Justin Porter believes that each wedding 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 workforce to search out the tales and moments that far too typically go uncaptured. JPM’s distinctive, documentary-style wedding ceremony movies, dropped at 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 middle of each undertaking JPM takes on, supported by his workforce and his important gear. We had the chance to take a seat 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 “acquired into weddings unintentionally.” In truth, 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 new 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 front room and it appears like a film was an indication [that] you made it.”
Finally, 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. Typically it was only for some pizza,” Porter says. However he was glad to be getting paid to do what he liked. Nonetheless, all of it modified when he did his first wedding 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 targeted on weddings and, in consequence, his talent experience grew. Nonetheless, over time, he grew uninterested in the same-old, tried-and-true components of wedding ceremony movies.
“I bear in mind telling my spouse … I’m accomplished doing weddings. I’m tired of it. I’m capped. I actually need to do one thing inventive. This isn’t fulfilling.”
However she gave him a pivotal piece of recommendation that shifted his whole method to taking pictures weddings: “It is best 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 lovely 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 carry a light-weight? Why can’t I interview a visitor?” Porter tells us.
This method led to the formation of JPM and a wholly new fashion of wedding 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 rejoice the connection via storytelling, this fashion is correct up their alley.
To get these candid moments, Porter and his workforce 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 acquired to construct a bond. You nearly acquired to really feel like I’m simply your good friend so as to open up and actually simply be snug peeling again the layers.”
That method interprets into emotional interviews with relations, candid conversations with visitors and, typically, once-in-a-lifetime footage. “We filmed a marriage final September, and … the bride’s dad handed away. And we now have like one of the best father of the bride interview, like sit down, on digital camera interview doc fashion. And we put collectively like slightly 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 acquired 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 attainable with out dependable gear. Early on, Porter discovered that lesson the onerous method. 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. Every thing was gone … I’m speaking every part.”
The expertise compelled him to overtake his whole workflow. As we speak, he depends on a 3-2-1 backup technique that features two NAS programs and automatic uploads to Dropbox. “It was the toughest tablet to swallow, but it surely wasn’t almost as onerous as [making the] name. I needed to name 4 brides and inform them I don’t have a single clip. Like your complete wedding ceremony, each single reminiscence that we’re presupposed to be getting [was] gone.”
This is among the experiences that underscores the significance of protecting his information protected, as a result of nobody desires to inform a pair that they misplaced their footage of their big day.
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 evaluation on these items and I slammed this difficult drive. I’m speaking every part I had … I dropped it in water on a livestream.” The drive nonetheless labored high-quality regardless of all his exams. “I used to be like, ‘Guys, that is one of the best freaking onerous drive ever … I simply begin spitting out information 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. Growth. 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 information is protected.
“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 whole 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 Categorical 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 wedding ceremony schedules. “We had been in Italy, for instance, we’re filming, we had been there for 5 days and nearly each day we ended at like 10 o’clock and needed to begin the subsequent day at like 9 a.m. or 10 a.m. And so … we’re drained, we’re simply scorching, 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 robust 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 acquired 300,000 followers.’ And I’m like, ‘300,000? What are you speaking about?’… I didn’t even have the app.”
As we speak, Porter shares every part from enhancing livestreams to behind-the-scenes footage, mixing training with authenticity. “The most important factor that I’ve discovered via my platform is [people] like to see our development and journey.” By his work telling the tales of others, Porter additionally desires 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 in the event you prefer it. And in the event you prefer it, run with it your method,’” Porter says. “Block out the noise …”
A brand new technique to do wedding 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 wedding 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’ll be able to go to owc.com.
