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Even in this modern-day and age, there are still people who believe that wedding videography has somehow been stuck firmly in the ’80s with cheesy voice-overs and grainy, badly lit photography. In fact, this couldn’t be further from the truth!
With today’s modern HD video camera and hidden wifi sound equipment, as well as film editing software that can produce films on par with major glossy Hollywood romances, you will no longer have to cringe at the thought of sharing your wedding video.
But did you know that the wedding video has been around for a very long time? There has been a wedding video industry since cameras were able to shoot multiple sets of frames, although it didn’t become really popular until the 1980s.
Times have certainly changed. In the early days, a wedding videographer shot footage on 8mm or 16mm film sizes that could only record for 4 minutes! Most of their time was spent actually changing cartridges rather than filming.
Even before the 8mm camera was developed, cameras didn’t record sound. So can you imagine having a silent film for your wedding video? This isn’t the case today with hidden microphones that can be placed into suit pockets and bridal bouquets to pick up every breathless sigh at the sight of the bride and every quaver of your spoken wedding vows.
It wasn’t until the 1980s when Sony invented the camcorder that wedding videography came into its own. Anyone who could afford a camcorder and had a steady grip could record a wedding. However, this also meant that there was a huge onslaught of amateur photographers producing very cheesy wedding videos that had given the wedding videography industry such a poor image for a good few years.
Another downside to these new analogue camcorders was the need for extensive and powerful lighting due to the poor quality of the cameras. Having bright lights certainly gave better results on film, but the poor bride and groom were often left dazed and squinting by the lights, as well as hot and sticky due to the heat that the lights gave off!
A welcome change of style
These days you can choose your preferred style of a wedding film. Whether you want sweeping romance with a musical score, or you want a cinematic feel with a touch of Hollywood glamour, a short-form, Storytelling, video journalistic or more traditional style, a professional wedding videographer will be able to deliver.
This wasn’t the case years ago. Originally wedding videos were focussed on shooting in a documentary style rather than adding any form of artistry to their efforts. The idea was to shoot the footage for posterity rather than cut to different shots or film the excitement of the preparations or the wedding venue to build any anticipation.
Things changed again quickly with the invention of the DVD. This meant that wedding videographers could now shoot much more footage in one go and could remain more alert and aware of the events of the day rather than fussing over changing film cartridges and lighting.
Digital recordings also enabled a new breed of wedding videographers to use their creativity to edit and add filters, overlays and music. This revolution quickly separated those technical photographers who were used to staging static shots and shooting documentary style wedding films from those more artistic and creative film producers who shot wedding video with a theme in mind and the background technical knowledge to add post-production tweaks to see their vision come to life.