Wanting to shoot weddings in NY/Metropolitan area

A

alexgutterson

Member
Hey everyone,

My name is Alex and I'm going to be the proud owner of a new ex1 in a week or two.

Ok... so who cares?

The point of me getting this camera is to hopefully be able to pay my way both through undergrad school as a journalism/film double major, and then through grad school as a film major, hopefully at either USC or NYU.

I know at the time being I could probably make a few hundred dollars here and there either shooting low-budget music videos for myspace, or being used as a D.P. by film-school kids in the area.

However that is not nearly enough money to be able to pay for all my upcoming expenses (film school = apx. 80k).

So it dawned on me - why not shoot weddings? I have experience working with so many different forms of filmmaking that it would be among the easiest jobs I could find, and also among the most lucrative.

Thus my question. I live in Westchester NY, about 30min away from NY, and am looking to get into said venue, however have no idea how.

I was hoping that someone would have advice/suggestions/references that could help me so that I wouldn't have to go through every wedding planner in the phone book, hoping that something falls into my lap. (I rather take the smart/informed/calculative approach rather than frantically looking for people to throw money at me).

Also -- I currently have a dual 2ghz g5 with 2.5 gb of memory, and FCP 6. Besides the ex1 and tripod, what other equipment (hardware/software) would be recommended for shooting/producing said wedding videos?

Do I need an MXO type device? Do I need another monitor besides my 23" cinema display? For shooting the weddings would two 8gb cards be enough in between uploads? How do I make sure my colors are balanced without spending a cool K on the MXO? Are there any particular tools/techniques that one would need to know specifically for wedding videography? Is there anything else that I would need to know that wouldn't necessarily be as obvious as it seems?




I want to thank everyone who takes the time to read/respond to this forum,
Alex.
 
1) a laptop with express card slot for download, coz you cannot afford to tether your camera to the computer for event shooting.

2) 2x wireless mic

3) 1x hyper shotgun mic

4) 3x SxS card, you get 2 with the camera

5) a simple cheap shoulder mount

6) 35mm adapter with lenses * optional but you make you stand out from other wedding videographer.
 
add to the list

7) small on camera light system.

8) coordination with the photographer so, he/she will not be in your shot and vice versa.

Disclaimer: I have only done 1 wedding for my good friend, and that was it. I hated it and have never done anymore since. I was running solo at that time with hvx200 shooting dvcpro50 into just 1x P2 card. It was a traumatizing experience.

You better make sure you are going to like doing weddings before you spend your cash. Also, over at www.dvinfo.net you get more wedding videographers, so you might want to ask your questions there at their ex1 forum. There are a lot more narrative filmmakers here on www.dvxuser.com than wedding videographers.
 
My advice...keep it simple! Your accessories don't need to run you much more than $1000. Contrary to what I find in a lot of wedding videographers, it does not have to be overly artistic. Think of it as a documentary.

Here's what you basically need:

-Laptop with Express Card Port
-2 SxS cards (I suggest one of them be 16GB)
- Shotgun Mic (since the onboard mic on the EX1 is way too sensitive to any hands on the camera)

These would help:

- Camera support (Glidecam Sled, Anton Bauer Egripz) note: the EX1 is not weighted well for a shoulder support which will tire your arms out faster than anything!)

- 2nd Camera (just go with a simple DV cam to place at a fixed position while you move around...it will increase the production value 10-fold)

Don't spend a load of cash on this if you are trying to get through college with it. Quality is important, but frankly, if it's just shot well and you can hear what is being said...well...that's enough for most people.
 
Any advice for a high-quality cheap shotgun mic?

I have been looking for one for narratives for a while - if I could use the same one both for weddings/films I would be happy as a pig in ****.

Also -- no need for the MXO in terms of editing? I have been really paranoid recently in terms of color representation and I'm not quite sure how to "insure" accurate colors without such tools?

As of now I have been able to use my schools editing suite for color representation as they have specific monitors to handle the job.

A. I won't be at the school this year (moving from 2 year to 4 year)
B. Even if I was they wouldn't have the infrastructure necessary to handle the HD material.

Does anyone have any tricks or techniques to NO-Budget their color accuracy?

PS.

I am a member on dvinfo however for whatever the reason my account hasn't been authorized over the past month or so and as such I still am incapable of posting threads on their page.
 
Also -- still need someone to help explain to me where I go to find said work :(.

All I know is that event planners/wedding planners are an option, I just don't know how great of an option seeing an all I haven't actually shot a wedding yet. : )
 
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Dxmetal said:
add to the list

7) small on camera light system.

8) coordination with the photographer so, he/she will not be in your shot and vice versa.

Disclaimer: I have only done 1 wedding for my good friend, and that was it. I hated it and have never done anymore since. I was running solo at that time with hvx200 shooting dvcpro50 into just 1x P2 card. It was a traumatizing experience.

You better make sure you are going to like doing weddings before you spend your cash. Also, over at www.dvinfo.net you get more wedding videographers, so you might want to ask your questions there at their ex1 forum. There are a lot more narrative filmmakers here on www.dvxuser.com than wedding videographers.
Click to expand...

eeek...
 
Alex, this is a tight field. It's next to impossible to get work without a close family reference/recommendation. Families aren't going to trust an unknown with a once-in-a-lifetime video opportunity. I suggest you start with shooting friends and relatives weddings as a favor, produce a nice DVD and build your portfolio. Others related to the B&G may like what they see and ask you about working their daughter's wedding.
Another thing is to try to get hooked up with some venues after that. Sometimes for a 20% kickback to the venue, they'll let you work as part of their team of qualified vendors.
This is a hard field to get into. It's even harder if you get "Bridezilla" for a client. There will be a lot of requests for re-editing, questions like "why did you leave out Aunt Ida?" and other stuff that you could not have anticipated during the frenzied rush of shooting.
You will probably want to team up with another local videographer, as covering a wedding alone can be a really daunting task, and you won't be able to be in two places at one time, eg, the bride and the groom's parents homes for 'groom prep' and 'bride prep' sequences.
It is a hectic race to the church after that, and you have to somehow get there ahead of the B&G without getting a speeding ticket or getting lost.
You'll put in a 12 hour day and then you'll come back to your office and spend 40 or more hours editing this menagerie into something called a wedding video. And there will be the endless revision requests from some clients. It's a mess sometimes. Shooting corporate is so much better, but weddings are a staple income for many of us.
 
As a wedding videographer myself, let me give you some very excellent advice. Join the local videographers association and tell people you are available as a second shooter. This way, you can learn from other videographers what to do and what not to do.

People on this forum may laugh, but wedding videography is extremely hard to do, hard to master, and hard to get into. You don't get a second chance to do a shot over again, and you don't have a moment to correct mistakes on your part. If you promise someone a great video, and then screw it up, they will never have another chance to fix it, and you could have just ruined the most special day of their life.

For more info on getting into weddings, join WEVA, 4EVER Group, and read up on the books out there like John Goolsbey's wedding video book.
 
As a wedding film maker, I can honestly say getting into wedding videography is going to be a very hard task. It takes about 5 years to get to the stage of a full diary. That is with lots of advertising, experience, goodwill and very hard graft.

Do you have the nessasary insurance? Do you have lisences for the music you are going to use? How are you going to deal with an extremely angry mother of the bride when you have to tell here you didn't capture the sound when they were saying their vowels, because you forgot to flick the switch on the camera to external?

How are you going to tell the mother of the bride you missed that all important shot, because it is over exposed? Rather you than me pal.

I am not being funny or arkward. Buying the gear need to shoot a wedding is the easy part. Filming it is a whole new ball game. Are you a bit shy, or do you have the ability to walk up to any member of the wedding party and get them to do a piece to camera?

Do you have the ability to produce a stunning DVD of the couple's big day and deliver it within 14 days of the wedding?

There is so much to learn. You might do better by calling up a wedding videography company and ask them if you can do second camera for them for the day, completely free of course. You might learn more then than you possibly could going in head first with zero experience.

And do you have the ability to tell the couple the reason why you are one of the more expensive wedding film makers, and you can show them why?

My minimum charge is £1695 (3,400) for the day with a single camera and a second tripod mounted unmanned cam at the back of the church.

Don't think you will pick up jobs charging $500. Couples want their day to be filmed perfectly and without really knowing you are there most of the time.

If you think you can get through most of that well you are on your way.

Equipment wise, this is what I use for a normal wedding.

Camera: EX1 with 5 16 Gb cards
2nd cam: Sony FX1 on a tripod un manned.
(Upgrading this year to a second EX1)

Dedolight on stand for stationary interviews
Vidled on camera for dancefloor mobile interviews

Audio:
Oktava MK 012 Hyper on cam
Senheisser MKH60 as a backup for the ceremony on a stand, aimed at the couple/vicar.

Lectros on the bridegroom with Countryman B6 mic
Edirol R8 portable sound recorder placed in the best position for any sermon/readings.

Sachtler Video 20 tripod.

PLenty of batteries.
Sony EX1 wide angle lens
El Cheapo shoulder brace
Manfrotto monopod 561B
Laptop for downloading the cards if I have a spare moment whilst the wedding breakfast is happening.
Battery charger in case of emergencies.
Spare dv tapes incase of EX1 failure.
Sony HC3 camera incase of FX1 failure.
cables.
a smile.
A smart suit ( three of them for weddings)

I don't use a 35mm adaptor on the day. Impossible and time consuming. OK fr a second cameramant to use one buut not the main cam.

I also use a Steadicam Flyer to get some great shots, but not for the £1695 package, and it is only used on a two camera full shoot. ( two cams there all day)

I also have a crane with tracking, which again is for that money shot but the second camera operator uses it only.


Remember. This. Word.

Redundancy.

If something goes wrong have a backup so it won't affect you.

And make sure your gear is insured. Easy to forget that crane/mic/etc and realise too late. Insurance is essential for gear and third party. If a guest trips over your cable and break their leg, you could be sued.

If you still want to do it.......good luck. And I have only scratched the surface.

This is for UK weddings. It might vary elsewhere.
 
tbanucci said:
As a wedding videographer myself, let me give you some very excellent advice. Join the local videographers association and tell people you are available as a second shooter. This way, you can learn from other videographers what to do and what not to do.

People on this forum may laugh, but wedding videography is extremely hard to do, hard to master, and hard to get into. You don't get a second chance to do a shot over again, and you don't have a moment to correct mistakes on your part. If you promise someone a great video, and then screw it up, they will never have another chance to fix it, and you could have just ruined the most special day of their life.

For more info on getting into weddings, join WEVA, 4EVER Group, and read up on the books out there like John Goolsbey's wedding video book.
Click to expand...

Great post. I have just counted up the weddings I have so far this year, and starting in two weeks time I have 23, the last on November 22nd.

Wedding videographers are well down the pecking list compared to photographers, dress makers, venue, cake, etc etc. If the couple have some money left over, then you might be lucky.

I never, ever drop my prices to get that wedding. My friend is also an experienced wedding videographer, since 1983, and compared to me is a wealth of information. Most of it is out of date and I have had to try and bring him kicking and screaming into the 21st century. Editing on a casablanca until last year but now on a PC with Vegas and shooting HD.

And thats another thing. I now shoot and deliver in Blu-ray, as well as standard DVD. Stay ahead of the opposition, don't make your pricing hard to work out. Some charge and extra 50 for staying an extra 30 mins, extra 100 for interviews, extra 100 for going to the brides house. It gets confusing.

I charge one price, and they get me for the full day, from 2 hours before the wedding until two hours after the first dance. Simple, clear, and the couple don't have to worry about needing me for this or that, because its included.
 
I started out doing weddings. It is my firm belief that if you can document a wedding well anything else is a cakewalk. However, lighting skills and creative aspects of the craft rarely come into play. You won't find a more pure form of documenting an event than a wedding. Dealing with clergy can be fun. :grin:

Audio is the biggest downfall of most wedding shooters IMHO. If the couple can HEAR the ceremony well they will forgive a slightly out of focus shot or a less than optimum angle. If your audio sucks it wouldn't matter if you shot it on a RED.
You'll spend almost as much on the audio gear as your camera is you do it right.
I used a couple lectrosonics UHF diversity lavs at $2500 each, a plug in Lectrosonics XLR transmitter I could jam into the house board, AT815a shotgun, a PZM near the altar, and about another $2000 of stuff in my bag of tricks.
Mixing the audio live was more work than the camera.
Now, when you get to the reception, Its a totally different kind of nightmare. Sound is easy but don't dare miss any of the special 20 or so moments they will want captured.

Now, when you find out what an A-list location sound op gets in your market with essentially the same gear - you'll start to get interested in chasing corporate work or more lucrative "documentation" events.
Granted, some weddings pay corporate rates. I'm in a market of about a million and I'm guessing there are maybe 20 of those a year at best. And you only get those because you are the post house that is already doing the bride's father's productions for his fortune 500 company. And you'll have to discount deeply as a "favor" anyway.
Good luck!
 
I strongly suggest you listen to the last few posters here. I'm a wedding photographer and one of the most difficult things to do is to say 'sorry, I missed it." We capture moments, videographers capture sequences. Moments are hard enough but sequences are even harder if you do not know every in-and-out of a wedding. 70% of your footage will planned and storyboarded whilst the other 30% 'lucky' captures. Without proper planning, things can go south very very fast. Doing a good video involves a lot more than holding a handycam and follow the B&G around especially if you plan to pay your way through college. A law suit halfway through because you messed up some bridezilla's dream wedding would put definitely end a promising future. Video consists of motion images and audio... both are equally important at the right times. Without the proper contingencies, you'll only be asking for trouble.

Personally, I'd go with filming corporate launches and events rather than weddings until you've had a chance to learn from a mentor as an apprentice. It only takes one major 'f**k-up' to seriously end your career in the industry.

Good luck.
 
And another often-overlooked (and maddening thing) about videography is that, even though it involves so many more aspects (temporal and sound-wise), and involves so much more post work, the clients value it at about 1/5th of what they value photography.
Wedding photographers can command $50K for a shoot of a high profile wedding. But the best wedding videographers are lucky to make $10-15K and we have to worry about the flow of motion and audio on top of a lower wage scale. (Something needs to be done to educate the public that we're worth more than we're paid).

So entering wedding videography, you must prepare for more headaches and a lower income potential. Otherwise, shoot for corporate work. It can pay better.
 
basspig said:
And another often-overlooked (and maddening thing) about videography is that, even though it involves so many more aspects (temporal and sound-wise), and involves so much more post work, the clients value it at about 1/5th of what they value photography.
Click to expand...

Precisely ! and you will be looked down and not taken seriously in the film industry when your demo dvd consists of wedding reels.
 
Yeah.. well.. I totally understand that. From what i've asked from clients.. the reason why photogs are more in demand is:
1) Videos cannot be hung on a wall like pictures
2) Videos cannot show only the best 'profile' of person.. its all or nothing.
3) Videos show people what happened, pictures make people remember what happened.
I'm one of the highest paid photographer in my country (though i make far less than if I were to be working in the US) but I've decided to start shooting video.. which makes even less. Go figure.. more work, less pay! I guess I got bored of shooting nothing but people.
 
davidcheok said:
Yeah.. well.. I totally understand that. From what i've asked from clients.. the reason why photogs are more in demand is:
1) Videos cannot be hung on a wall like pictures
2) Videos cannot show only the best 'profile' of person.. its all or nothing.
3) Videos show people what happened, pictures make people remember what happened.
I'm one of the highest paid photographer in my country (though i make far less than if I were to be working in the US) but I've decided to start shooting video.. which makes even less. Go figure.. more work, less pay! I guess I got bored of shooting nothing but people.
Click to expand...

That may have been true 2 years ago, but today:

1) Video can hang on the wall in an LCD frame
2) Beautiful 8x10 stills can be made from XDCam footage, unlike HDV footage.
3) Ah, but when people get old, they can't remember the moment or the surrounding conversation of that instant.

In short, video has become so high in quality today that it redefines what 'capturing the day' is all about. It can be turned into an epic film that they watch on Blu-ray on their 110" projection screen. And all for a paltry $15 grand. :)
 
I want to thank everyone emphatically.

Question then becomes -- what is the best way to get into corporate gigs?

And then the question shifts to (what equipment do I NEED for that?).

I know a lot of things I could get (external audio mixer, lavs, shotguns, 35mm adapter, matte box, etc.) however what would I NEED in order to efficiently be able to perform whatever task necessary (generally speaking obviously).

I understand completely what is being mentioned in regard to the problems in being the person in charge of a wedding business, but how would one get a job just being a 2nd cameraman in said situation? Also how much money would I make in said arrangement? If my boss is pulling down 8k for the job, do I get 10percent for doing pretty much everything he did the day of the shoot?

I'm not trying to corner myself in here, I'm looking to do WHATEVER work necessary in order to pay the bills (so to speak).

-- Hell I'd even consider doing porn if I needed to. Work is work and I will do whatever I can as I mentioned.

So the question thus evolves, if any of you were in my shoes, what options would you go through, understanding my lack of opposition to any forms of work?

ALSO -- if there is anyone in the tri-state area who reads this and either needs an assistant cameraman, or someone to help with editing, or anything, I will be your guy. :) (Having an extra EX1 as a B-Roll shouldn't hurt, and neither would my experience working on narrative films for nyu/ny film acadamey/columbia grad/purchase college/etc.)

I know this forum is not designed in order to pimp yourself out, however I feel that if anyone were to hire me (I'd even start at dirt wages or pro-bono for training) they would not be disappointing.


Thank you everyone once more,
Alex.
 
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