Capturing Your Wedding Moments With a Videographer
Pictures in Motion
A lot of what I said about your photographer applies to your videographer (If you haven’t read that article yet, click here to read that one next). You want to talk to them on the phone to get their vibe, and make sure you like their style in terms of look. But here are some things to look at, whether you book me or not, when looking into a videographer.
Types of Videos
Types of videos is another way of saying length. Usually, there will be a highlight video/trailer, and a full or feature-length/documentary. The highlight/trailer is just that, a shortened, typically 2-5 minute video of the most important parts of your day. A lot of videographers will have the lead camera shooting just this for the whole day, while the other cameras shoot the full-length/documentary video. The exact time for both of these depends on your wedding. If you have a full ceremony with a mass, your video will be longer, but if you have a short ceremony and quick speeches, it'll be shorter. That's why I specifically don't have time limits on any of the videos, just estimates based on previous weddings.
Shooting Style
Just like photos, everyone has their style. Now this isn't about the physical color of the video, but how they shoot and edit down your videos. The main three are documentary (not to be confused with the documentary timing), cinematic, and reality TV. If you think of them in terms of their Netflix equivalent it's pretty straightforward. The documentary style is very standard, just getting what's happening on camera sort of style, and because of the long format nature, is a normal style for the documentary type of film. Cinematic involves more camera movements, and slow motion, and is normally used for the highlight film, because it isn't practical to use this for the entire day. Reality TV is a newer style that focuses on getting audio from as many people as possible, and quick changes in the camera angle to make it feel like your day is being captured by an entire crew. Not many people do this style, but the ones that do, do it very well. If you want to have your day look like an episode of The Kardashians, find someone like this.
Audio
The final thing you need to look into is audio. The first thing I learned when shooting video is to always run multiple lines of audio. Especially because it can't be recreated, it’s always better to be safe rather than sorry. Half of watching is listening. Think of how bad a movie theater would be if they had the same speakers that you have at home. Always make sure your videographer knows the audio.