Cinematography. Why it matters and what it is
Apr 3, 2011
Before I even get rocking and rolling on this post, I have to give a huge shout out to someone that helped me make a huge transition into the wedding world and that is Greg Lassik of Endless Wave Studios. He wrote about this topic back in July and gave a great analysis on the difference between a cinematographer and videographer – so if you want to read his original post here it is… Cinematographer or Videographer | Endless Wave Blog. I shall now share my thoughts on the problems people have with actually making the right choice.
I find more than anything that the biggest issue in the Orthodox Jewish wedding market, where I do a lot of business is a complete and utter lack of education. Greg did a great job explaining the difference between a traditional videographer and cinematographer. So if you want an in-depth explanation go ahead and read his blog. Suffice it to say that a good cinematographer is creating a film – a piece of art – that tells a story. This is done through the use of multiple angles, lenses, different types of stabilization equipment. Often when people see us on a job they say things like, “wow, you guys have a lot of toys”, or “that thing is so cool” referring to our Steadicam – and it is!! But, we don’t use equipment because its cool. We use it for a specific purpose. Our Steadicam shots put you inside the moment. They allow you to feel every step along with the bride and groom – and this is just one example.
Are we more expensive than many traditional videographers, yes. And there is a reason too. Our crew is always three cinematographers, and our edit times can be 4 to 5 times longer than a traditional one-camera shoot. But, you do get what you pay for and more importantly the education issue comes back into play. We are certainly not out of many people’s budgets who choose to go with a traditional videographer simply because they don’t know our product exists. They are not sure what they are looking for when choosing their wedding “video”. It actually saddens me when I see people take video as a throw in from their photographer without knowing what they’re getting. In the market where I work this happens ALL THE TIME. In the Apple world in which we live, where people can walk around with their wedding film on their cell phone (and I personally do), the apathy and subsequent lack of education given to one’s wedding cinematographer needs to be fixed.
So what’s the point? Educate your friends who are tying the knot. If you are reading this, send them to this post, Greg’s blog, or a myriad of other great sources out there. Watch some videos on Youtube or Vimeo to see what style you like, and then get out into your local market to find someone who can produce it for you. And with that, I step down from my soapbox, and leave you with a bris video I shot. While bris videos are a bit untraditional you can see from this video that it effectively tells the story of the day.
