Are Wedding Shooters Filmmakers?

EVERYONE wants the title "Filmmaker" because it usually commands instant respect. Almost no one wants the title "Videographer" because it commands, in comparison, little respect. I'm in a new city and a new social circle and when someone asks my occupation , I tell them I do film and video production. I suspect that even when film is long gone the preferred term will still be Filmmaker.

Not sure how anyone can do a great wedding video. I have done a few and they were better than most I had seen made by others. The very nature of wedding video makes it tough though - usually relegated to the back of the venue (can't have that video guy at the front taking attention from the bride),
no control over lighting, which is usually non existent, stressed out bride, mother of bride and wedding coordinator at your throat, etc. No amount of money is enough.:Drogar-Kriz(DBG):
 
Hmm...my business card says "Videographer" on it. My rationale was that the word makes it clear I'm in it to get paid for my work, whatever it might be, while "Filmmaker" seemed pretentious. I did put a little film camera icon on it though.
 
cecil995 said:
I don't think that calling someone a filmmaker should be some kind of status level. Just because you made a short film, that doesn't make you better than someone who has shot weddings highlights.
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Now this I wholeheartedly agree with. Let's be extreme: is someone who scratches together some unwatchable, pretentious, three-minute borefest of a "film" a "better" person than a hard-working professional who yanks down $200,000 per year performing a vital and highly-in-demand service, doing wedding videos?

I think this whole discussion is coming down to the perceived "status" attached to the label. If truth were told, something like 99.9% of "filmmakers" could probably be classified as "starving artists" :) and probably 80% of competent wedding videographers make a better living than that 99.9% of "filmmakers." So why does the label "filmmaker" imply status? :huh:

It shouldn't. A label should, instead, be descriptive of what one does. It is meant to be an occupational label; one who is a "filmmaker" by definition "makes films". That's not really what a wedding videographer does; a wedding videographer, by definition, makes "wedding videos".

I say let the words mean what they mean. Changing or appropriating a word just because you want the ancillary status that goes with the word, is a misuse of the word, no?
 
Y'all remember Rosanne and Home Improvement? Towards the end of the shows, the freaky little boy grew up, went Goth, and carried around a handycam. He called himself a filmmaker too.
 
Capt Quirk said:
Y'all remember Rosanne and Home Improvement? Towards the end of the shows, the freaky little boy grew up, went Goth, and carried around a handycam. He called himself a filmmaker too.
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HA!!

Just for the record, on my business card it reads: "Director/Editor/Videographer", because, like Barry stated, those words describe exactly what I do. I direct and edit shorts and music video's, I do wedding videography, and whatever other type of "videography" that someone needs done... I'll probably do it, as long as it doesn't go against my morals.

-brown
 
Well put, Barry. I too have been struggling with these nuances that some seem to be attaching to the word. I tend to not use the word to describe what I do, not because I think it's inaccurate necessarily, but because of the nuances I attach.

Someone once said words to the effect of, "When we start making up our own definitions for words, language ceases to be a means of effective communication." Or, as you put it, let the word mean what it means.

Although in this case, the actual definition of the several dictionaries I consulted all say something along the lines of "someone who makes motion pictures." The presence of actual film, as others have put it, not being a requirement, however ironic that might be. That's not my opinion of what the word means. That is, strictly speaking, what the word means.

So, then I guess the question could be recast as "Do wedding shooters make motion pictures." I guess technically any kind of movie, TV show, or even YouTube blathering could be considered a motion picture...pictures moving to create a sense of motion. But certainly when you start straying into the latter You Tube-type territory you certainly opening yourself up to more debate. And truth be told, many would rightlfully put the vast majority of wedding videos/movies/motion pictures right alongside a typical YouTube production. So, we're back where we started, wrestling with the nuances -- however ill-defined -- that we somehow attach to these words of ours.

I'm reminded of the old debate on when nude artwork strays into pornography. As the supreme court justice put it, "I know it when I see it."

In the end, perhaps the same could be said here. "A Filmmaker -- I know one, when I see one." Or maybe more accurately, when we see what he or she produces.

For what it's worth, my business card reads "Director"

My wife's: "Producer"
 
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mainstreetprod said:
Almost no one wants the title "Videographer" because it commands, in comparison, little respect. I'm in a new city and a new social circle and when someone asks my occupation , I tell them I do film and video production. I suspect that even when film is long gone the preferred term will still be Filmmaker.
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hi fellows-

no respect..well, we have no one to blame but ourselves. you want some respect? as a whole, we need to get creative and get skilled.. and show the world what it can do with video. we all know it is A LOT. it is truly powerful and tons of fun! we need to raise the bar professionally and get some business savvy, blahbhbaal. agreed, people won't part like the red sea or kiss your feet when you say, "videographer," but I, on my own, am doing everything in my power to change that. what do people respect? TALENT and HARD WORK.
 
Capt Quirk said:
Instead of "Film Maker", which is obviously full of conflict, how about "Cinematographer"?
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Maybe, but as I understand Cinematographer that is someone who is in charge of shooting the production, which would be true in part, but not capture the fact that most wedding shooters are also the business owners (producers), handle all the creative aspects of the production (director, grip, etc), record every key moment (sound mixer), string everything together into a cohesive, flowing story (editor), a circulate the final masterpiece on DVD, streaming video, ipods and the occasional theater near you (distributor).

And of course for those same day edits shown at the reception, you're also the friggin projectionist.
 
Capt Quirk said:
Instead of "Film Maker", which is obviously full of conflict, how about "Cinematographer"?
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I was at one of those ASC open houses about two years back and started mingling with folks. This one guy asked me what I did and I told him I was a videographer. All of a sudden he goes on this little rant that went something like - "Why do you call yourself a videographer! No - you are a cinematographer! Did you know Miami Vice is being shot digitally? Would you call the person shooting it a videographer? Also, 20 years from now most of the movies will be shot in video...etc..."

I just stood there nodding my head and smiled .

I sort of avoid calling myself a cinematographer because I don't want to get into long techy conversations with people on what's a better film stock, panavision vs. arri, etc. (I don't know sh*t about all that). I feel like I need to wear a light meter around my neck if I call myself a cinematographer.

Documentary Director/Cameraman is the title I use currently.
 
Personally, I have no problem with videographer, it is what I do. I don't make movies at this point, although I have a few scripts and stories- so does that make me a writer too? Hell no, because nobody ever PAID me to write a script.

I do get paid to record events using a digital video medium. Not film, video. I like film, and love the organic nature of it, but i hate the chemicals, and would never want to splice a movie together out of 450 feet of plastic spaghetti.

PS- On my card, I have Freelance Videographer/Artist, because my work has been used on a commercial product... internationally even ;)
 
Back to the other question in the orginal post (the actual point of this thread, in fact) it sounds like most people would support a "Wedding/Event Shooters" section on the front page.

Is that right?

For what it's worth, my hope is that it could be a home for those of us who aspire to put filmmaker-like quality into our work. People perhaps like Cecil995, Johny Pablo, Rcbrown, Manglerbmx, Silverwolf, Filmguy123, Deepfocus88, Dick Campbell, Keynstring, Alexa, among others who are trying to take their work -- and the industry as a whole -- to the next level.

Thoughts?
 
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JRAnderson said:
Back to the other question in the orginal post (the actual point of this thread, in fact) it sounds like most people would support a "Wedding/Event Shooters" section on the front page.

Is that right?

For what it's worth, my hope is that it could be a home for those of us who aspire to put filmmaker-like quality into our work. People perhaps like Cecil995, Johny Pablo, Rcbrown, Manglerbmx, Silverwolf, Filmguy123, Deepfocus88, Dick Campbell, Keynstring, Alexa, among others who are trying to take their work -- and the industry as a whole -- to the next level.

Thoughts?
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Ha ha, I feel like I've been paid a compliment, and you've never even seen my work!
Seriously, I'd check out an "event shooters" section, but yeah, the question is what subcategory do you put it in?
 
Well, they have ENG and Docs under Filmmakers, so throw it in as simply weddings. This could cover techniques, equipment, music or animated lower 3rds and all that other wedding stuff.
 
Well, I also do Quinceanaras (girls' 15th birthday party, like a wedding w/o the groom), and other party events, so maybe the forum should be more generic, like "event videography"?
 
Cool, a wedding section would could work very well.

Here is an interesting twist:

Do your customers say-

(a) I had my Wedding "Filmed"

(b) I had my Wedding "Videod"

And finally does it make any difference :)
 
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