Well, to answer that question let’s first ask another question –
What is a typical wedding video?
When asked this question, most people say: 6 hour long shaky video shot by Uncle Bob on his handy-cam; long boring shots and no editing.
Or maybe you get lucky and you’ve had your wedding done by a professional wedding videographer – Yay!
What makes a great wedding video? Well, in short, a great wedding video is one that entertains everyone and is all about fun!
Videographer needs to have the eye to pick up on those great little moments, all the things you want to remember 10 years down the line; the smiles, the laughs, the tears, the sounds, the bridesmaids strutting their stuff on the dance floor, and the hi-jinks of the best man whose had one too many beers.
Wedding videography is about subtlety; it’s about documenting the day, not directing it. The job of the wedding videographer is similar to that of the wedding photographer, but vastly different. The photographer has to direct the couple and guests in order to stage those all important album shots. The videographer, on the other hand, needs to blend into the background like a ninja! He carefully captures all the magic of your special day in a “fly-on-the-wall” documentary style. A good videographer is one you don’t even notice. And the best shots he will get are those when you’re not aware of being filmed.
And then there’s the magic of editing. Obviously the technique has to be there in the filming stage, but ultimately it all comes down to what goes on in the edit suite; that’s where the magic is born.
A great wedding video is one with great editing, simple as that. If the editing isn’t there, the video is a non starter. A good editor builds a scene that flows using pace and rhythm, punchy cuts, upbeat music, sound bites, and scene dynamics. An editor who knows his craft is worth his weight in gold. We encourage you to choose great music for your video! Great music makes great wedding video!
What about equipment?
To put it bluntly, your videographer MUST have the right equipment; He’ll have at least one professional DSLR camera to do the job, but by using two he can capture a selection of wide, mid, and close up shots at the ceremony and speeches – variety is everything.
Hiring a second videographer is even better. One documents all the main events, the other captures details and fun, special moments.
Audio, audio, audio
A good videographer will have a professional shotgun mic mounted on the camera and a radio mic which will be hooked onto the Groom’s belt during the ceremony; the audio levels have to be top notch – can’t have the “I Do’s” distorting like a robot!
As far as editing is concerned Final Cut Pro by Apple has become the industry favourite; its extremely powerful software, opening up many editing possibilities. Sony Vegas, Premiere Pro, and Avid are also good. Magic Bullet is great for colour grading, although effective colour grading can be done in all of the above editing applications.
Many videographers offer Blu-ray discs so you can watch your video back on an HD television in full high definition. This is great, but as long as your video is shot in high definition, watching it back on a standard DVD is just fine. This is actually how shooting for TV has worked for many years; pictures are shot on HD cameras and once the programme is edited it is broadcast in standard definition (with the exception of HD programmes). So while Blu-ray discs are all the rage, they’re not essential.
