Photomatic

Photomatic was the response to being asked to VJ at a wedding. Not so sure that scenes of urban escape would really be the thing, I started wondering what kind of service or thing might enhance a wedding. The bride and groom had plenty of photos stretching back already on their computer, so showing them somehow was an obvious start. And thinking about how people sign wedding books, it became clear. A kind of digital signing-book, taking and displaying group photos atop a slideshow of the couple’s history. Something to entertain during the wedding, and generate a matching set of group photos for posterity.

So I made a full-screen application that emulated the print design of the wedding invites, that animated a slideshow of photos drawn from a folder and on top of this animated in and out a randon ‘hand’ of polaroid styled photos taken from the day, using a tethered camera and a big button to start the 3-2-1 timer. Run on a nicely designed monitor and put alongside the signing book, this was an elegant way of dealing with the history of the day, showing the past and capturing the present as the groups came up and wrote their wishes for the couple’s future. It also kept the kids well entertained, with many a silly face pulled and shown alongside the various posing relations.

When I do something like this again, I might have to think of a better name though…