27 Oct 5 Best Tips for Cinematic Wedding Video

One of the most overlooked wedding expenses I believe is the cinematic wedding video. Traditionally pictures have been the best way to capture the day and the easiest to share, but with video quality sky rising accompanied by smaller price tags, I’m surprised cinematic wedding videos haven’t become much more popular.

A great cinematic wedding video is all about the details. Most people spend copious amounts of time getting footage of guests, but the best companies not only do that, but also capture all the little things that you painstakingly made decisions on. From the flower arrangements, to the little decorations on the cake, to the dress, and more… a great cinematic wedding video should make you relive your moments.
There are many qualified cinematic wedding videographers out there with various price points, so what does it all boil down to?

1. Style

Every wedding video production company has a distinct style. Some are highly polished and produced to look like mini music videos, while others are very documentary-like. Make sure to pick something that fits your style instead of choosing someone based on price point and hoping that the videographer will conform to your stylistic preferences.

Most importantly, make sure that this style is something you want and not what your family and friends want. I once had a client who loved our work, but when she received the final product, she insisted that we alter the style due to her parent’s preferences. Unfortunately, the styles were completely different as a result we ended up not able to please either parties by reaching a compromised product with no clear direction.

2. Deliverables

Not every company delivers the same kind of end product. A lot of the work in a cinematic wedding video is in the post-production itself. Be very clear as to what you are envisioning as the final edited video. Is there going to be a highlights wedding trailer plus an extended trailer? Or is it going to be a long documentary? Have the cinematic wedding video company show you examples of each deliverable that falls within your price range, to make sure you know what you will be getting.

3. Communication

A lot of production mistakes can be avoided if careful communication is provided to the cinematic wedding video production company. Though a video company is supposed to have enough experience to ask these questions, sometimes they can be overlooked.

Things to look out for include: areas within your wedding venue that may limit your videographer’s movements. This happens quite a bit at churches where the priest requests that no videographers can be near the podium, which significantly limits the filming choices for a videographer and requires him/her to provide specialized equipment (such as a longer zoom lens).

Another common problem is being aware of the type of sound system that your venue provides. Will the DJ have a booth where the videographers can connect sound equipment and record from or will the videographers need to provide more sophisticated sound equipment in order to capture speeches and vows properly?

Communicating to the photographer and making sure that the photographer is aware of the videographer is also important. I’ve been to wedding where we’ve worked with photographers who were only selfishly keen on getting the shots they needed, but completely inconsiderate of being in the way of the videographer for key moments.

Finally, any information on the day of to your videographers about parking requirements, reimbursements, directions, phone number contacts with your wedding planner are of course very important as well.

4. Be reasonable and understand limitations/ address them upfront

Filming a cinematic wedding video is highly stressful. Not only are you trying to get all of the pertinent moments that only happen once, but also in order to make it “look cinematic,” you also have to worry a lot about equipment choices.

Specific shots that you as a client are looking for often depend on the type of equipment that is being used. If you expect smooth, moving shots, you will need to expect a videographer running around with a steadicam  or Movi contraption. If your venue is lit with dark “mood lighting” then you may have to expect LED lights being used or be okay that the footage will be dark. Be flexible or make sure your concerns are addressed upfront so that a videographer can properly prepare.

A videographer has to film so many people and if there are any specific people you want to make sure are in the video, a great thing to do is introduce the videographer to these key people. Your mom, mother in law, father, brother, best friend… may be camera shy, avoid the camera, be extremely busy on the day of the wedding, or look like all your other guests.  Introducing the videographers to key people will allow us to keep an eye out.

Editing a wedding video takes an extraordinary amount of time. Sometimes 1-month to just get the initial highlights video and a few months after for the extended cut. Especially when you have multiple cameras shooting for 6-8 hours non-stop, that is quite a bit to shift through. Be aware of this and if needed, just have your videographer tell you specific deliverable dates so that you have something in your mind and to maintain constant communication with the videographer even after your event to make sure things are progressing as planned.

If you are one of those folks that cannot wait  consider suggesting a rush fee on the editing. This can guarantee that the company provides an editor that is only working on your project. Most of the time, editors work on multiple projects at once. This could potentially speed up the delivery dates.

5. Things to Spend Extra On

Cinematic wedding video packages will sell you on multiple different options. As a videographer, here are the top options that I feel like people should consider splurging on.

1. 2 videographers and 2+ cameras (this is my top requirement, especially for venues bigger than 70 people). Having multiple videographers allows for specific moments with the bride or specific moments with the groom to be captured. In addition, with multiple people, you can make sure the videographer will not have to run around from opposite sides of the church to get coverage. Although we try to strategically pre-plan and stage our cameras in the most effective spots, without multiple videographers monitoring the cameras, it is very easy for a guest to stand up right in front of the camera without us knowing.

2. Steadicams provide awesome “cinematic” movement. They really can make a wedding video look pro and movie like. This requires a specialized steadicam operator, but you will not regret the final look that it delivers.

3. Raw footage of your wedding event is great. Though you may not look at it for many years, you never know when a major life milestone will occur, such as a 10^th anniversary when you want to do something special for the one you love. What better than to pull out old raw footage and have an editor piece together memories of your life together since the wedding?