Frequently Asked Questions About Wedding Video
I was delighted to see Mark Montgomery using my Videomaker forum entry for the “Your questions answered” page.
Not to mention that Videomaker has been one of my favourite readings since my first days in television and video production (there is actually a copy in my news truck), I am a frequent visitor to VM web site. It is a good place to visit, to chat, to help others and to learn new stuff for everyone, whether you are an aspiring enthusiast or a seasoned pro.
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Latest decline in traditional marriage numbers and US economy slow down made some wedding vendors worried. Too early, says Claudia Parsons, Reuters. At least New York videographers should get their cameras ready for the season.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - “Investment bank bailouts, home foreclosures and job losses have spread economic gloom through America but in New York, at least, there’s one industry still weathering the storm — high-end weddings. Cake makers, florists, wedding planners and dress-makers at a wedding show this month said brides were still determined to enjoy their big day with almost no expense spared.”
Whether you are a video enthusiast planning to shoot friend’s or family wedding, or seasoned video professional going for success in the wedding business, this book Shoot-It-Yourself Wedding Video Guide is written for you.
It will walk you through entire wedding day step-by-step, revealing secrets of successful wedding day video coverage.
The book is available via Lulu.com publishing and on-line store.
Preview Shoot-It-Yourself Wedding Video Guide.
Collecting the greetings from the guests is a tricky part. We have talked earlier about recording messages from the bridal party. This post is about getting messages from the guests en large during reception.
I would not recommend doing this it unless upon the marrying couple request. You would naturally get some reaction from the guests while covering the cocktail hour. In this case camera microphone would do the job.
If the couple insists on the “carpet bombing”, you will need 2 things:
Stick mic will let you ignore ambiant noise, sometimes significant during reception. You can use either wireless (preferable) or hardwire mic.
As for being organized, it’s important to miss as few guests as you can. In order to achieve that, look at the room layout and plan your route. Start from one corner and cover table after table, methodically going through. You will be drawn away to cover other events of the evening. But getting organized will help you to come back to the right spot and continue with collecting the messages.
The way you ask the guests for a short clip will depend on your particular situation, how close you know the people, if you are part of the family, etc. In any case, be polite and patient. Don’t push if somebody is camera shy or does not feel like talking on camera. You may offer them a chance to speak later when they feel more comfortable, and carry on to the next guest.
In addition to Father Meeting the Bride: sometimes it’s hard to plan other people’s moves. You would assume the characters to follow the scenario while they start behaving their own way.
Recently I was shooting the bride walking downstairs, where she was supposed to be met by the family and the guests. I set the father at the bottom of the stairs and pushed the guests back so I could get clear shot.
The bride was on stand-by upstairs waiting for the queue. At 1-2-3 she started walking down, and walked, and posed for still photographer and walked again, and finally walked non-stop by her dad in clear view. Instead of spectacular shot of a hug and a kiss I have got a shot of the father with his jaw dropped and hopeless expression on the face. This was my second wedding in that family, and neither me nor the family have learnt the lesson.
A week later I set the father downstairs, climbed up to the bride and whispered: Don’t forget to kiss your Dad! It worked well.
Communication!
Related articles: Father meeting the bride, Shooting the bride getting dressed, Shooting at bride’s place
You may sooner or later encounter a delicate problem of how to videotape divorced parents both present at the wedding. It is not as trivial as one may think.
There are few staged shots you may want to call, like asking parents to say few words on camera, or have parents blessing their daughter or son. Before you run into a problem, ask the bride, what is appropriate in the situation, and what does she want to see.
It may depend on many factors, like how long before the wedding the parents got divorced, or if one or both side remarried, and probably most important - who is paying for the wedding.
In any case keep your coverage balanced, paying equal share of attention to all parents through the wedding day. Stay away from the trap.
Related articles: Father Meeting the Bride, Shooting a blessing, Best Wishes from Mom and Dad
Never underestimate the significance of unassuming people quietly watching from the chair as the wedding day is going through.
Find out who are the grandparents at each location and follow them throughout the day. Get a glimpse at the bride’s or groom’s house, during the ceremony (a must!), posing for the group photo after the ceremony, some shots during the reception. Your attention will be much appreciated later on by the newlyweds.
DJ is your working colleague, normally only during reception. Your good working relationship with the entertainment person (or a team, lets call it DJ to make it simple) are important for a number of reasons.
Schedule
Unless the evening schedule is ultimately dictated by Master of Ceremony, DJ is at the control. He may consult marrying couple during the night, but in most cases he just moves along his schedule according to his own understanding of the rhythm and pace of the night show. First of all, make sure you are aware of upcoming events. Often DJ substitutes MC in part or in full. He usually knows the timeframe of the evening and the kind of activities planned for the evening. Tell him that you are trying to do good work for bride and groom and point out the importance of keeping you aware of any changes in the schedule.
Time to go home
If you are a guest or a family member planning to shoot wedding video, skip this paragraph and go to Audio Issues. If you are working for hire, than you may finish your work significantly earlier or later depending on DJ. Normally last thing on your list would be a bouquet and garter toss. It may happen at 10PM or after midnight. Making friends with the DJ may help you to negotiate favorable timing for the last event to be covered.
Audio Issues
Check with DJ, what is his plan in regards to the toasts and the speeches. If all the speeches are to be delivered from the podium through the house audio system, you just do your installation without bringing the DJ into equation. But if there is no microphone provided by banquet hall, here comes DJ with his wireless microphone and audio system. In this situation you probably need to plug into DJ’s mixer board. It may be a challenge for many DJ’s to provide an audio feed, so make friends before the problem has arisen.
Christian Orthodox wedding ceremony is quite different from the Catholic one. First of all, it may be Greek, Russian, Ukrainian or Lebanese. They all have very much in common with some differences as well.
Prior to filming in the church find out, whether you are allowed in the front of the altar, so you could see bride’s and groom’s faces or you have to stay behind the marrying couple. There are usually some restrictions different from church to church and from the priest to another priest, so be prepared. Discuss the range of your movement with the priest.
The altar itself in Orthodox Church is a sanctuary decorated with icons and lights with an ornamented door in the center. Nobody but the priest is allowed inside. You may be allowed to position yourself just outside of that door on the groom’s or the bride’s side, so you could see both the priest and the couple.
The couple does not speak too much during the ceremony. In Russian Church the priest usually asks if the bride and the groom have been baptized as Orthodox Christians, and after they confirm that, the questioning goes on. In the rest of Orthodox Churches that first question may be skipped and the priest proceeds to the next part, asking if the bride and the groom come on their own will and if they have not committed (or promised) to someone else. This questioning may happen at the door, as soon the couple enters the church, or in front of the altar prior to the ceremony. After the priest is satisfied with the answers, the ceremony commences, and the couple keeps silence until it’s over.
You need to shoot the priest blessing the rings and placing them on bride’s and groom’s fourth finger of the right hand. It may as well be the best man who places the rings on groom’s and bride’s hands, or they may help each other. The ring usually goes half way through and stays like that until the end of the ceremony.
Another key moment is crowning. The priest blesses two crowns, asks the bride and the groom to kiss crowns and passes crowns on to the best man or to the best man and the maid of honour (witnesses, friends, “druzhki” might be the other names of those participants). The crowns are being held above marrying couple’s heads and then later may be placed on their heads as the ceremony goes along. Then the couple is being offered red wine similar to Catholic tradition. The priest holds the cup in his hands and lets the couple to finish the wine in few takes.
The culmination of the crowning is a processional walk around the altar table. The priest goes first being followed by the bride and the groom, and then by the best man and the maid of honour. The ceremony includes three circles around the table and is considered to be a wedding culmination, so keep rolling on all three rounds.
At the end the priest, while standing in the altar door, invites the couple to come closer and talks to them in plain language wishing them well and welcoming them to keep coming to the church.
During the ceremony the priest would be going into the altar and back outside, reading from the bible and singing. You should ask the couple prior to the ceremony if they want you to shoot everything he says. If this is the case, just continue rolling all the time, especially if you don’t understand the language. If the couple lets you use your own discretion, do some beauty shots between shooting key moments: candles, icons, parents, children in the audience, reaction shots from the bridal party, wide shot from the back of the church, etc.
After the ceremony is over the couple leaves the church in very much the same way they would be leaving the Catholic church.
Having enough tapes and batteries for a day is crucial. You need sufficient amount of both.
Take at least 4 hours worth of tapes and 6 hours worth of batteries. And a battery charger.
Get the tapes and the batteries organized in the camera bag.
Keep tapes in the boxes, all properly labeled before going on the shoot.
The easiest thing would be to place clear labels on each tape. You might date them in advance.
Have a pen or two handy; make notes on the tape/box before putting it in the bag after using the tape. The fastest way to mark the tapes would be placing consecutive numbers on them. If you have some more time, put down some additional information as well, like ‘’groom’s house’’, or ‘’reception-1’’ and so on.
Mark all your batteries, for example with insulation tape.
I get mine organized with marked side up for the fresh batteries, and down for discharged battery to avoid wasting time on figuring out which battery is charged, which is not. Keep your battery charger plugged into AC/DC adapter in your car during your travel part of a day. And after the wedding day settles down as you move to the reception hall, get it plugged it there. Place drained batteries on the charger; get that battery rotation organized through the day, so you always have good battery supply.