Wedding Videographer – White Balancing
All footage should be colour balanced when originally shot. This is usually done each time you change location; a different room will have different light and (unlike our eyes) the camera may not automatically adjust to this. This issue it particualy noticeable at weddings if the bride wears a white dress; larger white objects can look too bright for a cameras auto-adjustment.
Sometimes camera footage is not white balanced, or the footage of two different cameras doesn’t match. This requires colour correction, which can be helped with software packages like DaVinci Resolve or a few other systems. Viewers tend to not notice when this is done correctly, but getting it right just gives the final product a slightly more professional look.
Wedding Videographer Transitions
Sometimes the general rules can be broken. Usually when two pieces of footage are cut together they should have a similar colour look, or be coloured corrected to look similar. This is especially true if they are both part of the same scene. At the same it is possible to have contrasting shoot if you transition between scenes. Going from a light, indoor scene to a dark outdoor scene can work if it looks deliberate and makes sense as a narrative.
If in doupt, make a transition more obvious, and use a tittle card.
Wedding video packages,
It is normal to edit two videos of the wedding:
A short film version is the highlights, running for 5 – 10 minutes. This is probably sent to many guests and those who could not attend. It will probably get watched a few times.
A full version that covers the whole day. This will not get watched too often, though if it is well made people might be inclinded to show it to others. This full version tends to be chronological, covering the whole day from getting ready in the morning, the ceremony, the speeches the dancing right to the thank you at the end. As Hitchcock says, you leaving the boring parts out, but you tell the story. Think of this version as the one the couple will play on the anniversaries.
Licencing and Wedding Videography:
There are issues with images of public buildings and copyright. Private photos are not really an issue, but if they are published anywhere their will almost always be licencing fees. Music in films is the same; even ‘happy birthday’ was under copyright till recently. It may not be an issue for home viewing, but if you wedding film has copyrighted songs (i.e. Anything written in the last 50 years) then even playing it at a family reunion could be an issue. As a silent video is not really advisable we suggest you persue the right legal channels for copy-write. The bride and groom will not be happy with the wedding videographer if they cannot show their video to anybody.