Today, even more so than in the past, people want to capture one of their most memorable times on video for all eternity. Because of this, the demand for wedding videographers has soared. And no longer does the wedding videographer just video the wedding, she/he creates, repairs, adjusts and improves on the memories and moments of the day.
First of all you need to understand one thing: Weddings are not easy money! They can be good money, just not easy. Here are some things to be aware of:
- Wedding video is a unique genre and there are many things which can catch you out, even if you are an experienced video maker.
- The wedding production environment can be very difficult. You will be shooting on a tight schedule in places which are not camera-friendly.
- Many clients have difficult or unrealistic expectations.
- You can charge a lot of money but you will work hard for it. Wedding days are grueling and the editing is time-consuming.
Your Equipment
- Video Camera
- Computer with DVD Burner
- Video Editing Software
- Lights
- Tripod (or 2)
- Wireless Microphone (or 2)
- Extra Storage Chips
- Lots of Batteries
Setting Your Fee
How do you know what to charge? You look around. Videographers are charging anywhere from $800 to $10,000 these days! Naturally, you should do some research to find what your competition is charging. However, if you do a better job or invest more time and money in your productions, you deserve to be paid more than your counterparts. You shouldn’t be ashamed of that.
When you set your price, make sure you're not giving away your services. As a beginner in the business, you'll probably be guilty of underselling yourself while you try to get things rolling. When you become the best,you don't have to charge the highest price, but be sure that you're very far from being the lowest in your area. If your quality is the best, people will pay you for it. If you're the best and the client can't pay your price, then you shouldn’t feel bad about refusing the business. You worked hard at building your reputation, don't forget that.
You’re not selling concrete blocks where they’re all alike and price alone determines a good deal. You’re selling something very different from your competitors. You're not being arrogant, but understand that excellent videographers are sensitive to the type of wedding video they deliver to the client. You're not going to get every wedding, but that's just how it's going to go. Besided, once you're established as an amazing videographer, you'll have clients coming to you, and you'll have more business than you can handle.
Never quote prices over the phone. If all your customer cares about is cost, they're not the kind of customer you're looking for. There is an old saying, “Some of your best deals are the ones that are never made.” Perhaps you could charge one fee for just the wedding ceremony in the church, and another for the whole enchilada (the wedding preparations, the reception, the mini biographies of the bride and groom done as a photo montage). This way you can more aptly meet the needs of your clients.
Relationships with the Bride
The statement above can be enough to scare the wits out of some videographers. Exactly, how do you get along with the person who could potentially rip your head off if everything isn't perfect! I’m not trying to scare you, but brides can be scary. Just always stay calm. If the bride is going to make you crazy while shooting, step aside and take a break. Chat with the photographers and florists ect. They'll all be in the same boat.
Shooting
What follows is a list of the key shots which you must absolutely try and get!
Before The Ceremony
- Bride and bridesmaids dressing (keep it G rated!).
- A shot of the bouquets and boutonnieres prior to being put on. A good alternative is the slow zoom out, or reveal shot.
- Groom getting ready, horse playing with groomsmen. You can try some staged shots. A classic is the reservoir dog’s intro with all the groomsmen. Or, the best man checking his watch in response to the groom's question, or the best man proving he's still got the ring in his pocket.
- Groom getting boutonniere placed by his mother.
- Detail shots.
- Additional detail shot ideas: Bride's shoes, wedding gown on a hanger, bride's earrings, and other jewelry, the details of the gown and bouquets, ring bearer pillow, flower girl basket.
- Exterior church. A nice shot might start at the top of the church steeple, and then pan down to reveal the entire building. Try to take architectural shots at an angle, not standing flat in front of one wall.
- Wedding party arriving at church. If the limo takes them, try to get a shot of the limo departing the bride's house, and another of the limo arriving at the church.
- Continuous roll of ceremony, from prior to the bride's entrance to the couple's walk down the aisle at the end. Ideally, use two cameras. Place one in the back third of the church, near the aisle. Start the other handheld, positioned on the bridesmaids' side of the aisle at the altar Shoot the procession, letting the bridesmaids walk past your position. After the bride arrives on her father's arm, move to a tripod placed behind the officiate and on the groom's side. This gives the best shot of the bride during the vows. This movement MUST be coordinated and cleared with the officiant, which is why it's necessary to attend the rehearsal. If the officiant won't allow this, just place the front camera on the
tripod from the beginning. - Another tip on the processional: Don't make every shot a pan, or at least not a full pan. You really don't need shots of people's backs as they walk past the back camera and on up the aisle. Pan a little to keep them in frame, but as they get to the back camera, stop the pan and let them walk out of frame.
- Any special touches in the ceremony, like a solo song, unity candle lighting, etc.
- Reaction shots of bride and groom's families, especially during the vows.
- Try a depth of field shot - For example, the soloist in focus with the Bride and Groom in the background out of focus, then gently shift focus to Bride and Groom... things like that.
- (At the rehearsal, I tell the Bride and Groom to stop a few feet in front of the back camera as they come down the aisle at the recessional, and kiss. This is a nice touch.)
- Exterior shots of the reception venue, if it is at all photogenic. Cutaway shots of flowers, fountains, statues, etc.
- Limo arriving at reception, and wedding party getting out. This one's important. While you are setting up your gear at the reception, you or your assistant should keep a sharp lookout for the arrival of the bridal party!
- Wedding party entering reception. (This, and sometimes the best man's toast, are about the only shots at the reception that I'll use a tripod for).
- First dance. This is the most important dance to shoot, and here are some of my tips for getting good dance footage: maybe twice, never thrice.
- Mom's dance with the groom.
- Dad's dance with the bride. This one can be a real tear-jerker, if you take a close-up with one camera, and a full shot with a second camera.
- Best man's toast. This is best shot with two cameras, one on the best man, the other getting a reaction shot from the bride and groom.
- Cake cutting.
- Garter removal and toss.
- Guest book signings.
- Any other special dances and ceremonies at the reception. You'll see stuff like the Chicken Dance, Electric Slide, conga line, Hokey Pokey, etc. at many receptions.
- Interviews with guests.
- Interview with the bride and groom. (This may be easier to do if you can arrange a separate interview shoot, rather than trying to squeeze it into the reception when there are so many other demands on the Bride and Groom's time and attention).
- Cutaways and detail shots - cake, presents, decorations, flower arrangements, the DJ or band, etc. Get a copy of the wedding announcement, and anything like souvenir napkins, etc. for later copy stand work. If the bar has a lot of glasses set up, shoot a detail shot through the glasses. Get a shot of a dinner plate being served. If buffet style, truck or zoom-reveal the buffet. Detail shots of the Bride and Groom champagne glasses. Centerpieces on the tables, and anything unique.
- Romantic Moments.
- Children: Want to get a response from a child?
- Guests saying goodbye.
- Bride and Groom exiting the building and getting showered with confetti.
- Bride and Groom getting into the limo; limo driving away.
Editing your Video
Eventually you'll have to edit your video. My ultimate recommendation is Apple’s Final Cut Pro. Using FCP of course requires an Apple computer. If you cannot afford this then I suppose Adobe Premier will suffice. Editing with FCP is very simplistic although contains enough features to cut a full length feature film. Of course there are all kinds of video editing applications available today, and in every price range. I'd suggest, if you don't already have video editing software you prefer, download a few trial versions and see which you like.
What follows is a brief overview and quick lesson in cutting with FCP. You will quickly be on your way to creating astonishing wedding videography. The general principals are pretty much the same with any video editing software.
The first step is capturing clips from all the great wedding video you have shot.
Once you've captured the clips that you want to edit together, you're ready to close the "Log and Capture" window, and start to edit the clips. Double-click on each of the clips to view them inside of FCP. You can use your space bar to start and stop playback of each clip. Marking IN and OUT points of your shots before you place them on the timeline.
You’re now ready to edit your clips together into a movie. It's easiest if you trim the IN/OUT points of your clips before you place them on the timeline. You can also trim them once they're on the timeline. If you're happy with the actual IN or OUT points of your clip, then you don’t need to mark them.
MARK IN: Once you feel familiar with your footage and ready to edit, open the first clip that you want to appear in your sequence, by double-clicking on it in the Browser. As it appears in the viewer, move the play head to the point in the clip that you want to appear first. Hit "I" on your keyboard. You’ll notice that a new in point appears on the clip, marked by a blue arrow.
MARK OUT: Now move your clip to the point that you want your clip to stop playing on your Timeline.
Hit "O" on your keyboard. You should see a similar blue arrow marking the new OUT point. Moving your clips to the timeline by dragging, in order to create a sequence.
The Timeline (Sequence) is the area that you use to string your separate clips together into one seamless movie. The Timeline moves from the left to the right, forward in time. You can use the timeline to create hard-cuts between clips, effect-oriented transitions, and audio layering. In your Browser window, click on the "Sequence" icon to open your Timeline.
Select the first clip that you want to appear in your timeline, and drag it onto the timeline. It should appear on the timeline, all the way to the left. Select the clip in the browser that you want to come next in your movie. Mark new IN or OUT points on this clip if desired, and drag it onto your timeline, just to the right of the first clip.
With the Timeline or "Canvas" window selected, hit the HOME key on your keyboard or drag the play head all the way to the left of the Timeline. Hit the spacebar on your keyboard. Your presentation will automatically play in your Canvas Window, including the hard-cut between your first and second clip.
Continue placing shots on the timeline in this same fashion, rearranging clips as you like by dragging them to the left, right or in-between other clips on the timeline.
Trimming your Clips in the Timeline
Adjusting the IN or OUT points of one or more clips in the timeline is called trimming. This includes tweaking a clip’s IN or OUT points, changing the IN or OUT points between 2 clips, or moving a clip to a new location in the timeline. The Tool Palette contains special tools just for these trimming operations.
Before you perform a trim edit, you want to make sure that the "snap to edges" and "link" controls are set-up properly in the Timeline. These are the small buttons located at the top, right corner of the Timeline. If they're ON they are green, if they’re OFF they're grey.
Linked Clips:
Video and audio are automatically linked when they are imported as one clip. This means that no matter how you trim video, the audio will be trimmed accordingly and vice-versa. Sometimes, you will want to edit the video and audio independently of one another. In order to do this, you can just switch the Link control to it’s OFF mode.
Snap to Edges:
The snap to edges mode is on by default to assist you in finding the edge of edits easily. When the snap to edges control is on, you will find that the clip will magnetically snap to the closest edit point.
Sometimes you will want to fine tune your edits not in accordance with adjacent edits. Especially in this case or when editing down to the frame level, you will want to turn "Snap to Edges" off.
Trimming with the Selection Tool:
The simplest way to trim a clip on the timeline is by using the default arrow "selection tool." By select the edge of a clip on the timeline, you can roll the IN or OUT point of the clip as long as now other clip is blocking the rolling and unrolling. If other clips are in the way, you may find you’re trimming to be easier if you scoot your clips down the timeline with your "track selection" tools, or by editing with the roll tool or the slip edit tool. (See below) Scooting Clips along the Timeline with the Track Selection Tool:
The Track or Tracks selection tool is a handy way to grab all clips from "here" toward a direction, which is especially useful when trimming on the timeline without loosing all of your previous editing. Click at the point that you want to grab a collection of clips with the tool pointing the direction that you want to select. From there, move that whole group of clips over. Note* This track selection tool will often come in handy for removing gaps that you create in your timeline during trimming.
Deleting gaps in the timeline caused during trimming:
You can delete a gap in a timeline by selecting it, then hitting the delete key on your keyboard.
Adding Cross-Dissolves Using FCP:
Final Cut makes it very easy to add cross dissolves and cross-fades between video and audio transitions. To be able to add a transition between two adjacent clips on a track, these two clips must have extra frames that overlap in each direction, past the edit.
Adjusting the length of your transitions:
Be default, all transitions are 1 second in duration. If you want your transition to be longer, control-click on the transition and select the "Duration" choice. In the Duration dialogue box, type in your desired duration.
*Note: Your transition can only be as long as there is overlapping material. You can adjust your in and out points in the timeline so that there’s more material between the clips, then adjust the duration accordingly.
Rendering Your Transitions:
All effects in Final Cut Pro must be rendered, and this includes dissolves of the most basic kind.
To render as you go:
Select the transition that you want to render. Hit apple+R on your keyboard.
There is much more to the program. These few tips are just that tips. Once you decide on which editing software you want to work with, you'll want to experiment and practice with it until you know it's workings inside and out.
Editing with your clients
This is where you actually sit down with your clients and edit the video to their liking. This can be both a pleasurable experience and a nightmare at the same time.
The best time is to do this is when you have all the clips logged and captured and you're ready to begin creating the video. Before your clients arrive, put together a small montage to some music. This will get them excited to give you some input!
Breaking Copyright?
Is it okay to use music in wedding video’s you create? Technically, no. It's completely illegal although most customers are going to have music already selected for you. I suggest purchasing some royalty free music. If your customers must absolutely use their choice of music then remember “the customer is always right.”
Always please the customer. Forewarn them that it's illegal.
Delivery of Product
Your masterpiece is finished and you are ready to deliver. First, you must decide with your client how they would like their video presented. Today, the norm is on DVD.
Invest in packaging. Your product must look professional. Buy black DVD cases and create a stunning insert and cover personalized for each wedding. This is simple to do if you create one template, then just change the name’s as weddings go on.
Promotion
There are many ways to promote your business. You'll probably need to spend money initially, but there's a good chance that word-of-mouth referrals will increase over time and allow you to reduce your advertising budget.
- Get a website for your business. Do it properly — an amateur-looking website will do you more harm than good.
- Make professional-looking brochures which include useful information, not just pretty images. Prospective clients want an easy way to compare prices and features with other videographers.
- Get a stand at wedding expos and trade shows.
- Develop good relationships with other wedding professionals, e.g. photographers, celebrants, wedding planners, etc. They can refer a lot of work.
The Final Word
You may be asking yourself if it is possible to make a career in this business. You bet it is, although wedding videography is not for everyone. You must first know the basics and ins and out of shooting video and audio. Then, you must be able to edit. And finally, you must be able to work on a professional
level with all members of the wedding. But if you have these basic skills, owning your own wedding videography business can be extremely rewarding and lucrative... not to mention creative.
Additional Resources
Enjoy your new Wedding Videography Business.
Until tomorrow,
Terry
