting to do this job because I am incredibly fulfilled. I keep I get to continue to see, I continue to keep seeing people on the best days of their lives, and they're happy to see me, and then just re-experience the best days of their lives by creating that film over and over and over and over again. So I never want to find myself in a spot where where I'm like, I don't, I'm kind of tired of this wedding video thing. It's like, as compared to what? Like the whole reason why it's like it's such a niche thing is because yes, I understand it's it's a hard thing to kind of build yourself in. It can be inconsistent, but if you build it, man, you deserve you deserve all the fulfillment. And and luckily, as like I continue to try to get better and better, like the the the monets, the monetary things that are necessities, such as like income, like that will follow. And it's kind of just like I pinch myself every day because this dream job, and all I have to continue to do is just over-deliver creatively, which I am more than happy to do.

SPEAKER_00 37:14

Yeah, you've shared so much wisdom wisdom and advice um already, but just to like kind of bookend this for people listening, I'd love to just kind of hear what's maybe just that one piece of advice that you would give your younger self getting started into the industry.

SPEAKER_01 37:34

Oh gosh. I don't know. I don't know. It's it's weird because I think an obvious thing to tell myself was to maybe like not go to nursing school and like at the same time, it's you you want to tell yourself things happen for a reason. And so maybe if if you were to write like my whole history on paper, the obvious thing would have been not to go to nursing school, just continue filming full time, totally lean into that. But at the same time, like my experience and my more value um my experience and what's even more valuable to me is my perspective on my career path was earned to me because of those experiences that I had where I was trying to balance like filmmaking with nursing school and then nursing and then having our kids early. And they were big character builders. And I I'm not gonna lie when I say I probably took maybe a more difficult route into this job than most would like to do themselves. But I think that's where the foundation of my passion comes from is that oh, I did this with an enormous chip on my shoulder and trying to prove myself and not only prove myself, but prove myself for the sake of like my family's well-being and and my children's well-being. And and because our goals are specific to my wife being at home with the kids. And to think that I can provide that living for them doing this extremely niche thing um alone is extremely is extremely humbling. It's extremely fortunate. I in Arizona at least, I I didn't really have any role models to look up to what when it came to doing this specific thing. It's like I don't I don't really know who to ask. And I'm super, super happy and grateful to have other people asking me how how so can I want that to be me, how do I do it? And so I I sometimes I have to bridle myself because I'll still associate shoot and second shoot for people all the time. And they might have like things that they're going through or or or other not things that they're necessarily asking me advice for, but I just want to just give it to them because like I was never I never had that privilege myself. Um, but to answer your question, it would be hard for me to say, like, oh, what could I have done differently? I think things worked out okay for me for for a reason, but I'm sure I wouldn't have said that like during COVID when I was like in the ICU. I'm sure I'm sure I probably would have been doing anything, anything else. But I'm really glad in retrospect to to you know be doing this, meeting cool people, being an educator in the space, having a cool retreat, having having really cool things, having like my best friends, like my all of my circles are in this industry. Yeah. And so I would just say that like if you if people the the one thing that I would say is that we get a lot of people coming to us, like, should I make that leap? Should I make that leap? And my gut reaction is say absolutely. But at the same time, I'm careful because I don't know their situations, I don't know what they have, what they have depending on them, who they have depending on them. But I always say, listen, I had everything to lose. I had everything to lose if it didn't work out. And I and I and I made it out. Okay. So if you have, if you really want it, there are people that want you to film their wedding. So I'd say I would um advocate for them to go for it.

SPEAKER_00 40:43

Yeah. That's the responsible, that's the responsible approach, right? It's like you can't just say, just go for it, you'll be okay, because yeah, you don't know. You don't know their their specifics. And so yeah, I'd love that answer. I love um, yeah, I just love this entire conversation, man. Thank you so much again for being on. For anyone that is listening that hasn't stepped into your world yet. I'd love to um get them plugged into where they can watch your beautiful work and hear more about um all the wisdom that you have in this industry.

SPEAKER_01 41:12

Whoa, okay. Now I'm excited. Um well, yeah, my uh my name is Kyle Houstis. Uh last name, H-U-S-T-I-S. You can basically find me just by putting in my name basically anywhere. I'm very my my first name is the nothing burger. My everyone has my first name. But where I'm lucky is that my last name is fairly unique. So Kyle Houstis is my is my Instagram tag. If you put in KyleHustis.com, it'll take you to my website. Um, the official name of my business is Houstis Film Co., but it'll still take you to all those different places. And like I said, it's Houston's Film Co. because like this is a studio. I have people that I rely on, I have people that help me with my editing process, I have people that help me with my shooting process. So it's a little bit easier to explain to clientele, like, hey, like silly guy is in charge of everything. Um, but this is this is definitely bigger than me now. So that's where that's where they can find me. Running away. This guy don't know what you say. It's a dangerous.