Wedding videography 101: How to choose the perfect film style
Choosing a videographer for your wedding can feel overwhelming, especially if you are not a movie buff and everything is new to you. There's lots to consider so today we're sharing some insider tips to help you make the right choice, from wedding film dream team and Fine Art Curation members Jacob and Pauline. This talented husband and wife duo talk us through the two main styles of wedding videography and how to choose the perfect one for you.
From Jacob and Pauline: "Wedding films have come a long way and are now sophisticated cinematic pieces you will enjoy watching over and over for years to come. Watching your wedding day on a screen is a fantastic feeling! No matter what kind of wedding film you will choose, the decision to book a wedding videographer will be one of the best things you will do, as the feeling when watching your wedding day on your golden anniversary will be priceless. Let's look at your options."
Marrakesh Wedding Videographer from Jacob and Pauline on Vimeo.
Cinematic trailers
The first style and our favourite is a short artistic piece often referred to as a wedding trailer. You can easily recognise them in videographers' portfolios by the length as cinematic trailers tend to be around three to four minutes long. Trailers are usually shot in slow motion to achieve a romantic vibe, making everything beautifully smooth and elegant.
Wedding trailers are visually oriented. If decoration and your theme play a significant part in your wedding day, this is the best fit for you as videographers love to capture all the little details. This style is a great fit for fine art wedding photography.
The main strength of a cinematic trailer is all about emotion. A well-captured and edited trailer will give you goosebumps every time you watch it or butterflies you felt during your vows. If bringing back the emotions is more important than re-watching every part your wedding day, this is the right wedding film for you.
The Savile Club Wedding Videographer | Bradie & Harry from Jacob and Pauline on Vimeo.
Documentary wedding films
This type of film, often referred to as highlights, focuses on telling a complete story of your wedding day. Usually around five to 10 minutes length, it allows you to re-watch your full vows and hear the best bits of your speeches. Unlike a trailer, it doesn't focus on atmosphere so much by not slowing down the shots, which results in a very realistic feeling. This is fantastic for being authentic, but it it can lack a feeling of elegance and drama, which cinematic trailers do so well.
Documentary wedding films very often go over six minutes - double the time of trailers - so you may find that you watch it less often than you would a short trailer. Highlights are great for watching the story of your wedding day unfold in detail. You will see a lot of your friends and family having fun, a lot of reaction shots during your speeches. This style goes well with reportage wedding photography.
Claridge's Hotel Wedding Videographer from Jacob and Pauline on Vimeo.
Hopefully you now feel more oriented in the world of wedding videography. There is no right or wrong. Your wedding will be as unique as you and your other half and your wedding film should reflect that. The best wedding videographers create their own style and often mix the best bits of both styles, and may offer extra services to compliment whichever film style you choose. These can include:
Full wedding day/raw footage
This wedding video consists of every shot captured of your wedding day, chronologically edited from start to end with no creative approach and editing. It can be exciting to see everything your videographer captured, but as it can easily go over an hour or two in length and isn't particularly engaging, many other couples watch this just once after the wedding then it gets forgotten.
15+ minutes edit
This can be an add-on to your cinematic trailer if you feel that three minutes is not enough and gives you the best of both styles of wedding films.
Super 8
This video is shot on a real film stock using an old celluloid camera with a very distinct look. This video is not very common and can be easily achieved by adjusting the video from a digital camera. There is no voiceover, just music. It has its magic, but we recommend having it only as an add-on, not the main video.
vendor details
Copy and video by Jacob and Pauline.
