HOW TO MAKE YOUR WEDDING MORE CINEMATIC!

The big day is here and you have a million things on your mind. To help put one of those things to rest, we’d like to offer some tips and suggestions to consider ahead of time when setting the venue for your wedding ceremony and celebration.

You have made a significant financial and personal investment when hiring our team to capture every amazing moment of this day. To that end, our goal is to produce a cinematic work of art that you will enjoy for eternity. What does cinematic technically, mean? It’s described as the use of images captured on film as the primary expression of dialogue, script, and scene depiction all using optimal light, focus, angle and color. Or to simplify, taking some easy preparation steps to make sure we’ve got everyone’s best look in the most ideal setting.

Here are a few pointers to consider. Of course you’ll want to delegate these out to the wedding planner or other family members who are in charge of the day’s details so you won't have to be thinking of anything other than walking down the aisle to marry your soulmate!

1.     SCHEDULE

This is the big one. The more detailed the schedule of day the more we are able to prepare for each event.

·      It is prudent to actually insert short periods of relaxation and extra cushion time in the schedule. If things begin to run behind, these cushions not only help you, but they also allow us to work on more creative and planned shots.

·      For the first dance, the cake cutting, the speeches, etc., our team needs to change lenses and audio settings. Thus a 5 minutes lead-time before each event will help us be ready and in place for the action.

2.     SETTING

·      If possible, set it up so the bride can get prepared in a room with loads of natural light.

·      If possible, have the hair and make-up artist setup within a few feet of a large window.

·      Assign a person to make sure that the brides suite is maintained and kept neat. Use a closet or spare room to place any times not wanted in the final shots.

·      If there is an option to take the group shots in true lighting this keeps skin tones looking natural and makes the colors in the end product look all the more vibrant.

3.     LOCATION

If the ceremony is in a church or other religious venue, we request to be briefed about the rules regarding movement during the ceremony. We understand that some locations have strict rules against moving during the ceremonies and want to be mindful of that. Our team is very respectful to religious traditions and will only do what is necessary to cinematically capture the event but will never be anywhere or do anything to take away from the formal moments.

4.     PERSONAL TIME

Set aside 10-15 minutes during in the wedding agenda to allow us to get specialty footage of the couple together by themselves.

·      If you are comfortable with a ‘first look’ we highly recommend this, as it will give us footage of the couple at their most intimate moment before the ceremony begins.

·      Another idea to capture the intimate bond of a couple is to have them write their own vows or a personal letter to each other, allowing us to capture the reading on film.

·      Or a personalized surprise gift exchange is another sweet and personal moment just between the betrothed.

5.     SPEECHES

Although each image, still shot and action sequence we catch will be magnificent, the backbone of your film will be the speeches. These are stories about you coming from people who love you dearly. They will be telling the story of how two became one. It is ok to ask you presenters to have well thought-out and meaningful readings ready for the main event.

In the end we are going to capture a cinematic tale of your day and it will be fantastic. After we have done all the necessary prep work, the best you can do to sit back, relax and rest easy knowing we’re getting all the best footage of your big day!

All Rights Reserved. No part of this article may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, including Internet usage, without written permission from Chad Andreo Productions/Andreo Studio Photo + Cinema. 

MODERN WEDDING CINEMATOGRAPHY VS. TRADITIONAL WEDDING VIDEOGRAPHY

In this article we’re looking at the difference between cinematography and videography, giving you all the 411 so you can decide which method is the right option for your event. 

Modern Cinematography: Film production

Cinematography is a big word; it’s what the professionals in Hollywood use to define a person’s title when shooting movies. For our purpose here, we’re taking cinematography to the level of creating a cinematic, or movie-style film of your wedding day.  

Cinematography can be defined as the art and science of motion picture photography, involving all aspects of realizing the vision and the artistic creativity of the director (that’s me) and/or client (that’s you!). To this end, it can involve which lens and lighting choices to make, as well as what filters and the specific camera action operators will be taking.

To lie out some of the other qualities you’re going to get with a cinematographic production let’s take a look here:

·       We’re going to document the day in a movie-like, artistic perspective.

·       The cameras will be small and unobtrusive, as well as being able to capture scenes in limited light with no additional spotlights needed.

·       We’ll be using modern film tools such as Steadi-cams, sliders, aerial drones and other advanced devices to capture unique footage.

·       We’ll be able to record speeches and other audio stories with high quality; this will allows us to later narrate the wedding feature in a creative style.

·       Instead of just a one-man team behind a bulky video cam, we use multiple cameras to capture the ceremony from various angles.

·       Using a cinematographer means the film captured will look more movie-like (this is called a shallow-depth-of-field look). It results in smooth camera movement and the feeling of high production value.

·       Rather than basic event coverage, cinematographers opt for narrative-style or documentary-style “short films” or “story videos”.

·       The editing style for your cinematic film will emphasize the story, thus much more work goes into the editing (could be 40-80 hours versus 10 hours for a traditional wedding documentary).

We ultimately like to call these short films. Your wedding film captures all the actual events and more, which are than edited with additional story telling taken from many hours of footage; including speeches and separate audio recordings acting as narration for the story.

Traditional Videography: Video production working with video vs. film

Videography at its basic can be compared to security camera footage. It is usually taken from one static position, thus unable to take into account surrounding moments of spontaneity, beauty and other artistic elements. 

A video production will offer you:

·       Very straight forward edit with all of the footage delivered in a chronological order.

·       Long, possibly boring shots.

·       Lower quality image.

·       No movie-style movement or action shots.

·       Videography is unable to be as creative and produce a storytelling final document.

·       May have more of those cheesy style interviews with family and friends.

·       Almost exclusively uses wide-angle shots to capture as much of the event at once.

·       Finished video will be on the longer side and include almost everything shot that day.

·       Most video is shot at a higher frame rate, which gives the video a “home movie” feel.

So, once we take out the mumbo-jumbo of tech speak and break it down into the basic cinematography versus video is a lot easier to understand. Some people prefer a homemade movie style giving them a kind of old fashioned feel to document their special event. Others may prefer a hint of flash with some modern style editing, allowing for a bit more artistic license and creativity.

Only you can know what style might fit you best when hiring a film team for your wedding in South Florida. Now, with all that said, no more talking and please take a look at our videos in the link below! 
Wedding Portfolio - West Palm Beach, Miami, Florida Wedding Videographer
Portfolio of South Florida Wedding Cinematographer Videographer Chad Andreo, serving West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Miami and NYC.

All Rights Reserved. No part of this article may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, including Internet usage, without written permission from Chad Andreo Productions/Andreo Studio Photo + Cinema.