My First Wedding Videography Gig - Starting Out as a Freelancer
Watch here - https://youtu.be/B87mE3uJ05w
15 AUG 2020
A cloudy day that turned to non-stop rain. It certainly helped with more or less consistent lighting.
PREPARATION
I've been friends with Heidi for 7 years now! It has been such a privilege and joy to shoot and edit her wedding video. I made two - the full length version was 1 hour 40 min and the second video is the highlights around 7 min.
I've been getting into videography and motion graphics in the past 2 years. I've mainly done travel videos and some graphic templates. When she first asked me to be her wedding videographer, I was so excited and so freaking out! I certainly felt the pressure of making it good. The only disappointing thing was because of Covid restrictions, my boyfriend couldn't come and film as well. It would have been incredibly handy to have extra angles to capture those expressions.
My first instinct was to jump on YouTube and search for Wedding Videography Tips and 'How-Tos'. I have looked up to a lot of videographers on YouTube who showcase their work and provide helpful tutorials. Here are a few videos with tips and considerations I found useful before the day of the wedding.
Matti Haapoja - 7 Pro Tips for Wedding Videography!
https://youtu.be/4xp31LYdcKo
Matt WhoisMatt Johnson - My Favourite Lens for Wedding Filmmaking!
https://youtu.be/AMwrYohDz00
As I was getting ready prepping with theory and strategy, there was one tip that I learned from Daniel Schiffer that I had to do. That was making a shot list. I prepared a shot list for Heidi, then sent it to her to double check if I missed anything. This was really key in ensuring that I don't miss any moment or people in the video.
Daniel Schiffer -- How I plan Shots & Transitions | B ROLL 101
https://youtu.be/3mZuJAWH1Ow
**Something to note is I did consider the issue of audio, but thankfully the ceremony was being broadcasted through zoom and they had extra cameras and audio set up, which was something I didn't need to worry about.
The next thing I did was to present the couple a few reference videos on YouTube of what style they would want the video to be. They didn't seem to fussed but they certainly liked the examples I had given them.
https://youtu.be/OUB6zKc-Tos
WEDDING DAY
This was how it all went down:
7 A.M. WAKE UP 8 A.M. LEAVE TO TRAIN 10:30 A.M. ARRIVE AT HOTEL - Film Bride and Groom 12 P.M. GROOM LEAVES HOTEL TO CHURCH 1 P.M. BRIDE LEAVES HOTEL TO CHURCH 1:30 P.M. CEREMONY STARTS 3:30 P.M. LATE LUNCH 5 P.M. GROUP PHOTOS 5:45 P.M. TEA CEREMONY
CAMERA - Lumix G85 LENS - ZhongYi Mitakon 25mm f/0.95 Lumix G VARIO 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6
The first half of the day went surprisingly smooth. Arrived unscathed at the hotel, found the bride's room no problem and began shooting while she was getting her make up done. I got some shots of the dress and rings as well. Later on the groom was ready, so I got some shots the grooms men helping the groom with his suit. Then other closeup shots with placing the handkerchief in the pocket, tying shoes. After the groom was ready, we all headed back to the bride. Heidi hid behind the door ajar and David approached and they touched hands. It was a very cute scene to film! David and the groomsmen went off to the church venue. Meanwhile the rest of the time I spent filming the Heidi's parents helping her with her dress.
All these scenes I shot using the Mitakon f/0.95 to get that awesome depth of field combined with close up shots all hand held. The plan was I would leave with the bride's mum first and once we got to the church, I would switch to the 14-42mm and use the DJI Ronin-sc gimbal. Total fail.
I spent a good 30 minutes fixing and trying to set up the gimbal....! So incredibly frustrating. I realised that I didn't bring my quick release plate and so I had to redo the entire set up. Even when I got my camera on, it wouldn't stop jittering. Eventually I got it working. Unfortunately the footage using the 14-42mm was a bit too dark, I should have realised the interior of the church wasn't that well lit. I ended up having to do hand held shots with the Mitakon during the signing and also during the first dance - which worked out really nicely!
FILMING HINDSIGHT
WHAT WORKED OUT
Preparing the shot list
Getting there early at the hotel
Mitakon f/0.95 close ups
Transitions and shot ideas - rehearsing the movements beforehand and also coming up with transitions on the spot
POINTERS FOR NEXT TIME
An extra person filming with me would be great
Seriously need to check and prepare for the gimbal set up
Account for delays throughout the wedding
Save up for zoom lenses - luckily I know the bride well so I didn't feel awkward getting in their faces.
VIDEO EDITING
Having other on going projects, I ended up completing all the vidoes in about a month and a half. I use the apps Clockify and RescueTime to track roughly the amount of time spent. I ended up doing 17-20 hours of work on editing. The wedding video took around 8 hours and the highlights took 6 hours - excluding changes.
Originally I was thinking of doing this for free for my friend, but she kindly offered to pay at a discounted rate. That made me reflect what kind of price I should charge in the future...
EXTRA FILES: - Zoom recorded video - Bridesmaid video and audio - Wedding graphics
With the combination of the zoom video files, that helped fill in the gaps that I couldn't get. Overall I'm really delighted with the final outcome of the highlights video. The only annoying aspect was the inconsistency of quality of the clips. It had been a tough process of filtering out all the clips so I began editing it in chronological order, getting the best bits. Then I was able to jumble it up to match the transitions and the progression of the story. I completed the full video first before attempting the highlights... and boy I NEEDED motivation for that. Sometimes, starting from scratch, new music and just bringing in the best clips together is just the way to go.
VIDEO EDITING HINDSIGHT
WHAT WORKED OUT
Choosing the music first
Cutting only the best clips chronologically and saving that as an original sequence
Editing based on those chosen clips
Sending a sample for the couple to check the video direction
POINTERS FOR NEXT TIME
The zoom file came as an MTS file. I now hate MTS files. That took so long to figure out how to resolve the audio. Definitely have a better understanding though now.
There were a couple of changes that the couple wanted to make, which of course is not a problem at all. Thankfully they were simple changes. But certainly always to be prepared for changes, to save and make all files in a way that can be revisited and edited.
Another thing is it made me consider how to charge if there were multiple changes needed.
THANK YOU...
for reading me documenting my first experience as a wedding videographer. What was your first wedding gig like? Or first time going out there filming and editing?