Wedding Video - Here and Now
In the early years of wedding video, the quality simply was not up to standards. Just to get any decent footage the wedding video had to have very bright lighting but even that still resulted in poor contrast and color saturation of the image. The audio of the wedding video would also be in mono which meant poor sound quality in addition to the poor quality footage. Not to mention, non-linear editors were too expensive or hadn’t even existed. As a result, the most advanced type of editing would just to remove the unusable footage in which the wedding videographer was moving from one location to another and also maybe adding a few special transitional effects such as fading in and out. Because of such low quality many have had a poor impression of the modern day wedding video. |
 |
Wedding Video Technology Jumping Leaps and Bounds
What many have not come to realize is that the video technology has jumped leaps and bounds since the early inception of providing
wedding video services. One would think since
Hollywood is in the Los Angeles area and not too far
from Orange County, that it would be common knowledge in Southern California that video technology can provide sometimes breathtaking footage. The days of recording wedding video footage to an analog tape are coming to the end in which the digital age has now revolutionized. The vast improvements allow being able to take good footage in even the lowest of lit situations. Most prosumer video cameras also record audio in stereo. Not to mention, the super and hyper cardiod shotgun microphones as well as wireless lapel microphones allow wedding video to have amazing audio quality.
|
|
Wedding Video Providers Multiply in Numbers
Because of this technological explosion in video, wedding videographers in Los Angeles, Orange County, and throughout Southern California have multiplied in the number of providers. Before the costs of creating a quality wedding video was not even justified which also limited the number of providers. But since the cost of a professional digital video camera of come down as well as the cost of non linear editors, it has actually resulted in many entering this industry who really are not qualified to do so.
What Qualifies Someone to Produce Wedding Video
Many of those now involved in the wedding video business entered in thinking all they have to do is buy a couple of prosumer video cameras, a tripod, a computer workstation, editing software, and a DVD authoring software and now they are qualified to charge thousands of dollars to provide wedding video services in Los Angeles, Orange County, or other areas in Southern California. But just because a so called wedding videographer has the equipment, it doesn’t necessarily mean they are equipped in creating a cinematic and journalistic wedding video. A wedding video, like any film or professional production requires the videographer to have the ability in capturing great footage. The wedding video has to have shots with great composition, lighting, and camera angles. The sound and audio has to be audible and clear just like any movie or television show.
|
 |
Quality Editing Is Just As Important in a Wedding Video
In addition to capturing great footage, the
wedding video needs to be edited with the same standard of quality. It goes without saying that all of the poor footage should hit the cutting floor and only footage that is important and has cinematic qualities should make the final cut. But what happens if the footage of the most important moments in the wedding video was taken poorly and can be even considered unusable? This is where even the best editing cannot save a wedding video. But editing a wedding video requires even more. Cutting footage so that the wedding video has a good pace and rhythm is also an art form which is why there are so many award shows that award people for best editing.
Cinematic Wedding Video
The term cinematic is a term that has been misused or abused throughout the
wedding video industry. Cinematic refers to having movie like qualities. When it comes to major motion pictures, the final product is of a film that shows at 24 frames per second. This is basically the standard frame rate of the movie industry. When the movie production shoots the movie using 35 mm film or used high definition digital video, the end product is still 24 frames per second. Today’s prosumer video cameras now have this capability which allow a wedding video to have that film-like look. This is the first and probably the most important quality that a videographer must be able to provide in order to even claim that they can create a
cinematic wedding video. How can something be
cinematic if the wedding video does not even have a film-like quality?
Apparatuses Used To Capture Great Wedding Video
But besides a video camera and editing software, there are other apparatuses that also have been made available to today’s wedding videographer. Dollies, cranes, and glide cams are just to name a few of the types of equipment that allows a videographer to create
a cinematic wedding video. Throughout all of the weddings that we’ve done in
Southern California, whether they are in
Los Angeles or
Orange County, it has always been our standard to utilize the best equipment in order to capture the highest
quality wedding video footage.
The Widescreen Wedding Video
Another quality that all major motion pictures are shot in today is the widescreen format. This is now the standard in all modern day televisions. Even high definition 1920x1080p signal is sent in the 16:9 aspect ratio format. Prosumer video cameras today can
capture wedding video is the same aspect ratio which is another requirement that a videographer must provide in order to claim that their
wedding video footage is cinematic.
Journalistic Wedding Video
There is also the
journalistic quality that a wedding video can and should have. In essence, a
wedding video is a documentary of the events that occurred during the most important day of a couple. Just like a reality show, the footage taken is usually unrehearsed and is real-time. Meaning, there probably are no retakes or pick up shots. There is a certain
continuity and flow throughout the wedding video allowing the viewer to get a sense of how the day truly unfolded.
Inquiry About Our Wedding Video Services
So before making any judgments of the
quality of wedding video please check out our
wedding video samples. We hope that you will recognize how wedding video can truly have cinematic and journalistic qualities. Wedding videography just like photography is an art form. In addition, it also has its many benefits as well as its costs and risks. Therefore, we invite you to take a look at our wedding video packages. If you are still unsure about wedding video, we encourage you to look at some of the benefits of wedding videography. But if you are ready to truly begin your inquiry, then
please contact us today!
