Wedding Cinematography Trends for 2012
We are filmmakers, making real-life films, and everyone is going to love being in the spotlight on your huge day.
My personal experience is that people feel energized by a film crew and love being in the spotlight.
I'm sure you'll agree given the popularity of Hollywood on mainstream culture today.
Let me put it another way: If you never become famous, your wedding day is the time for you and your guests to feel famous.
And who knows, hire the right person and your video might become viral.
We as cinematographers love to grab the couple away from the photographer for a quick moment and get special cinematic shots.
We can't do everything on the sidelines, we as filmmakers have to direct you in a friendly manner to make sure we are doing our job and getting the right shots to make a cinematic masterpiece.
Some scenes that I highly recommend being planned before the wedding and executed in-between photo sessions are:
These short, under 5 minute, videos are still my favorite to edit and showoff.
Share it on Facebook with your friends, and they will "like it" and then all their friends get to see it too.
You can become a celebrity overnight! The reason why these videos are perfect for online distribution, in contrast to a 10-20 minute "short wedding film" or a full 1 hour 30 minute "feature", is because studies have shown that Internet audiences have a short attention span, and require a faster-paced video of a shorter lenth or they will click away or get distracted by some link somewhere.
Every wedding cinematographer will have their own style, but there are some general styles to look for:
Be sure and look at their previous work.
If they don't have multiple online samples then don't risk it and look elsewhere.
You should consider yourself getting a really good deal for what you get in this day of age.
Don't just look at the ranked wedding videographers or cinematographers.
This profession is an art, and art is subjective, so choose the one you are drawn to personally.
My personal experience is that people feel energized by a film crew and love being in the spotlight.
I'm sure you'll agree given the popularity of Hollywood on mainstream culture today.
Let me put it another way: If you never become famous, your wedding day is the time for you and your guests to feel famous.
And who knows, hire the right person and your video might become viral.
We as cinematographers love to grab the couple away from the photographer for a quick moment and get special cinematic shots.
We can't do everything on the sidelines, we as filmmakers have to direct you in a friendly manner to make sure we are doing our job and getting the right shots to make a cinematic masterpiece.
Some scenes that I highly recommend being planned before the wedding and executed in-between photo sessions are:
- Close-up video of couple kissing, as cinematographer circles around the couple on a steadicam.
- Couple embracing hands and walking into the sunset.
- First meeting.
Groom has back to bride and turns around as bride walks up for first time.
Hugs and kisses. - On-the-fly use of props for comedic scenes.
These short, under 5 minute, videos are still my favorite to edit and showoff.
Share it on Facebook with your friends, and they will "like it" and then all their friends get to see it too.
You can become a celebrity overnight! The reason why these videos are perfect for online distribution, in contrast to a 10-20 minute "short wedding film" or a full 1 hour 30 minute "feature", is because studies have shown that Internet audiences have a short attention span, and require a faster-paced video of a shorter lenth or they will click away or get distracted by some link somewhere.
Every wedding cinematographer will have their own style, but there are some general styles to look for:
- Documentary Interview Style: Interview of couple talking about how they met/fell in love interspersed with footage from the wedding.
- Documentary Style: This style is edited, so do not confuse this with just "raw footage".
We cut out the garbage and leave-in the emotionally pertinent scenes.
There is a lot of artistry that goes into arranging real-life footage in such a way to create an emotionally compelling story. - Combined Documentary and Cinematic: Combined use of natural audio and video combined with cinematic storytelling with the additional use cinematic tools such as steadicams, dollies, creative focusing, and lots of focus on the details.
- Our favorite. - Music Video: Short length and highly cinematic.
Cuts out most of the natural audio and adds songs throughout the video.
An emphasis on the best shots, at the discretion of the editor.
This type of video is good for showing off on Facebook or for showing friends and family during get togethers.
It can also be called a Wedding Highlights Video.
It's probably what you're used to viewing online, but be warned, this is not the final product you are paying for, at least for my business.
What you are really paying for is a full DVD including ALL the major events of the wedding, not just the top 1% highlights.
Be sure and look at their previous work.
If they don't have multiple online samples then don't risk it and look elsewhere.
You should consider yourself getting a really good deal for what you get in this day of age.
Don't just look at the ranked wedding videographers or cinematographers.
This profession is an art, and art is subjective, so choose the one you are drawn to personally.