Ashley & Braden tied the knot in June 2017 in Bethany, Missouri. The couple’s outdoor ceremony consisted of a beautiful grassy field as the backdrop. The weather was ideal for the time of year. The reception was a party filled with heartwarming speeches, dancing, and even fireworks. The day was simply perfect.
Fast forward – the newlyweds are anxiously awaiting for the copy of their wedding video. Months go by and they eventually have to reach out to their wedding videographer to ask for an update. After much delay, the couple finally receives a copy of the long-awaited video. They watch their wedding film for the first time. To say they were disappointed with the production would be a tremendous understatement.
Archer Video was not the videographer for this wedding. I could be bitter about not being selected or considered as their wedding videographer, but Archer Video didn’t even exist at the time. So why am I so concerned about this wedding video? A family member of the couple reached out saying how this has been a sore topic for the past 2 years. The couple was hoping to have a cinematic highlight video as a fun keepsake and to share on social media. Instead, they got a film that they never watched to the end. The concerned family member desperately wanted to give them the film they dreamed of having. She was able to negotiate a copy of the raw footage from the original videographer when he delivered his version of the film. Expectations were low on whether a cohesive and cinematic highlight story could be produced from this raw footage… but they thought it was worth a shot.
I spent over an hour scrolling through the raw footage shot on three different cameras. They had one videographer on a monopod with a Canon DSLR and another manning a tripod camera and a DJI Osmo at the same time. The monopod videographer moved around during the ceremony, which was nice for a variety of framing. However, he only filmed very short clips leaving large gaps in the ceremony. He also took still pictures in the middle of the short clips. This caused an extreme exposure and focus change, making that part of the clip unuseable. (Side note – the couple hired a professional photographer so I’m not sure why the videographer took so many still images.) During the ceremony, the tripod camera was extremely overexposed making it completely unusable. The Osmo camera added smooth movement, and was filmed at 60 frames per second (fps). This frame rate made slow motion an option in a 24fps timeline. However, the Osmo was filmed in a picture profile completely different from the Canon and was heavily underexposed.
For my edit, I grabbed clips with decent audio and formed an outline to the story I wanted to tell. When I film a wedding, I go for quality shots where I take the time to frame and expose correctly – quality over quantity. These videographers did not do this on a majority of their shots, but they did film the entire day. The quantity of shots made it possible to tell a short story even though most shots were less than ideal. I wasn’t able to perfectly match the coloring of the underexposed Osmo with the overexposed Canon footage due to the lower bitrate. I could only color correct the footage so much before it started to “break.” The camera I use shoots Prores RAW giving me more freedom to color correct and color grade without “breaking” the shot.
I wanted to give the couple a wedding video they were proud of. Instead of being excessively frustrated with the video quality, I thought of it as a challenge. Fortunately, the bride and groom were super photogenic which made my job easier. I worked 6-8 hours scrubbing through footage and editing the film to a point that I was happy. Even though I’ve been in video production for 10 years, I still get nervous sending over the product to a client. I uploaded the highlight video to Vimeo, and I sent over the link to the family member who initiated this project. The read receipts were on, and I saw she read the message containing the link. Twenty-fiveminutes went by without a response. Was my edit even an improvement from the original edit? Was this worth the time? After checking my phone over and over, I finally got a response. They loved it and wanted to share immediately!
1st Video: Original edit (NOT an Archer Video edit)
According to Wedding Ideas, the number one “If I could do it all over again…” regret for most brides is not having a wedding video. The second biggest regret is who they chose. Weddings are typically the first (and only) time someone hires a videographer. This couple was assured that they were going to get a professional production. Unfortunately, the original edit demonstrated otherwise. So how do you know if a videographer is the right fit? The easy answer viewing their portfolio and asking for references. You might get a deal on a first time wedding videographer – they can build their portfolio, and you can have a wedding video at a significant price reduction (You need to save money somewhere since your open bar cost twice as much as you previously budgeted, right?). However, if you do end up being an “If I could do it all over again…” bride and the final product is not satisfactory, negotiate to receive and own the raw video and hit me up for a second chance film!
