10 videographers at a wedding!

[Steve Burkett]

I agree and I'm always respectful of the couples day and give them space, but my last reply was more directed at the comments regarding the merits of multi camera filming of Weddings generally.

[Peter Rush]

Chance would be a fine thing! I'm filming at a priory next month where I'm only allowed 1 camera (no additional cameras at all) and I have to stand with it halfway down one of the side isles - A nice view of the back of the B&G's heads - plus it's a really dark interior and I'll be quite a distance away so will have to zoom in quite a lot - My Sony EA50 lens ramps badly so may switch to my 5D3 and 70-200 f2.8 for the ceremony - not ideal though!

I've filmed there once before and the vicar will not negotiate at all :(

Pete

[Nigel Barker]

Pete, on the bright side it will be a doddle to edit.

[Stelios Christofides]

Originally Posted by Adrian Tan

I've heard of people using 8 or 9 videographers for very large weddings. (In contrast, I think Stellios on this board has talked about shooting Greek island weddings for 1,000+ people... perhaps just by himself.) ......

Yes I have done that and still doing that,just me and my one camera.But you know what? it's quality not quantity that counts...

Stelios

[Steve Varnell]

My wife loves to watch "Housewives" on Bravo. For one of the shows there was a "celebrity" wedding held outside on a platform built over the pool. I would guess there were at least 6 camera operators for that one. I know there was a least a jib. There may have been a steadicam op too. Funny thing was it turned out pretty crappy IMO. I saw so many out of focus or poorly framed shots I was shocked. (Hope none of them read this). I can easily think of why 6 cameras for a high end wedding would be good, but 10 I think it pushing it unless its a very large church. Yes of course most weddings should be affordably and well done with just 1 or 2 cameras, but it really depends on the level of the finished product needed. I think at around 6 you are getting to the law of diminishing returns. Some variation of a long lens fixed in the back, medium/wide fixed in the back, 1 or 2 stedicams, 1 or 2 fixed on the sides and a jib would be 7, but the jib or jibs could be substituted for some of the fixed cameras depending on location.

I think the way the person said "360" isn't really thinking through some of the possibilities all the cameras I am talking about would give to an editor. Again this is an extreme example. Another example would be going to the extreme where you are mixing cameras with differing depths of field for additional creative shots.

I know the stedicam may not work (cuz of the tendency to be in the shot), but maybe there is a way. Would be interesting to see if anyone has seen one for a wedding.

[James Manford]

Originally Posted by Stelios Christofides

Yes I have done that and still doing that,just me and my one camera.But you know what? it's quality not quantity that counts...

Stelios

Capture all the right moments, have the emotion in your film and your bride/groom won't say squat about your work!

It can all be done solo. Having more than 1 videographer is just to ease the pressure on the day! you still have to edit it all on your own.

But the way I see it ... if I can handle it on my own, that's more profit for me.

[Robert Benda]

More than one person filming is for two reasons that I can think of: 1) be in more than one place at a time; 2) backup in case an emergency happens.

For us, it's two people with three cameras because during the ceremony, we want the bride's face; groom's face; and a third camera for anything else. Yes, it gives us backup on the footage, but mostly, when I edit, it's nice to have choices since people are unpredictable (we're not that experienced yet) and it's safer to have someone filming all the time to catch that one moment you might have missed.

[Rickey Brillantes]

Perhaps this crew that did a 10 videographer for a wedding are just doing it pro bono, to gain experience, at list 1 of them is getting paid by how much, we'll never know, and after the session the guy that was paid will host a beer party elsewhere or at his place, gather the SD cards and place it on his hard drive. Thats only my imagination.

[Warren Kawamoto]

From what I understand, the company in Honolulu has been in business for at least 7 years, and for that wedding they had 1 jib arm, 2 steadicams, 1 video camera, and 6 DSLRs. I have no idea what they charge for their services.

[Steve Varnell]

Originally Posted by Warren Kawamoto

From what I understand, the company in Honolulu has been in business for at least 7 years, and for that wedding they had 1 jib arm, 2 steadicams, 1 video camera, and 6 DSLRs. I have no idea what they charge for their services.

Well editing that footage would be a nightmare (well unless they only rolled for specific shots) and possibly communicated via headsets. Even then how do you ensure all the cameras are set to look the same? Frankly the photographer(s) also should be working for the same company. If everything is pre-planned (on paper) there is actually a lot which can be shot. I missed how you could even have several cameras on the audience to get their reactions (as B-roll). Audience shots are difficult to get, but can really add to he whole experience if done right.

[Danny McCarthy]

Originally Posted by Warren Kawamoto

Just in case my original post wasn't clear, there were 10 videographers representing one company to shoot the wedding.

That company must advertise on Craigslist and hires everyone who responds to their ad!

[Adrian Tan]

Originally Posted by Steve Varnell

Audience shots are difficult to get, but can really add to he whole experience if done right.

Random thought: I was watching what looked like at least a three-camera wedding last night, one in the aisle, and two close-ups.

During the "You may now kiss your bride", the aisle camera got the kiss in a midshot, and the other two cameras spun around and got crying/clapping from parents.

So I thought that was kind of different... to me anyway. Normally, at that moment, I'm transfixed in the close-up, but maybe that is one of the moments you're most likely to get good reactions from audience, and maybe the emotion on the faces of the couple is often blocked by the smooching anyway.

[Nick Reuter]

Originally Posted by Al Gardner

Sadly I now some still photographers who work in herds of 4 and 5 shooting thousands of snaps

I literally laughed out loud envisioning photographers roaming the plains as a herd.

[John Nantz]

For the wedding videographers (I don't do weddings), there is an interesting read on the BBC web site at Wedding photos: When snap-happy guests go too far - CNN.com titled "Wedding photos: When snap-happy guests go too far" that ties in to the original post.

Like the song lyrics says, "... the times they are a changin' ...."

Here are a couple excerpts:

"More and more, how a couple chooses to document their wedding is yet another extension of their collective identity."

"Some couples are crowdsourcing images from guests to complement or even replace professional photography. At the same time, some couples are asking guests to "unplug" and put away their cameras and phones altogether."

One sentence was of interest, even though I wouldn't be interested in doing it, ".. crowdsourced pictures allow the couple to see the day through guests' eyes."

New term: "Crowdsourcing [your wedding] images"?

The article seemed to be extolling the benefits of crowdsourcing wedding images and really didn't say enough about the downside to the professional documentation. Given this seems to be on the increase it would be good for the videographer or photographer to ask questions before booking about what the couple's policy with regard to guest photography will be. It's possible they might not even have thought about it.

[Roger Van Duyn]

I think I noticed several people shooting video with their I-Pad sized tablets at my most recent event shoot, not just taking photos. It's becoming more and more common. Not a crowd yet, so it's not quite crowd sourcing for video yet. I doubt that it will be much longer.