Wedding Video by Woods Glen Studio
Maryland Wedding Video, Virginia Wedding Video, Pennsylvania Wedding VideoSpecializing in Creative Wedding Video and Special Event Videography
R. Wayne Grauel, Videographer
800.357.4545
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Choosing A Wedding Videographer
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Where do I start?
I receive numerous inquiries requesting information. First, I understand that the average person is gathering information to try and make an educated decision that is right for them. I'm sure many people only know what they've read in numerous wedding magazine articles about wedding videography and photography. I've read most of these articles and they range from generic to sheer nonsense- especially those articles with the checklist of important questions to ask a videographer. What one has to understand is that the person writing the article is not an expert on wedding videography. Until they were hired to write an article about wedding videography or photography to fill the spaces between advertisers looking for business, they probably knew little more than anyone else on the subject. So, in short, take what you read as a starting point and go from there.
Cost and Value:
Unfortunately the wedding industry is full of people with the "get rich quick" attitude that brides are a captive audience. This includes the part time person who bought some videos and books on how to make money sh
ooting wedding videos, and the wedding video companies who make a lot of money booking scores of budget conscious brides, providing them with a cheap cookie cutter video shot by and large by a crew of part time people hired shoot weddings. Did you ever wonder why the vast majority of "wedding video companies" charge almost the exact same price? Because they are marketing to the typical consumer mentality of a percentage of the population who will choose a video like buying a small appliance, regardless of the artistic value or esthetic quality of an art form like videography. The reality is, if you've looked carefully at finding the right photographer, you probably won't be impressed with the plethora of people offering the cheaper wedding videos.
One can't begin to compare the end result of the stereotypical wedding video and photo companies cashing in on the "Wedding Industry" and individual talented videographers and photographers who love their work and work hard to provide couples with something beyond the ordinary.
A full time videographer, who's life depends on the quality of their work will be able to provide much more value in the finished video. The franchise companies and those high volume videographers who hire people to "point cameras" at brides and grooms at "great prices" absolutely can't afford to invest anywhere near the comparable amount of time that an individual videographer or a comparable photographer who works with one client at a time.
How do we compare wedding videographers and wedding video companies
- or "is it more about business and less about working with people?"You've probably seen advertising from wedding video companies with crews of videographers who claim "their prices are far less than the amounts charged by other Videographers that produce videos that are of the same quality & caliber."
You have to understand what really goes into making or creating a video of any distinctive quality. The average wedding video usually takes around 30 - 40 hours of actual studio time to edit. Some events can take substantially longer. For this reason, your better videographers will be consciousness and limit their work to a certain numbers of events per year.
Now compare this to the video company that has several "part time crews", some as many as 8 crews shooting every week. The typical wedding season is about 40 weeks per year. Your "low cost" video companies will be booked for at least 2 events per weekend for each crew. This is potentially shooting as many as 640 weddings per year. Even at 1 wedding per weekend which is 320 weddings per year, with 2 people hired full time to do simple "cookie cutter" editing, this would only allow 5 to 10 hours to produce the actual video. So, the real question is, "is your dollar going into the actual production of the video, or hiring people and renting expensive office spaces"? Remember, to do low cost work, you have to do a much higher business volume, and when you offer high volume and offer lower costs, something has to give! For someone like me, high volume work is not an option. I'm not interested in just going out and "shooting by the numbers" to have the scenes required to make a simple video. I love my work too much to degrade it by taking away the personal attention and interest I have in each clients wedding.
Doing anything above the all-too-common, mediocre wedding and event videography requires a real skill, a creative eye, excellent editing capabilities, and talent. You don't study and watch videos to be a truly talented videographer or photographer. It's like the musician playing a concert in front of a couple hundred people - either you have it or you don't!
The cost of providing higher quality work is typically misunderstood with the perception that the better videographers are reaping big profits on weddings. Typically, the talented videographer who loves their work, provides unparalleled service, stays current with technology, and does high quality editing will actually make significantly less money then those high volume companies offering budget videos that are geared to attract a significant number of brides with supposedly "great prices". I understand that everyone has to work hard for their income. That's why I put more time and emphasis on the value of the service that I provide than the average wedding videographer. Before you consider only cost, consider the value of the finished product. Hiring a really good videographer and what they can provide will add even more importance to the the question, "should I have a video?" - if it's a good one, absolutely. If it's a cheap video, then you may want to save your money.
Style - the most important question
As you investigate the more talented videographers it will become evident the the individual personality of the videographer, the quality of their work, and their editing style will be a major part in your decision process. The more talented videographers will have a wider range of style.
When I create a video for a client, I consider the person, the venue, and their event as a whole as part of my editing style. Each person is different. By working with a more limited number of
weddings per year, I can afford to be objective in setting the mode for the video
Generally, my work is more of a cinematic documentary. Basically, I'm a photojournalist with a video camera. The ability to capture emotion with the camera and tell a story through editing requires skill and talent.
I see a lot of the video companies telling brides what they want to hear, using the term "Documentary" and "Candid" as the latest buzz words. All I can say is compare the work and you decide.
To produce a video that tells a story in real life requires a full time job just in editing. The video must have life and it must provide a full overview of the event. I like to shoot in a relaxed photojournalistic style. This allows me more than ample footage to create a dramatic video with precise detail, and still keep the storyline moving. I also offer "short form" contemporary style videos, that are focused on a more romantic style. Many clients like to have both styles with a 15 minute romantic highlight video to share with friends.
Spectacular audio quality
Audio quality is the most overlooked and often the most noticeable shortcoming in wedding video. Your videographer should be able to provide at least four wireless microphones for any event. Concentrate on listening for more than the vows. Demand to hear examples of readers, instrumentalists, vocalists, and string quartets. Your wedding will be a beautiful experience. Don’t allow on-camera microphones to record your event. Make sure your videographer understands the principles of acquiring good audio for your video.
Natural, Comfortable, Relaxed
I like to refer to myself as a photojournalist with a video camera. When you think about it, this is the key to how I get great footage. When we think of the "Life Magazine Photos", we think of drama, good composition, and telling the story as seen through the lens.
Molesting the Guests
This also means that I do not "molest guests" at weddings... Frankly, my clients certainly don't want me sticking a bright light and a microphone in their guests' faces and asking them to "say something to the bride and groom", having them to do interviews, or having the bride and groom pretend they are doing "this or that" for the video. Too many people including myself and my wife have "been there, done that" with this type of videographer at a wedding. Frankly there are much better things to do with a video camera and my talent would be wasted chasing people around doing interviews.
People look their best when they are acting naturally. By staying in the background, yet always there, I tend to go relatively unnoticed, but still get great footage. I am a minimalist when it comes to lighting and attracting attention. Most of my work relies only on ambient room lighting. Many photographers I work with have even commented on my ability to get great candid shots. These are the shots that really make a great video, people in real life, being who they really are. Most people are not actors, everyone looks best when you let them be themselves.
Good Camera Skills
This is the key to being a good videographer. To have a good video, you really have to display excellent camera skills and composition. This is the primary key to having a video that is dynamic, exciting, and realistic. My professional background consists of music, photojournalism, industrial photography, and television production. Now well into my second decade specializing in wedding, event, and corporate videography , you can be assured that I come with both the necessary experience and the appropriate background.
The internet and Bridal Magazines are literally full of new faces doing wedding video. They make it look like they've been around. The easiest way to tell who they are is check out what they charge. If it looks too good to be true and they all seem to charge the same thing, start adding 2 and 2 and you'll probably get your answer.
Anyone who buys a camera and takes out an ad in a wedding magazine instantly considers themselves a wedding videographer. The same holds true for some photographers and other companies in the wedding industry that buy video equipment and hire weekend people to shoot video. Anyone can pick up a camera and point it and take a video. Unfortunately, the end results often look like it too!. Don’t be fooled by dazzling special effects and computer animation. Many people tout these capabilities in their advertising, but all of the effects usually seen in wedding video are usually just a substitute for good editing and the ability to build a story line.
Woods Glen Studio has been providing videography services since 1993. With 20 years of experience in photography, video production, and music production, I wanted to make a difference when people thought of Wedding Video. From the beginning, it has been my philosophy to focus on providing exceptional personal service and eliminating the stereotype of the typical wedding videographer. I strive to remain obscure with a constant respect for my clients and the guests they have invited to their wedding. This has been one of the biggest hallmarks to my success as a videographer - to capture great candid footage while maintaining a very low visibility. Watch or download a wedding video demo
