all your burning questions, finally answered!
(or some stuff that might be worth knowing)
WHY EVEN GET A VIDEO AT ALL?
Weddings are unique events, months or even years of planing and before you know it it's all over, a lot of time money and emotion goes into a day that all to quickly becomes a distant memory. while photos do a great job of freezing a moment and preserving it forever they are a distant second to a video, cleanly shot video can capture the mood, emotion, excitement and feel of a wedding day.
What videos do we get?
All packages are based around creating a wedding film, from there different packages add on full videos of the ceremony, speeches, and even hours worth of unedited raw footage
how long have you been doing this?
I’ve been making short films and having fun with cameras since I was 13, I've been working professionally as a video producer and freelance wedding videographer since graduating from CPIT’s Broadcasting School in 2011.
why do you do this?
because I love it, I get a real kick out of filming a wedding day, I like being forced to think on my feet whilefor a start everyone’s laughing, smiling and well dressed, what more could you want to film? for a more detailed look at who I am and why I love what I do click here
how do we receive and watch our film?
we have worked hard to make sure our videos can be watched widely, easily, and in a high quality. as such we deliver your videos three ways:
The first is on USB drives, we send you two USB’s one for playing via the usb port on your smart tv, xbox, playstation or other media device. the second USB is for archiving and contains even higher quality files that will look great on the next generation of screens.
The second is with download links, using these links you can download your videos to a computer or send the links to your friends and family anywhere in the world and allow them to download and save their own copies.
Lastly we upload the wedding film to a streaming site like Vimeo or YouTube, from there you can share the film on social media or send the film to anyone you want.
so no dvds?
If you really want DVD’s this can be arranged at an extra cost, but not before we try convince you otherwise. DVD’s and even their higher quality replacements are history. for the best quality, and smoothest possible viewing experience you want video files formatted for todays devices.
Why don't you use any sound from the day in the wedding film
By focusing in on the imagery we can achieve a higher quality of visual storytelling, I’ve experimented with including sections of the vows or speeches but I found the video became much longer than it should be and that the visuals quickly became slave to the audio, by editing the wedding film to your favourite songs Im free to let the visuals dictate the pace and direction of the video. Ultimately It's a style and taste thing, I think the video is better served being more purely about the visuals but other videographers would disagree. Thankfully that’s where you get to make a choice :)
Keep in mind however this is just for the wedding film, the videos that we make of the ceremony and speeches include high quality audio from the day and the raw footage videos include all the original audio from the day.
do you use still photos (perhaps from the photographer) in any of your videos?
NOT. EVEN. ONCE
how long will it take for you to edit the wedding Film and videos?
I'll be honest, this is a really hard question to answer
Editing the wedding film usually takes about 10 days with a few extra days for the videos of the ceremony and reception. we edit weddings in the order that we shoot them, so for your video it will depend on how many weddings we shot before yours, as a general rule if you’re getting married at the end of the summer you will have to wait longer than if you got married at the start.
We don't rush the editing process because we want to make sure you get the best possible version of your wedding film
will you get along with the photographer?
Absolutely, one of the great joys of filming weddings is working along side talented photographers, for my part I just make sure I wont be getting in their way, and help them out anytime I can, most are kind enough to return the favour
I have also made a small list of some of my favourite Christchurch based photographers right here
do you use an assistant or second shooter?
I take enormous pride in shooting the whole day myself, I believe this is what allows me to tell the story of your wedding day in focused way with a consistent style. By creating every shot myself I can plan things in the moment that I know will work in the final edit of the video.
While a second shooter is a good way of getting more footage out of the day I don't believe that this leads to a better video.
Not using a second shooter also means that your memories of the day are of friends and family, not videographers and cameras. (more on that next)
how intrusive are you?
I’m regularly told something along the lines of “we hardly even noticed you where there” and I'm very proud anytime I hear this. I go out of my way to keep my presence in your day to a minimum, this is most important during the ceremony, by keeping my distance I'm able to get everything I need from afar without anyone feeling conscious that they are being filmed. outside of the photoshoot I wont ever stop you or tell you what to do, It’s your wedding day, not a film production, you do what comes naturally and I’ll react to it.
A big part of keeping our presence to a minimum is not using a second shooter.
If your particularly worried that a videographer will be too intrusive on the day just let me know and ill make an extra effort to keep my distance and stay out of the way.
how do we know you’re the right videographer for us?
Firstly watch one of my videos and decide if this is the style you like, next have a look around my site, reading this page is a great start. and then meet me in person for a no obligation chat, within a few minutes you will know if you want me there on your wedding day.
Should I book in advance?
We often take bookings about a year in advance so if your getting married in the next year and want us to make your video then it would be worth making contact asap,
What are your terms of payment?
We require a $500 deposit to make a booking. Then (after the wedding day) once you have had a chance to watch a first draft of the wedding film we send you an invoice for the outstanding amount, payment can be made by direct deposit, internet banking or cash.
what if we want to make some changes to the edit?
No problem! changes are available for every package we offer, we want the video to be the best it can be and that means it’s not finished until your happy.
Most couples have a small list of changes they want upon seeing the first draft, usually simple stuff like adding or removing shots of specific people.
who picks the music?
You do of course! It’s your video, I just make it for you
IS there anything we do to make the video even better?
I’m so glad you asked! here are a few things to keep in mind as you plan your wedding that will make your videographer (and photographer) smile
Light: think about light, specifically sunlight and especially for the morning of the wedding, I love light, the camera loves light, your makeup artist and photographer likely also love light. the more light your preparation address has the easier it will be for us to get great shots.
Speeches: in my perfect world the speeches would be all done in one go and not split up over the night, before or after tea is fine, but a little bit of time between being announced in and the first speech is greatly appreciated, lastly if you get everyone to speak from the same place (most venues have a lectern) then we wont have to move the camera for every speaker.
Photoshoot: simple, plan for as much time here as possible! doing this has two benefits, firstly more time means more great shots, secondly when some other part of the day takes longer than planed the first place this time is made up is in the photoshoot. It’s easy enough to finish the photoshoot earlier if everyones happy but it’s not great when the photoshoot runs overtime. the reception venue, caterers and even your guests wont love you for this.
guests as photographers/videographers: It breaks my heart when I see your guests watching you get married from behind a cellphone screen, it’s like they are watching a poor quality recording of the wedding as it happens just a few metres in front of them. guests with cameras during the ceremony also run the risk of ruining a great shot or actually blocking the professionals view as they jockey for a good vantage point. thankful the current trend is to have the celebrant ask everyone to turn off their phones at the start of the ceremony and politely request that everyone just enjoy the ceremony rather than take photos.
do what you want! tradition be dammed (if you want to) unless there are traditions you want to celebrate just relax an do what you want on your day, don't worry about what the tradition is. often this just leads to stress and frustration, who cares which leg the garter goes on? put it on which ever leg feels more comfortable!