wedding video question

Wonderlick

Wonderlick

Member
I'd like to do some independent video production. I wondered if covering weddings is a good way to market yourself for other types of gigs like spots and corporate stuff. More specifically, if covering the wedding and simultaneously (discreetly) networking with any and all passersbyes who want to talk to the guy with the "cool camera" is folly or savy. Can it lead to greener pastures?
 
It's abolutely the worst label to place on yourself. It's seen as the bottom of the barrel.
Do it to pay some bills but dont put it on a resume.
 
grinner said:
It's abolutely the worst label to place on yourself. It's seen as the bottom of the barrel.
Do it to pay some bills but dont put it on a resume.
Click to expand...

I wasn't thinking so much as resume material as networking the wedding crowd.

I agree though. It's low end production but it's quick cash. And I'm a whore.
 
grinner said:
It's abolutely the worst label to place on yourself. It's seen as the bottom of the barrel.
Do it to pay some bills but dont put it on a resume.
Click to expand...


Maybe this should be a seperate discussion because I have never seemed to understand why shooting a wedding is considered "low class"
 
Personally I think this is a bad idea for a few reasons....

1) If you're hired to shoot a wedding, you should do just that - not be networking with the crowd. Its one thing to network when you're a guest, but not a vendor. People don't want you bothering their guests - they want you working.

2) Even if you do manage to network 'discreetly' odds are the only thing you're going to get out of a wedding job is..... more wedding jobs.

3) Whether its true or not - perception is reality, and many people see Wedding Videography as being one of the 'lower' forms of videography (I don't personally, so don't shoot the messenger). Point is - most people aren't going to want to trust their high dollar corporate video to the videographer they met at a wedding he was shooting. Even if they don't see it as a heirarchy - they definintely see it as a different skill set. People who are good at wedding videos may not be good at something else, in the same way that a commercial director probably couldn't shoot a wedding to save his life. Don't expect one type of work to lead into another because people like to categorize you by the type of work you do, not by what you say you want to do (unfortunately).



Weddings are a HUGE industry, and a huge money maker in their own right.
But if its not what you want to do - don't do it.
If it is, then go for it - but don't do it as an avenue into something else because odds are it will never lead to anything but more weddings.
 
I agree with Terry. I have been shooting weddings for 3 years as an employee for another company, and not once have I seen any non-wedding work pop up because of networking at weddings. People who are there are don't really care about the videographer, they care about having a good time. Sure, they might come up and say "cool camera, how much did that run ya?" but that is about it.

If you want to expand your horizons, then network with other professionals in your area. 90% of my referal work comes from other friends that do the same thing I do.
 
In my experience I have not had someone at a wedding want anything more then a wedding video either. Best bet is networking with the photographer if anything.
 
Wonderlick said:
I wasn't thinking so much as resume material as networking the wedding crowd.

I agree though. It's low end production but it's quick cash. And I'm a whore.
Click to expand...

I used to do weddings, and every so often will help my family (my sisters run a wedding production company).

You have a very bad viewpoint on wedding production and thus shouldn't do it if you continue to have that attitude.

I've seen wedding productions that beat the sh1t out of nearly everything I've ever seen on DVXUser, or any indie for that level. Those people earn $5k for even showing up at a wedding, and routinely earn up to $10k.

Not so bottom barrel eh? It's all what you make it. But if you show up with that attitude, your stuff will suck.

And no, you won't get anywhere trying to network a wedding crowd.
 
Last edited:
shawneous said:
Not so bottom barrel eh? It's all what you make it. But if you show up with that attitude, your stuff will suck.
.
Click to expand...

I;ve always hated math. Yet through calculus, and linear algebra, I never made less than an A.

Point is, a person may not enjoy something but that doesn't mean they cannot conduct themselves in anything other than a professional manner. How presumptuous of you to suggest otherwise.

You may blow off things you're not passionate about. Not everyone is like that.
 
Wonderlick said:
I;ve always hated math. Yet through calculus, and linear algebra, I never made less than an A.

Point is, a person may not enjoy something but that doesn't mean they cannot conduct themselves in anything other than a professional manner. How presumptuous of you to suggest otherwise.

You may blow off things you're not passionate about. Not everyone is like that.
Click to expand...

I also aced Calc 1-4 though I hated them.

Wedding videos aint calculous.

How presumptuous of you to suggest I blow things off that I am not passionate about.

You should continue to ask advice then roast people who give it, you get great results that way.
 
shawneous said:
How presumptuous of you to suggest I blow things off that I am not passionate about.
.
Click to expand...

That the inference of your post. So I guess what you really meant was, that except for yourself, humankind only produces first rate product when they have an affection for their work.
 
Wonderlick said:
That the inference of your post. So I guess what you really meant was, that except for yourself, humankind only produces first rate product when they have an affection for their work.
Click to expand...

Lol, chill eh? Wedding videos, good ones anyways, are a creative work. Works of creativity made without affection vs ones made with affection are vastly different.

Wedding videos are different than corporate videos, which are almost exclusively a work of craft. There's also much more networking done there. Perhaps you could look it into that.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top