A wedding is one of the biggest days in anyone’s life. The family would want to capture every moment of it. For wedding filmmakers, shooting these videos is a hectic task as it takes time and lots of planning. The filmmaker has to carefully capture precious moments that ultimately narrate the wedding theme, from an artist’s perspective. In this blog, we will discuss in details about tips and tricks to shoot the ideal wedding video. So without any further ado, let’s dive deep and get started.
- Communicate with the couple and family member
Weddings are group events, i.e., there are a number of people working together to make the ceremony a success. Since you have to make a video diary of every moment, you need to have a meeting with various members. So that you can make a basic framework of your story, it’s like storyboarding that includes a basic plan for various events of the ceremony.
A wedding video is all about the couple getting married. So, sit down with them and ask questions like where is the wedding venue? Is it indoor or outdoor? Which moments would you want to capture? Or, will there be any surprises or choreographed dances? Or, is there any ancestral jewelry that the bride is wearing that you must capture? Be ready to capture these moments so that your video stands out.
- Be aware of the venue.
As a cinematographer, the idea of space where you are shooting is crucial for making a compelling video. Try to reach out to the venues a day prior to the ceremony to understand the space better and figure out if they have any rules or regulations. Often, churches or big reception venues have restricted areas for shooting or require proof of insurance for video recording on the premises. Being pro-active can aid you in managing all these issues smoothly.
Having an idea about small-small stuff like schedules, timings, DJ setup, dance floor, lightings, audio, charging points, and so on, can make your task a lot easier. Again, pro-actively working for camera angles, the light equipment, and positioning will ensure that the shoot moves along much smoother.
- Audio is crucial
Videos with sounds are nothing but moving pictures. If you don’t capture any moment at that instance, you didn’t do your job properly. To avoid any such embarrassing situation, configure multiple audio sources for recording. Never trust the default camera’s audio recorder; it is imperative to have an external source, like boom. You should go for a lavalier microphone instead of using a collar mic on any of the officiants.
It is quite possible that you might miss some of the moments as a lot is happening simultaneously. Having multiple audio capturing devices can come handy in those situations. Suppose you have audio, and your crew member captures a photograph of those moments. Nowadays, there are many editors that allow the photo to video online conversion and also allow adding sound to it, like imagetovideo.com, kapwing.com, etc. This way, despite some mistakes, you can still recreate those lovely moments.
- Be equipped with ready to go gears.
Every wedding morning has a typical setup where the groom and his friends hang out, while the bride and bridesmaids focus on makeup and other stuff. Once it’s done, you will be running here and there till the wedding goes on. For better mobility, it’s best to carry ready to go gears and avoid any heavy luggage.
Carrying along a bag full of lenses and other equipment is of no use. For wedding shootings, having a camera and two lenses are more than enough. Again, keep extra batteries and memory drives. Also, ask the electrician to arrange charging sockets at multiple points so that you don’t have to worry about charging the batteries.
- Be ready for low light situations.
Be prepared to shoot some parts of the wedding in low light. It might also be possible that some of the rituals take place in the evening. Shooting in low light is a nightmare for any wedding filmmaker. In evening weddings, the lights will be dim after dinner so the party can begin. To avoid any such complication, be well equipped with your own light setup, so you don’t dull any moment in your videos.
Again, you don’t want to kill the mood by blinding the guests by lights. So, it is good to have a diffuser, so the lights don’t blind them.
Do It Yourself Wedding Video
Do you need an alternative which is easy on your pocket? It is quite possible to make awesome videos with minimum investment. With DIY wedding videos, you can capture precious moments to relive them again in the future. However, if you are going for DIY videos, plan everything out, including who will be in charge, as you will be busy in the marriage rituals.
Do proper research regarding cameras and lenses that will be used to shoot videos. In wedding videography, a number of shoots will be taken on the go, so prefer a camera with an image stabilization mechanism.
It is a smart move to carry as many lenses as you think is required as you would be doing alone, so having all the equipment would give you confidence.
Post-production
After the shooting, the main task is to edit clips and merge all of them while adding music in the background. If you know how to edit videos, that’s fine. If not, there are various video editing tools available online that you can use to make dazzling videos for free, like Clideo, Animoto, etc. Online video editors also support converting image sequence to video, like imagetovideo.com, Clideo, etc. so that you can make motion videos using pictures.
Essential Tip
Lastly, it is obvious that you want to capture all of the wow moments. Don’t forget to take the typical wedding shots. Be an experimentalist, but at the same time, don’t miss the basics 101 of wedding filmmaking. Shoot all the cool transition shoots while covering the important things simultaneously.
Conclusion
Wedding videography can be tough, but it’s fun and great to experiment. This mode of videography touches people’s hearts and lives. Don’t panic much and keep these tips and tricks in mind, and you would be able to create fantastic wedding videos! Good luck!