You're about to hire a wedding videographer, but you're confused; you've started looking at websites containing dozens of wedding video demos and they're all sort of melding into one another. Who is really the better craftsman? What should you pay? How long should you expect your edited wedding film to be? Strangely, it's this last question that, when not discussed between bride, groom and the videographer, poses one of the most ubiquitous problems once the wedding video has been completed.
HOW LONG IS A WEDDING VIDEO? If, somewhere in your conversation with the videographer this topic comes up, chances are you really are working on achieving the right kind of wedding film, because it means that you are actually discussing the process. Sometimes however, this little question, and others like it, escape us.
The other day I called one one of my wedding clients to announce the completion of their wedding film. The groom was shocked when I told him it ran just under 90 minutes. He figured that since we shot with 2 cameras for 9 hours the film would be much, much longer. "But you have 18 hours of footage, don't you?" he exclaimed. Fortunately, when this young couple, Gary and Marisa, saw their film they were delighted with the result. But this length business could have been a major issue.
It's a common misconception in the wedding industry that when you shoot for six hours, you have six hours of film. Well no, all you soon to be brides and grooms out there. Even with an un-edited wedding video, your videographer cannot possibly shoot non-stop from the moment he or she arrives at the venue. In all practically even if he could, that would yield the most boring moments ever recorded on video. After all, how much time can one spend watching empty pews before the throng arrives, and how many slow panning shots over splendid flower arrangements can one absorb before tedium sets in? You get the point. Selective shooting produces good looking video. Designed video produces even better.
So how long should the wedding video be? First off, you need to decide up front what style you want for your wedding film. Classy? Modern? Retro? Jazzy? Do you want it edited or would you prefer the look of watching a home movie, raw and in its original form? It’s your choice, and you should discuss this with your videographer. Now, taking into consideration budget, stylistic preferences, practicalities, etc, a wedding video can be delivered to you as:
(1) Raw unedited footage:
(2) Assembled, meaning the shots are compiled into a basic order but not tailored:
(3) Edited, meaning an artist called an editor will spend days, even weeks, fashioning your wedding film into a movie experience. They say that time is money, and certainly edited films cost more, but there again most people find it easier to watch a tailored film. Bear in mind, the method for filming a wedding, knowing that it will be edited, is vastly different from the method of filming for instant playback.
You might have heard of a few different name tags for film styles: journalistic, traditional, progressive, documentary, cinematic, all very confusing, because really in essence all wedding videos are documentaries of the cinema verite order. In other words, these type of films unfold with very little dramatic direction, the camera or cameras are just there (positioned properly hopefully) to record what happens. In todays world of wedding movies all the styles really boil down to 2. The first uses cinema tools of the trade such as movie cranes, dollies and Steadycams to capture much of the day's footage, and in the other category they don't. Let's call the first a cinematic film because of the cinematic tools of the trade, while the other is simply a documentary.
There is nothing wrong with choosing a documentary style wedding film. While it is likely to have a lot of handheld shots, major theatrical films have them too, and a good documentarian will seek to get that live news type feeling, and keep his camera (or cameras) rolling as much as possible in effort to capture as much of your wedding day as possible. If you opt for a highly tailored film it will include music, titles, etc.
The cinematic style edited wedding film will likely cost more. It is designed for cinematic impact and a “wow” factor. Multiple cameras come into play and at times specialized camera supports such as Steadycams, dollies and video cranes are used to make the cameras float poetically close with the action, almost inside the action. The editing is complex and tight because, like any film you’d see in the theater, the story has to flow, it has to have smooth pacing. A cinematic styled film is more likely to contain specialized color sequences, dream-like looks, black-and white and sepia sequences, and maybe even an animated photo montage, but the documentary style can also be designed with these post production techniques.
There is one other type of film, but it should not really be classified a style. It's the assembled film. Assembled films can be shot either with big cinema tools or without; what sets them apart is the editing, or should I say lack of. The viewing experience is close to that of an unedited film but with titles and a semblance of order to the shots. Whereas it takes a week or more to craft an edited wedding film, the assembled film is usually put together in under a day.
The length of your edited wedding film also depends on hours on scene, how many cameras, guests, wedding elements (bride and groom getting ready, pictures in the park, DJ napkin games, live band coverage, etc ) but the biggest element determining the wedding video length is the editing. Do you want all of the ceremony in the finished film or can some of the officiant’s monologue be shortened? Do you want to see the guests arriving in real time, or do you want those sections fashioned to be short and snappy? Fortunately, all this information does somehow translate into a quasi time equation, which reads as follows:
- Raw footage from an 8 hour shoot with 2 cameras will typically yield 3-4 hours of video.
- Assembled footage (not edited) coming from an 8 hour shoot with 2 cameras will likely produce 2-4 hours of video.
- Edited films: This is a very nebulous arena. Some videographers produce their films in a style akin to music videos with breakneck running times in the 15-25 minute range. Personally, I do not think this style serves the founding idea of a wedding video. Years down the road, when you look back at the film, you might wish for scenes that match your memory only to find that they do not exist in your edited film. Personally, I try to maintain a linear flow of the day's events, therefore my edited cinematic style films derived from 2 cameras on an 8-hour day run anywhere from 65-90 minutes long.
If you desire a long wedding film (more than 90 minutes) 2 or more cameras are usually required, and the documentary style, unedited film, or assembled film might be best suited for you. A long cinematic film might require special elements such as bride and groom interviews, and maid of honor and best man interviews, perhaps a musical romantic sequence shot on a separate day.
Most important of all, discuss your film with the videographer. Really discuss it.
The author of this article, David Marsh, is a novelist and screenwriter who, from time to time, produces high-end cinematic wedding films. He can be reached through his websites www.beverlyhillsvideographer.com and www.wefilmweddings.com
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