the light man

My name is Hector Gil and I not only own House of Films, but I also have a passion for Christmas decorations thanks to my parents… Ever since I was a child we would decorate our 4 foot Christmas tree and set it on top of our dinning room buffet to make it look bigger. At the time this was the largest fake tree that my parents could afford. At the same time we would put a plastic 3 foot Santa Claus on the porch and my dad would hang some lights on the gutter around the house . Thinking back to those days as I write this, I am very fortunate to have the parents that I have. Each year they would not do the traditional placement of gifts under the Christmas tree, but instead they always had fun with us and would hide them around the house. I remember one year that they made a peanut trail to the shed where they had placed all our presents.

As you can see, Christmas at our house was always fun and full of spirit. I would even receive calls from Santa Claus telling me I was on the naughty list and I was not going to get any gifts. This was the 80s, so no internet, no cell phones, just plain innocence and believing what I was told by Santa Claus. So yes, this HOUSE BELIEVES.

The older I became, the more involved I was with Christmas lights. And then came Clark Griswold (National Lampoon Christmas Vacation) with his “250 strands of lights, 100 individual bulbs per strand for a grand total of 25,000 lights”. From here on out, I was hooked. I knew I wanted more lights, so I pushed it even further. I knew I could do 25,000 lights and I did while living with my parents. And then my wife and I purchased a house and that number decreased due to property space to 20,000 lights.

So as the video below explains, I have a project plan that starts around Halloween as I do this mainly by myself and only on weekends. It’s a very exhausting month and many times this year between my full time job, our newborn daughter and wedding edits there were moments that I almost quit, but deep in my heart I couldn’t, especially that this year my wife and I will be sharing it for the first time with our first child. In the end it is all worth it the moment I turn on all the breakers, plug in all extension cords for the lighting ceremony that we have the day after Thanksgiving.

From here on out, quitting is not an option as I have to do it for my daughter and our family to enjoy what her daddy/husband creates. I promise to her, our first born, as long as her daddy is alive and can create his light show, he will do it for her (and future sibling) to enjoy. God, I ask to give me health and the strength each year to continue my decorations for our family. Merry Christmas to all…

Now sit back and enjoy a documentary that was filmed and edited by a good friend of mine a couple of years back.

About The Author

Hector Gil is a wedding videographer in Miami dedicated to creating a love story with each film edited. His focus is quality over quantity when creating a short film. Each film is unique in itself tailored to the couples likes and wants. In the end creating a lifelong short film allowing each couple to relive their day.

Hector Gil – who has written 83 posts on HOUSE of FILMS.