Wedding Videos -- Finally coming around to the idea

Let me tell you a story. When just starting out, I took a gig to work all day for a hundred bucks, shooting interview and B roll in Nashville for a NYC magazine editor (female). She treated me (and the PA'a) like dog excrement on her shoe, questioned the equipment I was using, and yelled at me the whole time. Would have walked away had I not been shooting a famous celebrity later that day.

bridezilla.jpg



.....It was a much better gig than any wedding I've done.
 
Drew Ott said:
Why all the hate for weddings? I'm just about the most miserable person on earth and even I can tolerate them. Specifically, what's so bad?
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I just found my classic thread of wedding hatred from 2011. Skimming through my first post, nothing has changed.

I shot my last wedding that November and never looked back.

Now keep my perspective in mind when deciding if you want to do the wedding thing: I'm 41 with a family, no young kid anymore. I had shot sooooooo many of these in my 30's that I just burnt out.

Why the hate? I grew up very counter-culture…hardcore & metal. The awful music those DJ's play just kills me inside….. someone give me those chopsticks when you're done, I'm sticking them in my ears! I just see shooting weddings as a service industry type gig. You are hired help, everyone is there to get drunk & have a good time while you are sweating in a black outfit. You can make a good day rate, but the days will be long in return.

My current gig can be nightmare & I could tell some horror stories….but I'd never go back.
 
As much as I hate weddings, I love this guy's tips for the Art of the Fish Eye. He's a wedding photog but he's got a great technique. I recommend anyone doing still photography, weddings or not, to check it out. The fisheye, don't look through the view finder or at the lcd, 1,2,3,4,5 technique is the bomb!

 
Gillvane -

I understand your point and the points of others. If you don't enjoy exorbitant celebrations of love, or if you just hate the music that's played at wedding receptions, or if you're older and just have no interest anymore, then I can understand why you wouldn't like to shoot weddings. I understand why I might not like your favorite sushi, it might be too fishy for me or I might not like the texture. But you didn't mention any specifics. Even if it's something simple, what is it that you don't enjoy about weddings and makes you not want to shoot them?

I don't understand the "bridezillas" reasoning. As long as you've met the bride in a consultation and have become friendly, and are very specific about what you're going to do and not going to do on the wedding day in your contract and in said consultation, I don't think there would ever be a problem. If you suspect there might be, don't take the job. There hasn't been for me. I'm always very up front with my clients and tell them if they ever feel I'm encroaching on their wedding day, to just tell me and I'll back off. I'm doing weddings in Miami and there are often times when brides blow up and storm out of the room, but that never upsets me or anything. I'm there to capture people having a good time and if there aren't any of those people I'll take a break. What are some of your experiences with brides or other people that make all of you dislikers dislike weddings so much?
 
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For anyone who fancies themselves "a filmmaker"... you'll need to reprogram your mind for quality. documentary. coverage.

I've had times where freelancing was slow and people propositioned me to do a wedding video... I've done a few of them. My most frustrating experiences were when I hired "filmmakers" to help me shoot. I can see why some of the best wedding shooters in my area are using their uncle or cousin for coverage (or b-roll).

Hired "filmmakers" don't (usually) grasp the idea that you need what you need... and there's not going to be any time to flesh out the creative vision that they decided should be part of your client's video. (talking about when you hire somebody to cam2, etc.)

Find a cool person to help you... somebody who will take simple direction and stick with a plan. Always have a master shot. Expect 3 cams, even if you only have 2 people. Wear a watch and be prepared to manage your time very quickly... spray it and move on... all day. You'll miss important details of something else while politely waiting for the shot to come together... versus telling people what you need to get the shot and move on (girls/boys getting ready, dress, parents, etc.)

Try to shoot quality, but realize that a cinematic result will happen in the edit, not while shooting. Once you get good... you'll start to realize how to make things more cinematic while shooting, but until then you'll be very surprised how nothing ever goes how you expected it would... and a "film" mindset will screw you every time until you have enough experience to expect (and plan) for the unexpected.
 
Gillvane said:
As much as I hate weddings, I love this guy's tips for the Art of the Fish Eye. He's a wedding photog but he's got a great technique. I recommend anyone doing still photography, weddings or not, to check it out. The fisheye, don't look through the view finder or at the lcd, 1,2,3,4,5 technique is the bomb!
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I like his fish eye photos, he's a bit pretentious when he's saying he gets angles only he can imagine, I know myself I like taking photos from low down.
 
P13 said:
I like his fish eye photos, he's a bit pretentious when he's saying he gets angles only he can imagine, I know myself I like taking photos from low down.
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He's using himself as an example for any photog vs. any attendants at the wedding... meaning if you use that technique or others like it, you will have pictures that nobody in attendance could even imagine. I've been to many weddings where uncle bob has a 5d2 and L-glass... but in most cases, that guy never imagined the shots I (meaning "you", me, or even the guy in this video) will get.
 
ASchear said:
Gillvane -

I understand your point and the points of others. If you don't enjoy exorbitant celebrations of love, or if you just hate the music that's played at wedding receptions, or if you're older and just have no interest anymore, then I can understand why you wouldn't like to shoot weddings. I understand why I might not like your favorite sushi, it might be too fishy for me or I might not like the texture. But you didn't mention any specifics. Even if it's something simple, what is it that you don't enjoy about weddings and makes you not want to shoot them?
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I like film making. I don't like documentaries or reality shows. It's not just that it is a wedding. It's that it's real life. Anything real life is boring to me from a film makers perspective. I have no desire to capture the moment, I want to create the moment. I want to tell the actors what to say, and where to stand when they are saying it. Documenting a wedding, searching for big foot, climbing Mt. Everest, homeless people, whatever, I don't give a s*%t.

If I get to create an exorbitant celebration of love, I"m fine with that. If you want me to write and shoot a wedding scene, cool! Give me good actors and I'll get it in two, maybe three takes tops. I get to decide on the lighting, camera moves, and motivations of the characters, the stuff that actually makes film making fun. Capture a wedding? No thanks. I don't want to capture anything.

Why are you doing a nice dolly move, crane shot, or pan? If you're documenting a wedding, it's just because it "looks cinematic", IMO. If you're actually making cinema, that camera move should be motivated by what your previous or subsequent scene is, or it should enhance the feeling or motivation of your characters to help tell your story, and the story is going to be a lot more involved than two people got married. That's an event, not really a story.
 
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P13 said:
I like his fish eye photos, he's a bit pretentious when he's saying he gets angles only he can imagine, I know myself I like taking photos from low down.
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Yes, but have you tried shooting the 5 angles? Instead of looking for the right angle, shoot all 5. One of them will usually be the right one, and it's a lot faster.
 
in the late 80s early 90s I played guitar for an agency for a while and did weddings. I was just a side guy and met a lot of really great musicians and made some good dough. I was fine until I had to lead one wedding. The bride wanted the Chicken Dance. I freakin' hated the chicken dance and ignored her request. She didn't seem all that urgent about it. The agency guy blew a gasket, the bride was apoplectic! I went back to being a side guy again for a little while until I tired of it.

The client in a wedding is the bride... the bride, on her one and only special day. The expectations of brides regarding their wedding are incapable of being met. It is not human in any way. So, I won't shoot weddings.
 
hscully said:
The client in a wedding is the bride... the bride, on her one and only special day. The expectations of brides regarding their wedding are incapable of being met. It is not human in any way. So, I won't shoot weddings.
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Given you one specified example, I'd say the problem morein lies with you than the brides. Just ignoring a client request because you're not personally a fan of it sounds like a recipe for disaster in any situation.
 
Gillvane said:
I like film making. I don't like documentaries or reality shows. It's not just that it is a wedding. It's that it's real life. Anything real life is boring to me from a film makers perspective. I have no desire to capture the moment, I want to create the moment. I want to tell the actors what to say, and where to stand when they are saying it. Documenting a wedding, searching for big foot, climbing Mt. Everest, homeless people, whatever, I don't give a s*%t.

If I get to create an exorbitant celebration of love, I"m fine with that. If you want me to write and shoot a wedding scene, cool! Give me good actors and I'll get it in two, maybe three takes tops. I get to decide on the lighting, camera moves, and motivations of the characters, the stuff that actually makes film making fun. Capture a wedding? No thanks. I don't want to capture anything.

Why are you doing a nice dolly move, crane shot, or pan? If you're documenting a wedding, it's just because it "looks cinematic", IMO. If you're actually making cinema, that camera move should be motivated by what your previous or subsequent scene is, or it should enhance the feeling or motivation of your characters to help tell your story, and the story is going to be a lot more involved than two people got married. That's an event, not really a story.
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Fair enough! That seems like a real legitimate reason, and I respect you for having it.
 
It takes a certain personality to shoot wedding vids ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZgD5sWoW4w

Tips. Study your local market and your possible competition to see if there's any money in it.

Get fit, I mean real fit, there are long hours involved.

After taking your medication, move the box way off to the left so you don't forget and take it twice. Or off to the right, this has killed many. Good luck.

Cheers.
 
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I'm curious why some of you guys have such an aversion to weddings.
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I think there are a few things that come into play; the first and IMO vastly most important is -- do you have the skills to interact with a bunch of demanding people on the most stressful day of their lives? Some people have "it", and some don't. So for some, it's easy and their natural people skills let them sail through it. For others, it's an unendurable hell. You can learn some things, sure, but if you have lousy people-interaction skills, wedding-shooting will be one of the worst career paths and a huge disservice to any client who happens to hire you.

Second, I think there's the stigma associated with weddings: it's like "independent feature filmmaker" is somehow viewed as the very pinnacle of the pyramid of legitmacy, and "wedding videographer" is somehow viewed as the bottom-of-the-shoe, as in, "failed filmmaker" or something like that. I mean, that's how I've seen it portrayed and how people react to the two potential "career paths", which is kind of funny because somehow people are talking themselves into the notion that working for two years and going $5,000 into debt to produce something like THIS is somehow more valid (or validating) than making a documentary about the most important day in someone's life, and making (not spending, but MAKING) $1,000 to $10,000 per week... (mind boggling, right?) But that's the spectrum that we have -- some people will eat ramen and work 20 hours a day for no return, drive a burnt-out old beater and save every penny they can get for that Rokinon lens which is going to make the difference between "art" and "argh", and can't imagine doing anything else. Doesn't make their chosen path any nobler than the documentarian who turns out artistic wedding videos that make the bride, the groom, and their family cry and feel serious and real emotion...

... but that said, yeah, I'm not one of the guys who can do it. I've shot a lot of events, sports, conventions, commercials, films, corporates, all sorts of things, but that emotion-packed stress-filled potential bridezilla explosion is one area that I recognize there are others far better suited to it.

But whenever I reach a final product it's very rewarding. And the shooting I find to be very enjoyable; shooting really whatever I want at beautiful locations without any permits, eating great, and getting paid very well. I have larger aspirations than weddings, but for the time being, while I build my business in other areas, it's paying the bills.
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And that is a mature and ideal way to look at it! If you enjoy what you're doing, and you don't have to steal locations and beg and borrow things and have people dropping out of your shoot because you can't pay them, and you don't have to sweat the bills... well, I'd say you're doing it exactly right. It's working for you, and more power to you; I think wedding shooting is probably the most prevalent way video shooters can earn a living, and the good ones can make a great living. I would dare say you probably do a lot better, with less stress and hassle, than most of our members who try to eke out $250 or $500 music videos for bands that aren't going to go anywhere and therefore aren't likely to pay...

The wedding business is not suitable to everyone, you have to have the right temperament and people skills for it. If you do have it, it can be downright lucrative. And, as you've observed, you find it quite rewarding. I have no interest in doing it, but I do wish people would give wedding shooters more respect, they're some of the hardest-working, most-frequently-working, and highest-paid video professionals around.
 
Barry, there's a longer version in which the w/party acts like it's funny. Probably relief. imo the shooters clashed previously and the bride didn't know.

But stills photogs getting in the video come with the territory and can be downright dangerous.

I don't like pushing the OP off the idea, but consider the issue of what cameras to use. Many in the congregation will turn up with quality DSLRs,
and many pro wedding video shooters won't use them. Drunks will cross the room to bug them by demanding stills of their table.

A prosumer video camera looks pro and gives the shooter credibility. Then there's the issues with the sound, he has to work on those 50/50 with the video.

Cheers.
 
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Barry_Green said:
Good heavens.

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Originally Posted by Allan Black
It takes a certain personality to shoot wedding vids ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZgD5sWoW4w
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Here's the multi-cam version including shots of the camera wreckage...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=TLK0TbVY6Ik

Weddings do take a certain type of personality- in Russia, evidently it's a fighting personality.
 
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