K + E Highlights Film
If you’re currently looking into hiring a Toronto wedding videographer to capture the most important day of your life, you’ll have a lot to consider and look at in order to make the right decision. Choosing a wedding photographer is difficult enough as it is, but now determining who will be the right choice to film your entire wedding day is an even more difficult task.
Choosing a Toronto wedding videographer is definitely a big-ticket item to include in your wedding budget, but it’s one that will have a lasting effect for years to come and you’ll be glad that you made the investment.
Look for Wedding Videography Styles
Modern wedding videos often fit into stylistic groups, however these might vary.
Journalistic: Making an emotional, visual video is less important in a journalistic video, instead it focuses on documenting the complete event. These videos may include some creative elements such as voiceovers and unique shots, but they will be minimally edited.
Journalistic wedding videography is more likely to record every minute of the day, but not necessarily the emotion that goes with it, and to follow the events of the day in chronological sequence. With less direction and more candid moments, the videographer will take a more hands-off approach.
The journalistic style may be right for you if you want something simple and direct with no frills.
Cinematic: Filming and watching cinematic wedding films is a lot of fun. With inventive camera angles, text, montages, and subtle effects, these videos are shot more like a film. Drone footage and different perspectives of a single event may also be included. Music and natural sounds are typically used to accompany film in a cinematic wedding video, although they may fade in and out to emphasis the plot. A full-length cinematic video will not always follow a linear path. To effectively illustrate the story and convey emotion, it may flash through certain different portions of the day.
Having a Professional Wedding Videographer Matters
Often, It’s easy to think “I’ll just have a friend or family member shoot some video for me, why do I need to hire someone?” since we’re already surrounded by smartphones that are capable of shooting high quality video. The thing is, having a wedding videographer is so much than just pointing a camera and shooting what’s happening.
A professional wedding videographer has all the tools and knowledge to be able to not only capture your wedding day as it happens, but also weave together a story using visuals combined with sound that will last a lifetime. A professional will know what angles to look for, how to utilize light and incorporate surrounding locations and use them together to create a narrative. All things that you just can’t replicate using a smart phone.
Package Options
It is up to you to decide what kind of package you want for your wedding day. If you feel like having a more relaxed documentary-style film, then having a single videographer for the day might suffice. However, you’ll almost certainly need more than one videographer if you want a huge cinematic, flashy big-production wedding film. You should also think about whether or not you want the bride and groom’s preparations to be filmed. If you do, a second videographer will likely be required because one videographer cannot be in two places at once. So, which package you should get is determined by the final product you want to create.
Types of Videos
Trailer Film: This 1 minute trailer summarizes the most exciting and memorable parts of your day which is the perfect ideal length for social media sharing!
Highlights Film: Highlights typically are 4 – 6 minutes of audio, usually bits of vows, letter readings and speeches, mixed with music that covers the most important portions of the day such as your first look, ceremony and first dance.
Feature Film: A feature film (up to 60 mins) offers for the most storytelling, with voiceovers to tell backstories, audio from portions of the day not normally covered, and a more comprehensive, all-encompassing option to relive your day.
Of course, in general, the longer the wedding video, the higher the budget may be necessary. With this in mind, you can look at the work of several videographers to get a sense of how your film will feel, or if you’re not sure, ask them what style of film they might specialize in. Many videographers will provide you with a trailer-length film as well as a longer format so you may share your video in numerous ways.
Video Equipment
It used to be that your wedding videographer would go about with enormous cumbersome cameras and tripods, disrupting everyone, but that is no longer the case. With the advancement of technology, wedding videographers now have capability to film weddings using smaller DSLR cameras that resemble the ones used by your photographer. As a result, they can more easily fade into the background and be less intrusive.
It’s a good idea anyways to inquire about your videographer’s equipment, since they should be able to get away with using compact, portable equipment that is unobtrusive on your special day.
Past Work
Reviewing a videographer’s portfolio is one of the most effective ways to pick one. You can see how they edit an entire wedding day into a fraction of the time and which styles they can achieve. Does the videographer prefer candid shots or more staged ones? Are the films more music or narration focused? You may also be able to observe a videographer’s approach to specific environments, such as a beach or intimate weddings.
The consistency of a videographers portfolio is another useful piece of information to consider. How many films have they created? Is there a consistent style among the videos? Examine the portfolio of your possible videographer carefully, as this is the greatest way to learn about their tone and style before deciding.
Last but not least, always read the reviews on your preferred videographer. A videographer can say whatever they want about their services, but only true client feedback can tell you how good they actually are. Make sure to gather reviews from any third-party sources rather than just the videographer’s website.
Industry Experience
Industry Experience: Working with professional and well-known videographers can help make your special day run more smoothly. Planners and venues may be more confident or educated about working with them because they are familiar with their style. Furthermore, your videographer may have previously worked at the location and is familiar with all of the methods for getting the greatest pictures.
Difficult Venues: Keep in mind the difficulty of specific venues and locations while planning your event. It may be easier to film your wedding if it is held in a more conventional setting. Experience will go a long way in ensuring your videographer can react to environmental conditions and still create amazing shots in places like the beach or less-than-traditional locations. Experienced videographers can utilize their lighting skills or figure out how to keep their camera rolling in the midst of sand and sea spray on the fly.
Wedding Scale: If your wedding will be attended by a large number of people, you’ll almost certainly need more than one videographer to cover everything during your day. Make sure your videographer is aware of your guest list so that the proper number of videographers and cameras can be assigned.
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