VideoPro

Audrey and Marcus spent a wonderful evening celebrating their wedding on July 16, 2011. As their videographer, I was honored to have played a small part of helping them celebrate their special day by providing video coverage of the wedding and reception. We used two cameras at the ceremony and they received a bonus of having two cameras at the reception. Audrey and Marcus are some of the nicest people that we have worked with. We have captured a few still shots taken from video and we are posting a link to see their wedding video trailer uploaded to vimeo, video hosting site. Enjoy……..  http://vimeo.com/25612854

Chloe and Aarons wedding was as beautiful as any that I have ever captured. Everyone was extremely friendly and I enjoyed every moment. This was the first time that I have every shot a wedding at 10.30am, but it was a great celebration and very unique. The groom Aaron doubled as the flower girl Grrreeeaaat……. I was able to capture some extremely emotional moments on video. I also included some interviews with guests, family and friends. The couple will reside in Chicago, IL. We will miss you………… Here are some pictures taken from video for your enjoyment.

Also, view the wedding video trailer at http://vimeo.com/28089427

Did you know that it is now possible for your wedding videographer to upload your wedding video to you tube or to Vimeo? These are just two of the more popular video hosting platforms.  With a subscription to Vimeo, you can now upload up to 5gb of video to their site per week for you and your family to see? YouTube is also allowing members to upload High Definition video to their website for free. Brides can upload the video to one of these video hosting platforms. Once you have completed the upload, you can then send a link to your family and friends in order for them to view the video. Obviously, this eliminates the need for burning multiple DVDs and either traveling or sending the DVDs in the mail. Have you ever wondered how some video’s get 100s and sometimes thousands of hits. One viewer tells five people those five people tell five other people and so on. Pretty soon you have a video that has “gone viral.” Take your video viral!!!!! Ask your wedding videographer about posting your wedding video online.

There are some tasks that the bride and groom can do to help set the conditions for a better wedding video. Because video is more detailed than photography, there are certain things that you and your future spouse can do to ensure a better video

1. Voice your concern to your wedding advisor if there are limitations that restrict your videographer from getting good shots during the ceremony. Often, churches and other wedding ceremony venues have restrictions that are not very conducive for the videographer and in that case, the photographer also, during the ceremony. Most advisors will not grant your videographer “carte blanche,” which usually is not appropriate anyway in most venues. However, I have seen times when a tactful conversation takes place with the advisor the day before the ceremony, usually at the rehearsal or at the time that you reserve your venue, they may grant a little more flexibility for your videographer. Obviously, tact and professionalism go a long way in those conversations with the advisor. After all, you have paid, in most cases for the venue and for the videographer. Why not, at least make the attempt to help set the conditions for a better wedding video and pictures. Some of the important elements of the wedding ceremony may be able to be re-created after the wedding ceremony, such as the exchange of wedding rings, candle lighting and “The Kiss.” Remember, “speak now, or forever hold your peace.”

2. Never let the groom turn off the cordless microphone. This has only happened to me once, and I was able to recover using back up sound recording device. Usually the videographer will have the groom miked with a cordless microphone. In some cases the groom may find it a little more convenient to turn off the mic while having a personal conversation before the ceremony with a groomsman or when he needs to go to the restroom. All understandable reasons, however it does create some issues with the videographer when he is making those final sound checks before the wedding. It is tough trying to communicate with the groom just minutes before the ceremony. To help with this I will put the best man of the wedding in charge of making sure, in addition to having the ring, the groom’s microphone is on before the ceremony starts.

3. Usually, the photographer runs the show during the photo-session. Sometimes photographers will object to having the wedding videographer record the photo-session. The concern for the wedding photographer is that with today’s technology, your videographer may be able to capture equal or higher quality photos either with the video camera in still mode or by doing a “frame grab” from the video. Then, he may offer to sell those photos to the couple or even give those photos to the couple. I certainly do not agree with doing this, but this is the concern that photographers have and the concern is certainly valid. After all, in my opinion, it is unethical to do this. The reason that I like to record the photo session is to create a montage of sorts at the very end of the DVD and set it to music for my clients.

Though there are a number of things that you can do your self to make your wedding video a little better, chief among them are, hire a professional videographer with experience in recording weddings.

I earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Television Productions and have over 15 years of wedding videography experience. I still get excited and passionate about each wedding that I do. 

For free consultation, whether you use J and J Digital Media or not, please call us or email us.

678-310-8278 or cell 678-156-1351/email. Provideo@jandjdigitalmedia.com

http://www.jandjdigitalmedia.com

So what is a, “save the date” video? This is usually a wedding invitation that is scripted and communicated via video,  by the bride and groom in order to personally invite friends and family to their wedding. It can be posted on video hosting platforms, distributed via
DVD or embedded on the couple’s website. The Wedding Videos and the Save the Date videos are becoming more  popular today with the advent of lower cost technology such as video cameras, hard drive capacity and the ability to upload, as of this article, 2gb of high-definition video and up to 15 minutes of video in a wide variety of formats onto YouTube. Some other video hosting platforms such as Vimeo offer free and upgraded Vimeo plus accounts that give users the ability to upload up to  5gb per week and have the ability to customize the player to include different colors and the ability to set security features to allow password access only to video. Some professional wedding videographers are offering the Save the Date video as a part of their service offerings. I would always advise, that if you would like to have an especially nice professionally produced wedding save the date video or a wedding DVD, hire a professional to record it. Usually, they will have invested in higher end professional video equipment and have the experience in order to produce a professional looking video.

The save the date video is limited only by the bride and groom’s creativity. I have listed a few to give you a flavor of what is out there. Keep in mind that these video are the creations of the bride and groom. These are some that were posted on you tube and have garnered over one million hits at the time of the publication of this article.

1.       http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTqLyCTESjg

2.      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pWjGpqSqZU&feature=fvsr

3.      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djcHDVrJjFk

Not only can these save the date wedding video trailers fun and exciting for your friends and family to view, it can also serve as a project that you and your future spouse can work on together and have fun doing it. After all, that should be what marriage should be about; working together to create a beautiful masterpiece that others can see. Your marriage should serve as an example for future brides and grooms, an example for your children and all that observe near and far.

Bennie Cheatham

J and J Digital Media

ProVideo@JandJDigitalMedia.Com

This is one of those questions that there is no right or wrong answer to. I will give you reasons that the videographer should attend the wedding rehearsal and reasons that it may not be necessary.

Attending the rehearsal is probably the best way to prepare yourself to record the wedding the ceremony, specially if you are somewhat new to wedding videography. Even a seasoned professional with many years of experience shooting live events would benefit from attending the wedding rehearsal. Sometimes, just talking and asking questions of the facility coordinator may allow you more flexibility when it comes to getting the best shots during the wedding. After all, the couple will have hired the wedding videographer to provide  a service, so my opinion is to do whatever it takes get the job done. Of course you will want to respect the sanctity of the facility and the event. The wedding rehearsal is also an excellent time to get to know the names of some of the people in the wedding party, the Best Man, Maid or Matron of Honor, and of course,  the wedding coordinator. This allows for the wedding party to become a little more comfortable with you on the wedding day. I have found that when the audience is comfortable, I am able to acquire much more realistic and natural footage during pre-wedding ceremony activities.

If you have recorded at a facility in the past and have many years of experience in recording weddings you may be able to get away with not attending the rehearsal. If you do not attend the rehearsal you will certainly want to arrive early at the facility. Decoration placement may be different from  the last time you recorded a wedding at the facility. Many wedding facilities are putting more restrictions in place due to vendors not respecting policies, so even if you have recorded a wedding at the facility in the past, this is something to be cautious about.

In my experience, I have come to rely on my ability to plan. I develop my plan starting with my initial conversation with the Bride and Groom. I further develop that plan at the rehearsal and with a good plan in place it is time for execution on the wedding day. I have learned while training and in combat that although I may have a plan, “no battle plan survives first contact with the enemy.” However, having a good plan puts you miles ahead vs. not having a plan at all.

Good news to share here.

With the advent of new technology, (digital video format) and now, high definition, generation loss, in theory, has the potential to be a thing of the past. Before the digital format became available at the prosumer level, we had to rely on either digital 8 or high8 and a few other standard formats. When we captured the video, we had to edit from the original footage to a master (that was one generation). Then we copied from the master to make the duplicate copies for distribution to the bride (that was the second generation). If the bride ran out of copies and wanted to copy more to distribute to friends and family, (that was the third generation). I hear lots of brides say that they have seen wedding videos that were fuzzy and not very clear. Well, many times it may have been that the video was never captured with a high quality camcorder or it may have gone through several generations, making the copy that is being viewed look very grainy or even “fuzzy.”

Back in 1993 when I first started in wedding videography, I purchased a Sony VX1000 which was the first prosumer level digital camcorder that many semi pros, including myself, could afford. At that time the camera cost $4100.00 it was very high quality video for that time at about 400 lines of horizontal resilution. Once I went through each generation, the copies that went to my customers was at best, “OK.”

Today I acquire video with a High Definition camcorder, edit in digital format and distribute digitally either through DVD or the internet. With this process there is no generation loss. The quality of the images recorded from the outset remain in high definition unless I choose to use a different setting in the editing process  that would reduce the quality.

In conclusion, the availiability of high definition is readily available. So if you are able to put it into your budget, it would really make sense to do so.