1. It’s your wedding video… not a Hollywood Film set!
Your wedding day is all about you, so you should be able to enjoy the time with your new husband/wife and family. However, some companies descend upon your wedding day and take over the whole show. Whilst they may obtain some pretty shots, this is at the expense of the couples time and patience. The best approach is to let the day unfold and capture it with as little fuss as possible.
2. All the Gear… No Idea!
There are some fundamental elements of a wedding video that can make the finished article look amateurish irrespective of the camera used. Shaky footage, Poor focus, wrong colors, poor composition, cheesy music, poor choice of shots, zooming in and out, lack of emotion… the list goes on. It doesn’t matter how good your camera is… without a thoughtful and technically competent approach to filming a wedding you are left with something that resembles an 80’s style home movie.
The answer is to watch not just the show reels on a company’s website but ask for the opportunity to watch several full wedding videos.
3. Special Effects… but no storyline!
Some people may quite like special effects including heart-shaped borders, spinning gold rings or confetti falling across the screen like a raging snow blizzard. However, these effects are already very dated and 20 years from now will make your video look very old.
A more preferable option is to avoid special effects and just use a combination of beautiful imagery and music.
4. But I can’t hear what they’re saying!
A tell-tale difference between professional and amateur video production is the quality of the sound. Wireless microphones capture crystal clear sound during the ceremony and speeches. These microphones are small enough to slip in the Groom’s pocket during the ceremony and speeches. We will never listen to anything that was recorded before or after the vows, there is simply no time for that. All we need is perfect audio of your vows so you can hear then in your films.
5. One camera or Two?
The most noticeable problem with using one camera to film a wedding is the ‘Zoom Effect’. The human eye is not capable of zooming and so when we watch a video where the cameraman is constantly zooming in and out and panning around the room it can feel quite sickening. Using two cameras negates this issue as you can switch between cameras. Besides, we would want to see both the bride walking down the aisle and groom’s reaction when he sees her for the first time. At least two cameras are a must at our weddings.
6. My Friend Has Offered to Film Our Wedding
Any couple considering a wedding video will no doubt have thought whether a friend or family member could perform the job and save some money. Here are a couple of points to consider:
- Quality of the footage will not be as good as a professional format video camera, especially under low light conditions.
- Sound quality will be poor.
- Artistic styling and composition will be lacking.
- Quality of the final package will be limited. Shaky cameras, blurred focus and excessive zooming will all affect the final video.
- Does your friend have the time and skill to edit the final video and produce a quality wedding DVD?
- Your friend will have little time throughout the day to enjoying the wedding itself.
- When will you finally get to see the final video?
7. Where’s the Emotion?
In theory anyone can pick up a video camera and press record, but it is the combination of professional camera work and editing that develop the emotion to convey such a monumental day. A professional will pay attention to the small details and convey them with a combination of beautiful imagery and music. Some of the most emotional moments of the day are brides first look with her Dad and later with the groom. Dad walking bride down the aisle, wedding vows, first kiss, first dance, parent dances, toasts and many crazy dance moves on the dance floor, lol. Beautifully and professionally captured footage is very important, but the magic happens in post production when we add the music and some audio voice overs to the films and highlights. This is when you get those goosebumps and tears.
8. Wedding Cameraman & Editor
Some companies employ a number of cameramen to work at more than one venue and then return the footage to be edited by a separate editor. Whilst this allows them to develop their business to cover multiple events on the same day it lacks the personal attention that is deserving of such an important day. We do 1 wedding at a time and our team is carefully prepared for the big day starting with a precise timeline, locations, directions, contact numbers, shot list, list of couples expectation shots and photographer’s info. We take our job seriously and approach it with huge responsibility.
9. Experience Counts
It can be beneficial to choose a wedding videographer who works on a broad range of projects besides wedding videography. The variety of experiences compliment the ability to film your wedding and can bring fresh and contemporary ideas into being. Wedding videographer must have plenty of experience shooting and editing wedding films and needs to be ready for most unpredictable scenarios. Anything can happen during the wedding and he/she needs to be ready to record at all times. It’s a live event, not a Hollywood movie where things are rehearsed and shot multiple times. At a wedding, everything happens one time, no repeats! This is why the experience is crucial!
10. Wedding Songs
Music is such an incredibly important part of your wedding video because it ties everything together, personalises the film and can generate a whole range of emotions. It’s worth collecting together a large number of tunes that you like and leave the videographer to select which ones to use throughout your final Wedding trailer, highlights and films. Since the copyright law went into extreme measures a few years ago, the newest trend is to use instrumental, royalty free music from various sources. These beautiful instrumentals add incredible emotion to the final product and sounds much better than any commercial music.,
