Tidings of Comfort and Joy 2023

Extra Info - This section is shared across all our videos and lets me give updates on things in one place. This is all unnecessary and is optional to read, but some people like to read, and sometimes I like to write.

My Schedule

Below is my schedule so you can get an idea of my timeline for working on videos. I work on these in the order they are filmed. I'll list all the things I'm videoing and editing below. (Unless its some quick project) Not all of these will be discs, some of these will be delivered online only, or privately so they will be removed from this video ordering page when they're done. But this way you (and I) can see my pipeline of where I am in filming and editing. Filming a performance also takes a few days away from editing whatever I was working on. I may know of other performances that I may be filming but have not been confirmed yet. Once confirmed I will add them to the list.

Schedule Below Last updated 11/14/2024

Currently Editing

October 20, 2024 (Sunday) - Chamber Music Raleigh - Jennifer Curtis, Ieva Jokubaviciute with Brooklyn Rider's Michael Nicholas

November 2, 2024 (Saturday) - McGregor Hall - The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Upcoming projects

November 9, 2024 (Saturday) - Franklinton Area Community Theater - Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

November 17, 2024 (Sunday) - Chamber Music Raleigh - Galvin Cello Quartet

November 30, 2024 (Saturday) - Vance County Arts Council - Tidings of Comfort and Joy

December 1, 2024 (Sunday) - Chamber Music Raleigh - The String Queens

December 8, 2024 (Sunday) - Chamber Music Raleigh - Vega String Quartet

January 26, 2024 (Sunday) - Chamber Music Raleigh - Trio Flamecrest

February 15, 2025 (Saturday) - McGregor Hall - The Bridges of Madison County

February 23, 2025 (Sunday) - Chamber Music Raleigh - Alessandro Marangoni

March 16, 2025 (Sunday) - Chamber Music Raleigh - Calidore String Quartet

April 27, 2025 (Sunday) - Chamber Music Raleigh - Terence Blanchard

May 11, 2025 (Sunday) - Chamber Music Raleigh - Neave Piano Trio

 

 

Somehow I became the guy that makes these videos. And that's ok, I truly enjoy this. Note I do this in my "spare" time, and I take my time to work on the edits to get a good video. I video for a few groups and not really looking for more, but if you do want me to video something (and dont need it quickly) or do editing work let me know. I'd rather video a play than it not get videoed at all. I do not do weddings. My setup is best for plays, conferences, and music performance types of programs. While I may not have top-tier equipment, I'm proud to have assembled a high-quality kit that balances performance with budget. I'm humble about my skills, and do not have any staff to help with this. I do this has a hobby mostly.  (Although my wife helps as an assistant when moving, setting up and taking down equipment). But somehow you all seem to enjoy what I come up with so lets do this!

Each video I can spend from 20 - 40 hours on depending on the program length and complexity. During editing I carefully select the angles and editing I can use for every minute of the show. These are filmed live with multiple cameras so I can choose the camera angle later in editing.  There are no 'takes', you will see mistakes by the performers, and by myself.  When I show up to video it is usually the very first time I've seen this show.  I am usually not involved in a show's rehearsals or planning at all.  And we're filming live in front of an audience, so there are no re-takes, or positioning of cameras for a scene or shot or anything like that.  This is the charm of live theater. I try to make the videos cinematic, I want you to watch these on a large screen in your home theater. Unless explicitly given permission to use the graphics and logos for a show, I also make the graphic designs. I recreate the logos, I make the artwork for the disc cases. I used to (and still sometimes) use an artwork provider we subscribe to for clip art style elements and put them all together with Photoshop. Since the start of 2022 I have been experimenting with AI programs, and most of the disc artwork from 2022 to current has been produced as original art with the help of AI and my art direction in various tools to create new original art. I put together and edit your images into a slideshow and videos from you all as a bonus feature. I also manage these web products and ordering pages and inventory. All this is extra work above just videoing your performance and why your video is not yet ready.

When a group plans a show and they want to video it, they need to also get video rights as an add on to their performance license. We can't get these rights because we're not the ones putting on the play. The group putting on the show has to get these rights. Then, they either hire us to record the show, or they let us record it for them and allow us to sell the video. Most of these licenses say the video can't be shared or shown to the public, so please don't share any of these videos. You can't even find these pages from our main website. You need to know these special links to get here.  Most licenses specifically include wording that digital distribution is not allowed, so that is why we do not offer digital files, but we can if the license allows.

And since we are usually not allowed to offer digital files, I highly suggest you invest in a Blu-ray player.  A decent blu-ray player is like $80 new. All our videos have a blu-ray option (not 4k blu-ray just regular blu-ray).  But as a personal note, an OLED TV, a 4K Blu-ray Player (I suggest Panasonic UB820) and 4k Blu-ray discs will give you the absolute best video, and at least a 2.1 surround sound system will give the best audio quality you can experience.  Even regular Blu-ray quality is way better than streaming online.  And having your own player will open up a whole world of wonderful movies and shows to you that are not available on streaming services.  With owning a physical disc you will never have an issue of choosing which streaming service to subscribe to this month, and you will never have an issue of the movie or show being removed from the streaming service.

We know that some groups may find it hard to pay for video services, so we offer different options to fit their needs.

The first option is that the group pays us a one-time fee. This fee lets us record the show at a set price. This way, everyone in the show can get a video of their performance, and the group pays for it. Depending on the deal, the group may get a digital file and/or a certain number of DVD or Blu-ray copies of the show to give out as they wish.

The second option is that the group lets us sell videos to the cast and their families. In this case, the group doesn't pay anything. We let the cast and their families buy videos of the show from us. We handle all the sales, including taking orders and shipping the product. This saves the group from doing this extra work. We cover our expenses only by selling these discs. We're hoping we sell enough discs to cover our costs, so please buy a disc if you like these videos.

We are also open to other ideas and suggestions if these options do not work for you.

In either case, the funds we receive from selling the video discs are used to cover various expenses, including equipment and supplies, computer and software for editing, manufacturing and printing the final discs, and website maintenance. We arrive fully equipped with our own video cameras, audio recorders, batteries, recording media, cables, mounts, stands, and various other accessories to ensure the best possible recording quality within a small budget.

If you'd like to see a BTS of how I do some of this, heres some videos I made

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap0GNt-J5m0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55I99MCEPjk

8/28/2023 - Store Updates - We've recently updated our video checkout pages and moved them to our own website for smoother management. Previously, we used to manually produce the older discs while a third party made the newer ones. This created complications in the management and checkout of multiple items. We also offered discs without labels or cases, as a cost-effective option. However, these 'bare' discs were not popular, and managing them doubled our inventory and checkout work. As a result, we have stopped offering these plain discs. Now, all our products will come as a full package with a case and printed artwork.

Handcrafting discs with printing and cutting the artwork was a time-consuming process, which is why we switched to manufacturing. We've stopped making discs by hand but will distribute the remaining stock of handmade discs first. If you order an older title that we have not yet formatted for manufacturing, it may take an extra couple of days for us to prepare and ship it as I need to revise the artwork for the older discs to fit the manufacturer's format.  I'm also taking the opportunity to redo some of the designs to make sure we use original artwork.

In addition to online orders, we offer discs in our retail store and at events where we set up booths. This requires us to keep a stock of discs, which we order from the manufacture, and then ship to our store.

We've revised our checkout process and pricing to account for these changes. DVDs and Blu-rays are now available directly on our site, with the shipping cost included in the price. If we have discs in stock, you can still pick them up from our store to avoid waiting for delivery. But as we bear the shipping costs to get the discs to us, we can't offer a discount for store pick-ups. If we don't have them in stock, we can have the manufacturer ship directly to you if needed.

The cheapest way to get a disc is to visit our booth. Our last booth event was on August 7th, 2023, at Franklinton High School during the Beauty and the Beast auditions. Discs are $25 for DVDs and $30 for Blu-rays, plus tax, and we accept cards for payment. We have a variety of new and older titles available. We're likely to hold the next booth event in late winter or early spring 2024, if we're invited back during the cast party like last year.  We do not do booths at public shows, as these discs aren't for the public.  We can do a booth at a more private event like auditions or cast parties that are intended for cast and their families.

The next cheapest way is to come into our shop and pay with cash, check, cashapp or venmo. This way you can save paying the electronic payment fee that the card companies get. Feel free to give us a call to verify we have what youre looking for in stock.

If you have any issues checking out on our site please let me know!  It is a bit tricky for the online store especially when we're doing pre-orders as the system insists the item is not in stock, so it can disable ordering.  They SHOULD be available to order, just listed as on back order, but sometimes that process doesnt work quite right. If you are unable to order a disc please let me know so we can correct!  To access the online store pages like your login, account, cart, etc click in the top menu Online Store menu, then Store Functions.

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Recently Completed

September 28, 2024 (Saturday) - Chamber Music Raleigh - Verona & Borromeo Quartets (at NC Museum of History)

July 13, 2024 (Saturday) - Henderson Rec Players - The SpongeBob Musical

August 3, 2024 (Saturday) - Henderson Rec Players - Alice in Wonderland Jr.

August 24, 2024 (Saturday) - Henderson Rec Players - The Crucible

June 16, 2024 (Sunday) - Chamber Music Raleigh - Solomon Eichner & Amit Peled

May 12, 2024 (Sunday) - Chamber Music Raleigh - Reveron Piano Trio

April 13, 2024 (Saturday) - Franklinton Area Community Theatre - Schoolhouse Rock Live Jr

March 3, 2034 (Sunday) - Chamber Music Raleigh - Israeli Chamber Project

February 25, 2024 (Sunday) - Chamber Music Raleigh - The String Queens

February 4, 2024 (Sunday) - Chamber Music Raleigh - Ivalas String Quartet

December 9, 2023 (Saturday) - McGregor Hall - A Christmas Carol & A Charlie Brown Christmas (Draft is done, sent to directors for approval.)

November 4, 2023 (Saturday) - Franklinton Area Community Theatre - Beauty and the Beast

October 29, 2023 (Sunday) - McGregor Hall - Ragtime

November 25, 2023 (Saturday) - Vance County Arts Council - Tidings of Comfort and Joy 2023

October 15, 2023 (Sunday) - Chamber Music Raleigh - Mac McClure & Juan Carlos Higuita

September 24, 2023 (Sunday) - Chamber Music Raleigh - Terra String Quartet

August 27, 2023 (Sunday) - Chamber Music Raleigh - Ieva Jakobaviciute & Itamar Zorman

August 12, 2023 (Saturday) - Henderson Rec Players - A Midsummer Night's Dream

July 29, 2023 (Saturday) - Henderson Rec Players - Cinderella

July 16, 2023 (Sunday) - Chamber Music Raleigh - Pedro Giraudo Tengo Quartet

June 24, 2023 (Saturday) - Henderson Rec Players - Seussical Jr

June 11, 2023 (Sunday) - Chamber Music Raleigh - Ciompi Quartet

May 21, 2023 - Chamber Music Raleigh - Merz Piano Trio

April 1, 2023 Franklinton Area Community Theatre - Oliver!

March 12, 2023 Chamber Music Raleigh - Helios Piano Trio

March 4, 2023 McGregor Hall - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

February 26, 2023 Chamber Music Raleigh - Imani Winds

February 23, 2023 Chamber Music Raleigh - The Art of Ornamentation - Mark Kroll

December 17, 2022 Northeast Piedmont Chorale - Winter Concert