Recruiting Your Talent

Role: Videographer 

Contact: Mutahar - 07845021073
Email: info@masamproductions.co.uk 

As our company is growing we are looking to recruit and expand our team. Masam Productions are a group of hard working individuals who have the desire to achieve aspirations above their ability. The team have the talent and passion to capture the best footages from a wedding or an event. As a company, we are not satisfied of capturing any old footage, we pride ourselves in being creative, unique and think innovatively. We want to capture the wedding/event in such a way that it reminisces those beautiful moments of your special day. Therefore, when it comes to hiring/recruiting someone, we require a similar kind of personality - someone who is as dedicated as we are and also yearns to reach maximum heights.

We are looking for an enthusiastic, motivated and ambitious individual to join our small but dynamic MP team. The person appointed will be working on various projects under the management of our Director and also should be able to work collaboratively with other members of staff. 

A few points to help you decide if this job is for you are stated below: 

Requirements:- 

• An individual with appropriate knowledge - e.g. media industry and filming.
• Can operate cameras (preferably a DSLR camera, but not a problem if you can't as you will be trained). 
• Creative mind, willing to bring in new ideas and put in maximum effort to move the company forward.
• Experience of filming of any sort (preferable, again not a necessity).

If you are interested, please email us your CV and samples of any previous work. Also, in the email please state why you think you would be suitable for this post.

We look forward to hearing from you soon :)

MP go all Upbeat at Iqra's Birthday!!!

After a series of weddings here comes a...

BIRTHDAY!

A child's 1st birthday marks an important stage in a person's life, whether it's for the parents or for the child themselves. As all the parents out there must know that getting through the first year of your child's life is a great accomplishment! Your child has grown from a newborn to a toddler who is now probably just about to take their first few steps. Throughout this period, you've comforted him/her through their sleepless nights, soothed them through teething, helped them while they learned to crawl, the list is just endless. You have every reason to celebrate and make it an elaborate event so that it is just perfect for your little one!

This brings us on to Iqra's 1st Birthday. Here's a snapshot of the birthday girl!

Isn't she just adorable?!

Salman & Dipa nicely planned their little princess's big day. They made it a fun and amazing 1st birthday for  Iqra. It was a great laugh filming this one, all thanks to the family for making us feel welcome yet again. A big thank you to Iqra's mum for making our job so easy and being helpful.

So for this video we decided to do something a little different than the usual style we use for MP edits. We wanted to create a film that matched the tempo and atmosphere of the actual party so we decided to go for an mellow upbeat track! Yes, UPBEAT lol!

We all have different tastes in music, some of us prefer mellow tracks because it relaxes our mind and makes the film peaceful whereas others prefer upbeat to drive energy and make the film fun to watch. Some individuals are versatile enough to switch between the two. 

Which do you prefer?
 Mellow/Upbeat or BOTH??

The track used for the trailer of this film is called 'Gal Mitti Mitti Bol' which matched perfectly to the tempo of the actual day. There were some slow moments but there were also equally high beat moments. The effects side was an inspiration from the original video.

The Trailer:  

Just to conclude this post, here are a few pics from the day: 

Don't you think the cake is just amazing?? Such a cool cake for a cute little princess.

So there you go guys...we CAN do an UPBEAT edit!!! lol

Hope you all enjoyed reading this post, feel free to leave any comments/suggestions.

Not forgetting to thank the team for their hard work on the day:

Mutahar Hussain - Cameraman

Zihad Ahmed - Assistant Cameraman

Nilufa Babel - Photographer

Eid Mubarak

Hasn't Ramadan come to an end so fast? At the beginning of this holy month we all thought that this year's Ramadan is going to be ever so looong! But now coming to think of it, it's gone just like that! 

The MP team would like to wish all their brothers & sisters EID MUBARAK. 

Also, don't forget that our contest starts from tomorrow!!! So make sure you snap away this Eid and capture all those precious moments that you encounter and send them to US.

Another little update on us is that MP are now on TWITTER! So make sure you follow us!!!

http://twitter.com/MasamPro

Wishing you all a very happy & prosperous Eid-ul-Fitr. 

Participate in our 'Eid 2012' Project

First of all, Ramadan Mubarak to all our brothers and sisters!
Hope everyone's fasting experience this year is going well! Today's blog post is to inform you about an interesting and one of the first few projects MP have underway...

EID 2012!

Eid is a celebration that marks the end of Ramadan. It is a festival that is so close and dear for many of us out there. On this note, we thought why not create our 1st project based on this special and sacred occasion.

MP are trying to produce a slideshow/video on how individuals from different cultures and generations celebrate Eid.

The reason why we're telling you all this is because:

We would like YOU to get involved! 

Send us photos of how you've celebrated Eid 2012, we will then select the best ones and display them in our video production.

The photos can be: 

-fun

-random

-exciting

-any special dishes made by you

-your local mosque
-people praying
-people embracing

-outings with friends and family

Literally ANYTHING but concurrently showing the religious values. 

So now the BIG question that is probably running through your mind:

'Why should I participate?'

Because there is a  *MP giveaway* 

ENTER and you will have the chance to win a 20% OFF UNLIMITED VOUCHER which can be used on ANY of our services, whether it's a photo shoot, filming an event, photography for an event, or anything else we offer.

It's TOTALLY your choice!!!

There are only 35 vouchers available so make sure you get your entries in as quick as possible after Eid. 

If your photos are selected, you will get this amazing offer.

N.B:   if you're one of the lucky people to receive this MP giveaway then it can be used over and over again! There is NO expiry date! Isn't that just great?!

GUIDELINES

1. STARTS from 18th/19th August 2012 (depending on what day Eid is!) 

2. CLOSING DATE: 2nd September 2012.

3. The contest is open internationally!

4. Please also state in the email which country or which part of the UK you are from.
 5. The number of photos participants can send is unlimited.

 Email Us:

info@masamproductions.co.uk  

Make sure you title the email as: 

 'MP giveaway - Eid 2012' 

So that's it! 

Hope you all have a great Eid with your loved ones! 

Have fun selecting the photos you wish to send us, we look forward to seeing all your entries! :)

Email/Facebook us if you have any queries. 

Jahid + Jahanara~Wedding at Trinity Park

I've known Jahid since my teenage years (yes...it's been quite a while!). For this reason, it was a great pleasure to be asked to shoot his Mehndi & Wedding. Jahid's family were a bit more than a handful lol but all a great bunch - we had a good laugh working with them. Jahanara was really co-operative, which made it so much easier for us to work with the newly wedded bride. She seemed of a friendly nature making her the perfect match for Jahid. The wedding was held in May at Trinity Park in Ipswich, the venue was amazing! The bride's family provided great service and all the guests were looked after very well, making it such a pleasant day!

A shot of the beautiful couple ~ taken by Nilufa

So, finally got around to editing Jahid's wedding video, the trailer was done pretty much immediately as I knew exactly how I wanted the end result to be. Before I get onto the main film, check out the wedding trailer (best viewed in 720p HD) : 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MghbFLbk1ks&feature=plcp

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For the main film, I wanted to produce something a little different due to Jahid being the romantic Bollywood filmy type guy lol and his choice of songs are ones which we all grew up listening to. Hence why I didn't just want to throw everything onto one film and make it so long that it takes forever to end. So, I decided to divide everything; trailer, main movie, nikkah, registry and deleted scenes. Just thought this would be a more enjoyable approach for Jahid and his family to view adding the comedy element to it. 

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The beginning of the film was kept simple, just with cross fades and colour grading was the vintage style. But then I suddenly remembered that I had to do the family intro aswell! This is when I thought that it would be a great idea to introduce the family members with the main movie playing in the background. An example of this is below:

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Dancing is always a bit of entertainment. A nice way to end this couple's wedding film was to make the dance sequences feature with the credits (names of songs, names of the MP team, etc).

Dancing sequences with the credits.

Different effects were used to go with the dancing sequence.

After completing the main film edit, it was time to move on to designing the DVD menus, which I had trouble with! I couldn't gather how to design it, so decided to work on the DVD cover first. Kept up with the vintage and old theme, used the old textured paper as the background and added the couple's image. Poster effect was added and Gaussian blur to give it an old poster paint effect, so that it matches the rest of the cover. Floral and pattern effects were then added on the backside of the DVD cover. 

DVD Cover - Here, I realised that I could carry this forward to the DVD menu! Therefore, I used the same textured paper, kept the same kind of title pattern and added a lense flare. A motion video was then added on the right side so that when the menu is viewed the video will play for 30 seconds and then all the buttons for each section would appear at the bottom. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few screenshots while working on this: 

After all the chapters and sections were added, a simulation run was carried out and here is the final outcome:

                                       

After all the testing was done, I was happy to send the final DVD over to Jahid. 

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To finish off here's a preview of the Mehndi and Wedding:

Taken by Nilufa - a big thanks to her for the extensive input! It was great working with her.  Make sure you all check out her blog http://mangowhirl.blogspot.co.uk/ and also have a read of her  recent post on her experience with Masam Productions!

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Mehndi

Wedding

The Registry 

Bride looking elegant

 

Bidaai

We really enjoyed working on this project especially it being a close friend's wedding. All the best wishes from the MP team to Jahid & Jahanara (our new bhabhi lol) for their future. 

The Right Videographer

A subject area that has recently become a BIG issue to us and we want you to be aware of it! Especially those brides and grooms who are planning their perfect wedding; Guys and girls, you need to keep your eyes wide open and fish out simple things that may turn the tables, making your wedding not so perfect!

As we go to more weddings, we find that the other wedding party are hiring cameramen that aren't doing their job properly at all! By all means, they may seem that they're confident and know what they're doing but in actual fact they have no idea. 

E.g. We had the gratification of working with this pleasant videographer who thought he was the next Steven Spielberg lol. He was moving about, jumping in and out, shouting the whole place down, telling kids to p*** off and even having the nerve to blame the MP team for shots we had captured but he couldn't due to lack of time management.

"Rub salt into the wound" - He wasn't even using a HD camera!!

By now, you may have gathered that he is not the NIGHTMARE you want filming your wedding.

So just a few points to consider when hiring a videographer best suited to you...

TOP 10 Tips 

1. Ask: how many years of experience they have and whether they have any qualifications.

2. Try to meet him/her before the event to get familiar with their personality, as you may not want an awkward cameraman to work with on your wedding day!

3. Check previous samples of their work.

4. Make sure he/she is using a HD camera!

5. Ask exactly what services they will provide.

6. You'll get what you pay for! Cheap price may sound great and what we all want but the final product may not be what you hoped for.

7. Equipments used.

8. Editing - how is it done? According to customer requirements or using their own ideas?

9. Make sure they are well dressed on the day of the event.

10. Finally, make sure they have all the necessary licenses and paperwork to carry out their occupation.

Hope this helped all the stressed out brides & grooms in finding atleast a decent videographer who will make their day memorable. Do ask more questions if you need further help, or if you've had any good/bad experiences you would like to share with us...go ahead!

We love hearing them :)

Free Blu-ray

Hey people, only a couple of weeks left now to get your free Blu-ray copy, so make a confirmed booking before 31st July 2012. Doesn't matter when the event is just get your booking in!

MP website gets a new look

Hey guys, check out our new look! 

We've gone all vintage this time, what do you think?

Feel free to leave any suggestions, we look forward to hearing them!

www.masamproductions.co.uk