Finding Inspiration for Wedding Video
Now that I have been shooting, for years and years now, I find myself drawn to projects that truly inspire and motivate. I have shoot many, many wedding videos. My studio is located in the Reading Bridal District here in Cincinnati, so I am a common choice by many couples for their once in a lifetime day. And do take this trust to document the bride and grooms day very seriously.
I also find that there is a common story line that is followed as pretty much every wedding. I want to do things different. I want to create a work of art that generations to come will say, "Wow!" when they see it. I want to fly my drone. I want to shoot pretty much all of it with my newest favorite toy, my Zhiyun Crane 2. Love it. LOVE it!
But not every single scene can be shot on a gimbal. Sometimes one must do the traditional solid video camera on the solid tripod. Solid very tall tripod. They sit. They stand. They sit again. Stand again. One must be able to shoot over heads at a wedding. Learned that on the hard way.
Once we (I do shoot with a second videographer usually) return back to the studio, I get down to the real work. My workflow starts with the back everything up. Upload and make copies of all the footage. Hasn't happened yet, but hard drives can fail. I then put certain clips in different folder. One for "getting ready", one for the "ceremony", the "first dance" etc. I usually shoot with 3 plus cameras for the wedding ceremony and two plus at the reception. Personally once everything is backed up I put all the ceremony scenes in a folder and for me, I use Plural Eyes to help me out with the mix. Its not a spot on mix every single time, but close. From there I upload to Final Cut X or Premiere Pro to work on the cut to camera A, then to B and then to C and then to D, in a pleasing way that makes sense. Makes sense to me anyway. I love my work, so I lose track of time, but this process usually take me between 2 and 6 hours. Longer when I watch the video back through and I do not like it. Sometimes I have to just start back over.
From the ceremony, I look for the poignant scenes. The ones where the groom loses it and starts to cry. Or the moment dad gives his daughter a kiss as he hands her over to her groom. Love that. Or the moment the bride takes her brand new husbands hand as they walk down the aIsle as husband and wife for the first time. I mean seriously, it doesn't get any better than this. So I pull these clips to use for my highlights folder.
My highlight video can be any length, but I try to make it 10 minutes or less so it's watchable by friends and family. I find the full length 2 hour movie I sometimes do, is only watchable by the bride and groom and maybe the bride's mom. Groom's mom maybe, but probably not. But everybody is cool with the 6 to 10 minute highlight video. So the clips chosen for this project really do have to pack a punch so to speak.
The next project is the reception highlights with the multiple camera edit. Most times its two cameras not more and easier than the ceremony. Also from these videos, I am pulling the tear jerker clips for the highlights reel.
Drone footage. Yes always. While there are a few spots I can't shoot, like near an airport, most of the time I have this glorious footage to pull from.
So when people ask me about the hours I spend editing, yes, it's long. Usually between 25 and 60 to deliver a wedding video highlight reel and a full length wedding video. When folk question the cost, this is where it comes from. Its a craft. I am not shooting your wedding with my cell phone. I use high end professional video cameras, several of them. I have a drone license and drone insurance. There are costs. And I am a skilled artist and I would like to be able to pay my rent and continue my craft, if you deem me worthy to do so. I do love my work.