Wedding Video Format???

Rick Meyer

Rick Meyer

Veteran
Hey gang-

I wasn't sure where to post this but I figured the business section would be my best bet; For those of you who are wedding videographers or who have produced some wedding videos, I'm in need of some advice here. I went to WEVA, but that only gave me links with examples, etc.

I need to get a general consensus of how best to produce the video? I am not worried about my coverage. I got PLENTY. I'm just wondering how long the videos are, in general? I'm talking, from the time they pop the video in, until the credits are rolling, so to speak? And from feedback, what are the brides saying based on your production style?

I ask because (before school got in the way) I was working on my sisters wedding video. Now, I'm back at it. Initially, I was going to break up each "event" with chapters. Each chapter was going to have a title card. And each "event" was going to have its own set of editing stylistic choices. For example, title card, "Friends and Family", then a several minute edited piece of all of the people gathering to see the wedding. Then next might have been "The Dance" and it would have been them dancing, etc. I thought this would make it easier to skip to chapters or they could watch it from beginning to end, with occasional title sequences to break up the flow.

HOWEVER...I have been re-thinking this strategy altogether. There is a guy at bluecoremedia.com, out of Vancouver who has some EXCELLENT examples. I love his work. His editing is not in chronological order. He'll go from the dance, to the reception clip, to them getting ready, etc. I love it. If you haven't seen his work, check it out. I think hes great. At any rate, I began to think that this style might be the way to go. To edit ALL of the footage together in one long, tight 45-1hour edit in a way thats interesting, emotional, flows, while paying no mind to chronological order. I figured I could still use ENCORE to set up chapters so they can skip parts if they like. But, my only reservation is will the brides and grooms feel gipped by not getting big chunks of recorded action? Does that make sense? I assume the bride and groom are very nervous that day and can hardly remember the actual ceremony. So, I worry that by having one grand edited piece, they'll get to miss having a "record" of the day or of the ceremony.

Please...some feedback would be greatly appreciated here. I hope my long diatribe made sense. But, you guys (and gals) have always been there for me before. So, I turn to you again...

Thanks in advance!!
Rick
PS I suppose I could edit the thing in the bluecoremedia style, then give a separate, boring, barely edited disc of the ceremony? Anybody?
 
OK, I'll give you my two cents on the subject. I have never run into a client who really cared. And the people who really do care are probabably not the people you want to be targeting. The higher the quality of the product, the more people will pay for your distinct style, and not whether you provide them with separate chapters, extra footage, or special features. At the lower end, some brides do think of it as a quantity issue, but even then, quality is a still a big factor.

I used to be afraid of not giving the requisite shots or all of the footage, but no one ever really asked why "such and such" wasn't in their video, because the video was consistent with the quality they expected.

With that said (and Bluecore's work is very good, so I have nothing against a non-linear approahc), I have also found that it's not so much whether you have a linear style or not. It's whether you have well-shot material with strong editing that ties the concepts together. I've seen it done a multitude of ways. In any event, I hope that helps a little bit. Good luck!
 
Since it's your sister, i'd ask her a little bit of what she wants. Other than that, i'd make something you can use for your reel. Whenever friends/relatives know i'm shooting for their wedding I have no boundaries from shoot to edit. That way I can choose to edit and shoot what my reel is missing.

If you're talking about future clients, know what style you like to produce in and be up front to the client. It's not worth the heartache to shove the square peg in the round hole. I shot a wedding for a cousin once and they wanted the table greeting crap. Needless to say I shot over 100 greetings. I will never shoot greetings like that for a client.
 
Good advice keynstring-

My sister trusts me implicitly. And, I don't want to open up a can of worms by getting into the habit of asking people how they want their footage to look. My fear is that they will be talking from inexperience and will put me in a real tight spot, come editing time. I have some footage I am currently working my way through of a friends wedding and I made the mistake of asking about music. The groom is a musician and is very particular about his music. Its fine by me, but its very difficult to edit an entire wedding video to upbeat techno music. So, I am just trying to come up with a formula at the same time I am trying to come up with a style.

Its easy to go on the web and spot DEMO samples. But, what I wasn't finding was the final product; how is that DVD set up after they client pops it into the DVD player? I understand setting up the menu, etc. But, I was more interested to see what other more experienced videographers found sucess with, in terms of their finished product. I wasn't sure whether I should bust up the footage in set chapters, disjointed, but containing the most relevant highlights of the day: cake cutting, dance, vows, etc. Or, if I should do one CONTINUOUS video, approximately 45 minutes to one hour long, which took the liberty of NOT showing every detail of the wedding ceremony? Or did NOT necessarily slow down the video edit by interrupting the flow with a long drawn out Best Man speech.

I know every video is going to be different, but I am sure that there are some rules to live by or some philosophies to consider. That was the main purpose of this thread and this quest for wedding videography knowledge.

Thanks again for the pointers.

Rick
 
My main deal is shoot to get a really nice complete ceremony. To me that's important. But, be able to edit ceremony and reception in to a less than 10 min. package. Give them something with re-watchability.

So on the DVD, you can have Complete ceremony and Edited Film. Depending upon what you get you can setup the chapters however you want. In a perfect world you do your thing, make a film, give them the masters. I ask them specifically what's important to them to at least get in on tape and like I said earlier, let them know what you do so they're not all upset when you don't include every cousin and uncle in the money dance. If you have to shoot greetings, don't add it into the film. Make it another separate Main Menu or Special Features selection, this could go with anything else you shoot, toasts, dances, etc.
 
I edit a straight wedding from start to end, an edited reception, usually about 20-30 min, and then a make a music video from 5-6 minutes of the entire day. Th music video is to inspire all the same emotions they felt on that day and the Wedding reception and ceremony are there for when they want to see the details. My two cents ;-)
 
Eric Papa said:
heres something a little different:

http://www.ericpapa.com/weddings/video/adam_carrie_high.htm

might give you some ideas
Click to expand...

Man I am really appreciating this advice guys (and gals). Its a Godsend.

Eric...is that your work? That is real excellent. I love the colors and pacing.

I have been asking about video styles but have been neglecting to ask about MUSIC. I have a pretty strong collection from which to choose and if need be can always access iTUNES to buy songs as needed but I was wondering if there was another way.

iTUNES does not let you preview. Does anyone know of a strong Internet Music Library that catagorizes songs and will let you preview 30 seconds or so before you purchase? I'd love to be able to type in BALLADS, or 70's DISCO, and get a long list of hits from which to listen to. But, iTUNES does not allow for this...Any ideas?
 
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I've done a few weddings and I do them the way you mentioned. I have a menu screen w/ all the different sections:

-Reception
-Ceremony
-The Dance
-Wedding day Montage
etc. etc. etc.

Then I have an option to play them all of them in one continuous clip.

The only problem I see w/ jumping around for 45 minutes is that if you don't have great footage, it might look more like a 45 minute montage that could get a bit boring, but if you do it the other way, it's more of a complete story.

I think they'd be happy with either choice, this is just the way I prefer.
 
Ok I'll give you a detailed outline of the last wedding I did.

Beginning is exterior of church. Several different shots, slow dissolves between each. Then shots of interior. Slo-motion of people being seated. Shots of the church, family etc. Then the bridal party entering. As the bride enters I use trapcode shine to emit an intense backlight. This effect is always a favorite. Next is misc shots of the ceremony, priest, family, bride and groom, etc. Pachabel's Canon is the music. This song plays until the vows.

As the vows begin, Canon fades under,we go through the vows, exchanging rings etc. At the end of this segment, Music comes in again, Shania Twain, "From this moment." More slow motion shots until the priest pronounces them husband and wife. Then shots of everyone exiting, receiving line, hugs and handshakes. Bride and groom exits. For this segment I used Jason Mraz, "You and I." The only live audio you hear is, the vows, and then the priest announcing them husband and wife, and everything after the ceremony.

I'll give you details about the reception if you like.

-Kevin
 
Slimothy and Sacksnack...thanks for the wisdom. I keep coming back to this thread and thankfully keep finding more good advice.

By the way, for anybody willing to offer advice and if they'd like to show off some of their work by way of link or website, feel free. Seeing is a great way to learn...

Rick
 
where i live its hard to drum up biz cuz nobody wants to pay more than 200 and the only thing they are concerened with is the price and how long do they have you for.
 
Thats a bad situation. Really, for $200.00, I wouldn't even bother.

I had an executive at work ask me to film her nephews wedding. I was swamped with other things but I said I'd do it. But, I purposely priced myself higher than I thought she'd go because I didn't want the gig. And, she's an executive. I knew shed be el'cheapo and would try to railroad me. However, I gave her a LOW LOW price. Because I knew her it was WELL under a thousand. She thought that this was a little high. I was glad for that. If I had taken the gig at her price, I would have been kicking myself the whole time I was editing it.

Some people just don't understand what kind of work goes into one of these.

Rick
 
thanks rlm7189. Heres another clip that i did last year. It was a (3 cam) dvx100a shoot, and also had dolly track, jib, and two 1200w hmi with ballasts:


http://www.ericpapa.com/weddings/video/jamie_large.htm

Basically what i have found is its all about targeting a certain market. Once you find that market you can easily charge $3-4k per video. The wedding industry is soooo lucrative, and i think its funny that so many 'broke' filmakers won't shoot weddings. However i respect everyones opinion and/or desire.

On another note, I was looking a buying a HVX200 and Sony A1U, (as a second camera for weddings). My question is: Is the HVX even available? B & H has been out of stock for months, and I also can't find any P2 cards. Whats the hold up, its basically June...
 
Again, Eric, great stuff. Your lighting is superb. I may have a couple of questions for you later...but for now, I am at work, so I gotta keep it quick. But I totally dig the input. Its really helpful.

And I totally agree with you about the HVX. I think Panasonic really mistimed their much ballyhooed hype of the darned thing. Because the camera eventually turned into the 'Boy Who Cried Wolf' story. I almost thought it'd NEVER get here. But now that its here, the camera and the P2 cards only seem to be trickling out to the masses that the excitement has completely worn off for me.

For now, I will happily stick with my two DVXs and wait until everyone else figures out all of the little kinks with the camera. Who knows, maybe I'll be in line for the HVX200A.

Rick
 
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