Wedding Video’s may not be a new thing, but we are loving the trend of more and more couples adding talented filmmakers to their wedding vendor team. Wedding cinematography is an investment, one that we think at Blue Ridge Film Productions is worth it if you have the budget. After all is said and done, your wedding photos and film are what you have to remember your day by! Whether you’re interested in hiring a filmmaker for your wedding or hadn’t considered it yet, we wanted to give you a starting place of what to expect as you begin to browse portfolios and take meetings with potential suppliers.
Why Hire A Wedding Cinematographer?
When it comes to looking back on your wedding, having a film brings the day back to life just by pushing play. Having video to accompany your photos can give you a more full experience to look back on, but it can also be amazing to have this piece of art — starring you!
I myself have been planning my own wedding with my beautiful Fiancee. We are so in love with the idea of being able to share this special day to our children and even grand children for years to come. We are completely in love with wedding videography and it became a top priority for our big day.
Hiring a wedding cinematographer was an important process for me and my fiancee because we want to be able to re-experience our wedding in motion. There are so many moments that occur in between photos being taken, and that extra experience adds to the authenticity and depth of a memory. A video of my wedding day will allow me to revisit my vow readings and remember all of the jokes my older sister cracked in her speech and actually see the tears fall from my face and hopefully my brides! (Hint… hope you’re reading this babe!)
Equally as important was our selection of the wedding cinematographers style we wanted. My fiancee and I have somewhat-unconventional styles, so we knew a traditional wedding video wasn’t quite the right fit for us. After going through plenty of wedding videos, we decided that a modern cinematic style was perfect for us. We absolutely love the trendy dark and moody style that’s big right now! We were happy to find a filmmaker that “got” our styles, and we trusted enough that we wouldn’t have to worry about the finished product.”
Packages
Like with any other wedding vendor, cinematographers offer a variety of packages to help you receive exactly the services you’re looking for. Packages can be great because you can choose the services that both align with your expectations and your budget. The most common misconception about film-making is that you will receive full-length footage of everything that happened on your wedding day. While some cinematographers offer this as a package option, most likely your final product will be a stylized and edited masterpiece to remember the best parts of your day by.
Here are some of the most popular package options you’re likely to see when hiring a filmmaker:
Trailer/Teaser Film (60-90 seconds) – Have you ever watched a movie trailer? This is the same concept, but for the movie of your wedding! Often accompanied later by a short film, this trailer or teaser film is created by your filmmaker while they continue to edit and craft the final product. Some filmmakers include a teaser video as a part of their package, while others offer it as an add-on.
Highlight Film (3-8 minutes) – With many filmmakers, the highlight film is the final product you will receive. More commonly, this film is non-linear and takes a more modern approach, where the filmmaker has truly created a piece of cinematic art out of the events and moments throughout your day.
Short Film (10-20 min) – If you decide on a package with a short film, you will receive an edited version of your wedding footage that takes a more linear form, often including a portion of your vows, reception toasts, etc. Depending on how long you book your wedding cinematographer, the film may also include getting ready footage, first look footage, and grand exit.
Add-ons – Most filmmakers offer options to receive additional footage from your day. A few popular add-ons include:
Full ceremony film/reception– Edited footage of your wedding ceremony or of toasts/speeches during your reception. Blue Ridge Film Productions provides this free is selected packages.
Raw footage – Unedited footage from your wedding day Raw footage can be purchased from Blue Ridge Film Productions for an additional $300.
Rehearsal dinner coverage - For an additional $750 Blue Ridge Film Productions can capture your rehearsal dinner!
Trailer film (mentioned above, as an add-on)
Love story – Similar to an engagement session, this footage is filmed before your wedding day, usually in plain clothes, which may include an interview with you as a couple as well as a lifestyle shoot
Styles
While each filmmaker puts their own artistic touch on their work, there are a few styles by which most filmmakers can be categorized. These are the most common styles to look for in your search:
Cinematic – Cinematic is the most popular style of wedding film you will find in your search. These films are most like a real movie, edited and stylized as a piece of art. There are two main styles within cinematic videography:
Modern Abstract – Modern abstract style is characterized by a non-linear approach. These films are created to make the viewer feel something, both in the way the footage is arranged and the music used. This is what we at Blue Ridge Film Productions specialize in. The footage used in a modern abstract film is more likely to include atmospheric footage, or B-roll, which helps to capture the mood of the day.
classic – While modern abstract films are almost entirely non-linear, classic cinematic films may provide a stylistic edit of events from the day in between bits of B-roll.
Other Things To Consider
Budget – If a video is a priority on your wedding day, it’s a good idea to incorporate that into your wedding budget as early on as possible. The price of having both a photographer and cinematographer isn’t cheap. Depending on what your budget situation is, you may have to make cuts in other areas of your day to afford having it captured the way you want. For a good filmmaker, we recommend budgeting as much (if not more) for their services as you would for your photographer. In essences you get what you pay for. We typically bring upwards to $15,000 in equipment to your big day. You can rest assured that your wedding film is getting captured by the leading brands in the film-making industry today.
Coverage – How many hours of coverage you want is also an important budget consideration. How important is it to you that the filmmaker films you getting ready or your grand exit? Having less hours of coverage and focusing on the most important parts of your day can be a good way to keep your budget down and still book the filmmaker of your dreams. We have packages that start with 3 hours for elopements and extend upwards to 10 hours for our deluxe package. (Package info can be found at www.brfilmproductions.com)
Delivery – Another thing to consider when choosing a Filmmaker is how the film and footage will be delivered. Different filmmakers have their own system, but you may want to keep these delivery methods in mind when choosing which vendor is right for you.
USB Stick - is the most common and is formatted in higher quality than CD-rom.
External Hardrive - all our raw footage captured by Blue Ridge Film Productions is presented on an external hard drive.
Online File Drop - Be sure to check in your contract how long online viewing will be available. Some filmmakers only offer one year of online video hosting, while some will host it indefinitely. This is a great question to ask in your interviews, as well as what options they have if the video will be eventually taken down.
CD-rom
In addition to receiving your film or footage to use, your cinematographer may make your video available for viewing online. Typically, filmmakers host their films on sites like, YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook and their personal business web-page.
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