Inside Wedding Videos

It took me several years, endless training, and extensive research to get where I am with video today - and I'm still learning! Every time I bring my cameras to a wedding day event I meet new friends and make videos that exceed my clients' expectations. I've made and learned from my mistakes along the way and now I feel it's time to address my biggest mistake of all.

My biggest mistake was actually more of an oversight - I assumed that all brides knew what they wanted from their wedding video. How could they? After all, it took me several years to come to acquire an in-depth knowledge of the industry, there is a technological explosion happening around us that often baffles and divides videographers, and we the professionals are coining generic phrases like cinematic, timeshift, shortform, MTV edits, and contemporary docu-style to identify our products.

Are you lost?

If you are, well, you're not alone and these Inside Wedding Videos articles are designed to give you an insight to the past, present, and future of wedding video, what to lookout for, and advice on choosing a professional.

So, first of all, why should you choose to hire a professional videographer?

Why Have A Wedding Video?

Ask any of your married friends who don't have a wedding video what their biggest regret about their wedding day is and I can guarantee you that an overwhelming amount of them will say "I wish we had a video."

There are many types of wedding videos of varying standards which range from the sublime to "who gave our drunk uncle a camcorder?" Poorly produced video reflects badly on the industry as a whole but thankfully the horror stories are few and far between. For the most part, couples are thrilled with their wedding videos which actually grow in value as the years pass by.

A wedding video not only captures sight and sound but it also records things you may have missed that you will later cherish; your guests' reactions, the smile of a loved one, your groom preparing to go to the church, and the anticipation before you walked up the aisle to join him. These moments and memories can be relived by you time and time again and not only that, if you are blessed with children then they can share in your wedding day as well. After all, how many of you are lucky enough to have your parents or grandparents wedding video? And my next question... Would you like to have it?

Of course you would!

Couple all these good reasons with the work of a professional(s) who produce work that bares the same high standards you have come to expect from watching your favourite TV shows and I ask my final question... "Can you afford not to have a wedding video?"

Inside Wedding Videos - Present

The Present Day

The technological advances within the industry have been hugely significant. DV revolutionised video formatting and picture quality and we have already dipped our toes into the new High Definition era. All very well for two or three techno geek brides out there but what does this mean for the rest of you?

First of all, there is no excuse for technical weaknesses when it comes to your wedding video because the modern videographer has access to a wonderful range of equipment that our predecessors could only dream about while they got sunburn from the heat of their lights as they stood on the corner of a dancefloor. Today's cameras offer a picture that is rich in colour saturation, full of detail, and need just a 10 to 20W light to get a clean image at dark receptions (Velvetine Productions never use any auxiliary lighting - we work with what we've got and this is one reason we have become so popular with our clients, their guests, and the bands!) We all have access to various forms of sound recording equipment, internet training, the latest and most powerful computers, and state of the art editing suites... and despite all this, the industry still has too many amateurs running around with one decent camera and notions of making some easy money.

The average price for a wedding video in Ireland is 1,000E and that looks like easy money for a few days work to some guys.

Videographer associations are beginning to establish themselves in the UK and I would welcome a similar Irish based body that offers filmmaking training, and enforces strict qualification standards of its membership. Personally speaking, I do not accept the IOV or APV associations from the UK as recognised bodies here in Ireland. I have seen them contribute nothing to its few Irish members who pay an annual fee for the privilege.

Today, Ireland has several leading companies who are immediately visible to enquiring brides and prices for their standard services range from 1,000E to 1,500E. To the best of my knowledge, Velvetine Productions is the most expensive wedding video outfit but this cost is reflected in the quality of our product and service.

My hometown of Tralee is home to about six prominent wedding videographers but one can also find a similar number waiting in the wings offering cut price video - and poor standards! Cast the net around Kerry and one can find at least one major videographer in each big town so consumers now have more choice than ever before. One can take a costly risk with the 400E merchants, decide which one of the average priced outfits suit your taste, or delve into the higher end of the market.

So, access to better technology has offered the modern videographer opportunities to explore more creative, artistic forms of video production and deliver a superior product to his customers. On the evidence of the many wedding videos I have seen I can tell you that the industry is improving and most notably so within the last three to four years.

Wedding video is showing signs of becoming more sophisticated and it is developing genres that complement the videographer's style of expression and the personality or needs of his client base.

Inside Wedding Videos - Past

We've all seen a wedding video at some stage or another and we probably all agree that we've seen at least one awful one! I have no hesitation in admitting that I had an impressive list of excuses when friends used to ask me around to watch theirs. Poorly produced video by hobbyists masquerading as professionals has held the industry back until the present day. It is no coincidence that the wedding videographer is not held in the same high esteem as a professional photographer.

To understand this phenomena we need to look back to the earliest days of wedding videography.

Some of us are lucky enough to have some Super 8 film footage of family events and what not, but it wasn't until Sony made video cameras available to the consumers in 1980 that we became accustomed to the Video Man... and his microphone cables... and his blinding light... and his home video looking footage.

Let's be brutally honest, the vast majority of the video pioneers were amateurs who had no motion picture training, no understanding of shot composition, thought cinematic language was a foreign tongue from Scandinavia, and brandishing (necessary) lights that were powerful enough to trick birds into morning song .

But, nevertheless, video was a novelty back then and seizing upon this market demand, coupled with relative accessibility of primitive video equipment, individuals with an interest in motion picture began to set themselves up in a professional capacity.

In an industry with no governing body and hobbyists with no training, film experience, or technical ability, the Video Man was beginning to form a negative reputation with his dissatisfied customers.

In 1995 Sony released the VX1000 - a 3CCD camera that was compact, discreet, and offered better picture quality. It was the start of a technological boom which would see new low-light cameras offer broadcast quality pictures, non-linear editing suites which allowed editors to flex their creative muscle, and new delivery formats like DVD to replace the degradable VHS tapes. Nowadays, you can watch your wedding video on your mobile phone!

Inside Wedding Videos - Future

The Future

Continuous technological advances, better trained professionals, and increased competition will see wedding videography become a main priority for the majority of brides around the globe.

We are already entering the High Definition age and this technology offers the videographer stunning images which can compete with our cousins in the photography field. Within the next decade on-camera lighting will be a thing of the forgotten past so, no decent videographer will have any excuse for making wedding guests uncomfortable with his light.

Technology offers more creative freedom and, coupled with this, better trained videographers will begin to realise their full potential as the industry moves away from amateurish home video and takes a natural evolutionary step toward broadcast quality productions.

Video is becoming a huge part of modern society and today's generation are exposed to and use it in their everyday lives as a means of entertainment or self expression. Many of us own a camcorder, we have a camera on our mobile phone, we watch video on the internet, some of us upload video to the internet... Video benefits our lives in so many ways and today and tomorrow's young couples appreciate and value this medium as an important need on their wedding day.

White Noise

I don't know what's weirder... the fact that they play GAA in Cayman or that Tim needs to hear some white noise - preferably a hairdryer but a hoover will do - in order to get some sleep.

Tim and Laura are living and working on the Cayman Islands and they recently came home to Ireland to get married in Kenmare. Their DVD is almost ready but here's a look at the spoof movie trailer that I put together for this great couple.

Check out www.velvetineproductions.com for more information about our range of services.

Bridal Guide

Here's a book that might interest you. Although it is written with the American market in mind the advice can just as easily be applied in Ireland and the UK.

A good friend of mine, Jenny Lehman - who happens to be one of the top US videographers - was instrumental in editing the chapter on video. Even though she lives and works in Washington, Jenny has been a tremendous source of help to my business so when she tells me that this is a great book for brides - you can believe it's a great book for brides!

Click here for a link to Amazon bookstore for more information.

An Inconvenient Truth

Over the Christmas period I took the opportunity to catch up on a heap of films that I missed during the year. Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth is one I've been wanting to see for a long time and after watching it I was left feeling guilty that it wasn't at the top of my must-see list.

I urge you to watch this movie and listen to his warnings about the disastrous consequences of global warming, weigh up the evidence, visit this website for starters and take responsibility for the harm we are causing to our planet.

I shrugged off the problem and sat on my hands for far too long but we all need to wake up and realise that we are approaching a tipping point; in other words, once we go so far the disastrous effects of global warming will be irreversible.

Rent the film and visit climatecrisis.net

Turas Media

I realised last year that I could no longer juggle my corporate video ventures under the Velvetine umbrella so I began bouncing various ideas off of my camera man, Shane Pierce. How he put up with me constantly hopping ideas off him I'll never know but, between the pair of us, we came up with some great plans.

Shane is now my business partner and he is going to help me get our new venture turasmedia.com off the ground.


We will be producing corporate video to commercial businesses and we've got some great products to offer! And all you brides needn't worry, Velvetine Productions will be operating separately with yours truly at the helm offering an exclusive service to our clients.

Just make sure to book early to avoid any disappointment; dates are of limited availibilty for the next two years!