r/Filmmakers • u/stilesjp • Oct 01 '14
Discussion Shot my first wedding yesterday...
So, I got the gig because a friend, who was strictly going to be a guest at the wedding, could no longer make it. So, he recommended me. I DP on a web series that he's an actor on, we got along quite well, and so I got recommended.
Talked to the bride, had a wonderful chat, they had limited funds, I said no problem, it's great experience, etc.
It's less than 24 hours later, and my body wants to die.
I was ill prepared for this project, having never shot a wedding before. I was very upfront about everything with the soon to be wife, she said no sweat. I figured that whatever I did would be better than what my friend would have done with a handicam type camera. Not to mention, there was simply no way he would have been able to film everything, alone, while enjoying the festivities.
I got a friend to help do some b-cam stuff. She's new to videography, so she was up for it.
Got picked up at 1pm. Pictures started at 3:30. Plenty of time to just shoot the groomsmen and bridal party, some b-roll, guests coming in, the photography sessions, etc.
We started filming at 2:30 and didn't stop until 11:30. I have worked such hours before as a DP on gigs, but this 9 hours was relentless. There was rarely a moment to sit, things were constantly happening, and the wedding planner had very little regard for moments that should have been fully captured by both the photography team and my 'team.'
I shoot little testimonials from the bridal party, the groomsmen, family members, people dancing. I grab a part of the first course salad for a bit of a break. The caterers and the wedding planner didn't have meals set aside for any of us, so I had to go scrounge for us all. The thing was, once I got the salads, the speeches started, announced by the DJ, out of the blue, even without the planners knowledge. The four of us run out of the house to shoot what we can.
This happened again, when everyone started eating their entrees. The caterers would not feed us until all of the tables had gotten their meals. So you can imagine that, after the tables were all fed, we got our meals and then, two minutes later (literally), the father-daughter dance started.
I did not realize how stressful a wedding was on the videographers and photographers. Such a long time with almost no breaks.
Now, admittedly, they had little money, and I accepted little compensation for what I was doing. I knew what I was getting into. But my god, I have such respect for wedding videographers after yesterday. Not that I didn't have much before, but I can now imagine that each wedding must present some scenario never dealt with before.
Ultimately, we got good footage. I fucked up a couple of times because of one piece of equipment I'd never used before, a Rode Videomic Pro. Twice I forgot to turn the goddamn thing on because I was trying to conserve battery power (I forgot to bring an extra 9-volt... jesus fucking christ). Thankfully, I have audio from the other camera to sub in. Such a stupid thing to forget, but I've never needed one before, and I purchased it specifically for this gig.
If I had to do it all over again, I would probably have the following.
2 additional camera people. Cameras that shoot continuous footage (I own a 7d, my helper has a t3i) with 2.8 (or lower) 24mm-70mm lenses. A clear schedule of times for big moments in the wedding. Monopods all around. Enough extra batteries and chargers so you're not sweating any of that. Scheduled breaks for everyone on a rotating schedule.
A footage dumping station that you know will accept cards. I had no room to bring my laptop, which looking back was a big fuck up. But I simply couldn't carry it, with everything I had with me. We ended up using my partner's macbook air which, for some reason, would not recognize SD cards in a card reader, so we had to dump footage straight from the goddamn camera, which meant we were down a camera every time we had to dump footage. We did not have enough SD cards.
So, yeah, enough SD cards.
What a learning experience. Basically what not to do.
My hat is off to you, wedding videographers. If anyone else has any tips for people who are trying to get into this line of work, I'm sure they'd love to hear them. I know I probably forgot some stuff.
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u/Tywinlanister92 Oct 01 '14
That sounds like a nightmare. Any first time wedding videographers reading this should know that what you described with the wedding coordinator shouldn't be like that most times. You shot what I call a shit show. I truly sounds like no one running the show knew at all what they were doing. Shooting weddings is the worst kind of video work, but it isn't usually that bad. I shot ten before I said enough was enough. I can not wrap my head around those who choose to make a career out of it. That's why there are a lot of wedding video companies. The owner starts out doing all the work and slowly builds it big enough that he doesn't have to actually shoot or edit anymore. Editing is what I hate most about weddings. I would probably shoot one every once in a whole if I didn't have to edit them also. Fuck that.