Your Wedding Videographer Needs to Focus on Videography
The All-in-One Promise
“It slices! It dices! It grates! It will even julienne french fries.” Somewhere along the way, on TV or at a trade show, we’ve all heard a salesman promise their tool can replace every other tool in your kitchen. Yet, when you get home, you discover that while the gadget will do all of the tasks on the list, it doesn’t slice as well as the knife, dice as well as the foot processor, grate as well as the grater or julienne the fries the way you like them. Believe it or not, some photographers will try to tell you they can do it all, too. They’ll tell you that you don’t actually need a wedding videographer!
Regardless of the size of your wedding budget, it’s hard to fit everything you want into what you can afford to spend. When a photographer says they can put a single package together to replace multiple vendors and do so at an attractive price, it’s tempting to cut corners. When they tell you they can provide a video along with their other services, here are some things to consider.
Length of the Finished Video
When a photographer tells you they can be your videographer, too, ask them the length of the finished video. You may discover your “video” isn’t a video after all.
Highlight videos to share online with family and friends are quite popular, but that’s not the same thing as a professionally-produced full-length wedding video. We include a highlight video as part of our packages and you can choose from several styles, but sometimes highlight videos are merely a slideshow created from a series of photos. The primary differences in videography and photography are movement and sound, as in photography doesn’t have any. Sharing the action is more fun when there is actually action. So when your photographer tells you the length of his finished video, you’ll know that anything shorter than a full length Hollywood movie might not even be a video.
Type of Camera
When it comes to cameras, photographers usually shoot video with a DSLR, a digital single-lens reflex camera. The videos from these devices are great, but there’s one drawback. They only have 29 minutes of recording time and then they shut off – automatically. What if that 30th minute is when you say I do?
Sometimes photographers will try to cover up the shortcoming by suggesting that no one has time to watch a full length video and they can capture the highlights with their camera. The problem is most highlights don’t come with a warning signal. Those moments are the spontaneous, unexpected treasures a dedicated videographer will capture, because their camera keeps on rolling for hours and hours. Then we choose the best moments to include in your video and add scene selection so you can watch as little or as much as you want to at any given time.
The Unmanned Videocamera
The most expensive thing about videography is the videographer. Some photographers overcome the shortcomings of a DSLR by actually setting up a videocamera, but most leave it running without anyone to monitor it while they photograph the wedding. While this brings movement and sound to the video, the resulting video will be stale when compared with a video actively recorded by a professional videographer and the sound will not have the quality of ours.
When our videographer is recording he’s using all the features of the camera to follow the action, get wide shots and then adjust the videocamera for close-ups. The stationary camera is going to get the action, but only from one focal point, so there is no variety to make it interesting. A dedicated videographer can also monitor several audio tracks. We put wireless mics on key players, bring wireless hand mics in case they are needed and can plug directly into the venue’s sound system, all while the videocamera is picking up the ambient sound. Then we mix it with the video to feature natural sounding audio for your video. It makes a huge difference in your enjoyment of your wedding video.
Some Do It Right
While many photographers take shortcuts to provide videos at a reduced price, there are actually photographers who do it right. They use a real videocamera and they hire videographers to do the recording. They’ll cost more than the ones we’ve been describing, but you’ll be happier with the finished product. We just happen to think you’ll be happiest with LeniCam Video Productions as your wedding videographer. Call us and let’s discuss your wedding. We’ll find a way for you to afford what you really want, a full-length, professionally-edited wedding video customized to your specifications.