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Crew Resources
Shoot Day Etiquette
We pride ourselves in a number of things, but perhaps the most important is how myself and my crew conduct ourselves on a wedding day shoot. Here's some quick tips to be sure our event flows smoothly!
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Be friendly, helpful and courteous. Every interaction you have with the couple, guests, and other vendors is a chance to for positive interaction. It makes the day flow easier, and portrays our company in a positive light.
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Communicate with the photographer. Be sure to let the photographer know where you'll be so you aren't getting in their shots and we're all on the same page. Happy photo video crew = happy bride and groom
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Dress the part. Business casual (dress shirt, dress pants, etc). Preferably black or grey, but as long as you look appropriate for a wedding we're all good.
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Keep it candid and chill. Couples book me for my "unobtrusive" style, let the day unfold without sticking the camera in their face or making them uncomfortable. If you need to direct some shots, be sure to ask the bride or groom if they are comfortable. Wedding days are stressful at times, be zen and the couple will love you for it.
Shooting Style
Take a look at our most recent films to get an idea of our shooting style. We like to keep things candid and unobtrusive. That being said, there are still times throughout the day where we will direct the couple to make sure we get everything we need. During couple portraits is when we do the most directing, and we always make sure to check with the photographer before staging anything.
Here's a breakdown of what to keep in mind throughout the different stages of the day:
Prep
During bride and groom prep is when we like to be the most hands off. Let them enjoy getting ready, capture some candid shots. When the bride/groom are ready to get dressed, the photographer will typically place them in a good spot. If they don't, or if there is no photographer, find a good source of light (typically a window) and make sure the area around the subject is clean. Don't be afraid to suggest things if you're not in love with the shot you're getting, but also be aware of time and logistical constraints. Feel free to get creative, silhouette, do your thing.
Couple Portraits
The best part of the day! This is where we get to be extra creative and get a lot of the content for our highlights. The second shooter is typically on a wide lens and on a gimbal, while I will be tight on a long lens (or vice versa). The photographer usually directs the couple, but on rare occasions where the photographer doesn't do much with the couple, we will step in and direct.
Ceremony
We always deliver the full ceremony to our clients, so be sure to roll for the entire ceremony. This part of the day is more "traditional". I'll typically be center aisle with the photographer getting the processional, while my second shooter is on the side across from the bride, getting a tight shot of her for vows. I will also have a camera on the groom and sometimes a fourth camera wide in the balcony if there is one.
Cocktail Hour / Reception
We typically use cocktail hour to grab detail shots of the reception room. During the reception, we roll on all the formalities (entrances, first dance, parent dances, toasts, and cake cutting). Second shooter is usually on a gimbal for entrances and dances, and wide on the couple for toasts. For dancing footage quality > quantity. I'd rather have a handful of creative dancing shots than 5 minutes of walking around the dancefloor. We usually shoot dancing clips in 60fps for slowmo goodness. If the dancefloor is dark I'll hit it with a light, we try to avoid super bright on camera lights that can annoy guests. If you have to use a light just be aware of your place on the dancefloor and try not to blind guests.
Technical Info
Panasonic
For Panasonic/Lumix cameras here's the settings we use:
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Photo Style: Cinelike D2
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Rec Format: MP4, 100mbps 4K 4:2:0 10Bit
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Frame Rates: 24p for formalities 60p for portraits, dancing, any creative stuff that needs slow-mo
Sony
For Sony cameras here's the settings we prefer you use to best match us:
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Picture Profile: S-Cinetone or pp8 with Cine4 gamma
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Rec Format: XAVC, 100mbps 4K 4:2:0 8Bit
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Frame Rates: 24p for formalities 60p for portraits, dancing, any creative stuff that needs slow-mo
Canon
For Canon cameras here's the settings we prefer you use to best match us:
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Picture Profile: Neutral
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Rec Format: MP4 4K UHD
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Frame Rates: 24p for formalities 60p for portraits, dancing, any creative stuff that needs slow-mo
Outside Resources
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Who is Matt - Prolific Wedding Videographer with a lot of great wedding-specific tutorials
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Eric Floberg- creative filmmaker with some solid wedding tutorials
Guidelines For Video Editors
Thanks for being part of the Reggio Productions Editing Team! I will email you specific details regarding the wedding you're editing. Below are some general guidelines and rules of thumb to follow for all edits.
INSPO
Head over to our Films page to familiarize yourself with our most recent edits. This will give you a proper feel for the vibes we are trying to achieve with each film.
MUSIC
For music you can log into my MusicBed account. I will email you the log-in information.
Use something cinematic, instrumental that has a nice build. If you use two different songs, make sure they are in the same key (you can search by song key) start with a slower ambient song and then mix in something more upbeat. Listen to the music in our recent films to see what kind of music we typically use, keep it in that same vein.
One note is to not stay in slow parts of the song for too long, you can go back and forth from slow to upbeat, keeping it dynamic. We don't want the film to feel like it's dragging, pacing is key. I usually cut up and mix the songs as needed. You don't need to go crazy, but just make sure the film has a couple highs and lows, not just one long slow song and then a big upbeat finish.
Also when the music gets loud, you keep lower the gain on it so that it peaks somewhere between -8 and -12db. We never want the music to feel too overpowering, and want it to blend in nicely with the natural audio. Matt Johnson recently reviewed one of my films, there is some good insight on audio there.
AUDIO
For all our films I love to use the audio from the day to drive the narrative. Find great moments, snippets from the officiant or priest, vows, toasts, etc. When using vows just use some key moments. You can cut them up to add dramatic pauses. Don't worry about using every single vow, just use the nice moments as you see fit. A good rule of thumb for all natural audio, if what the speaker is saying can be condensed into a handful of phrases while still driving home the emotional point, then condense it. We don't ever want to feel like there is rambling, dragging, or things are taking too long to develop.
For toasts, try to sprinkle in a moment from every toast. If they didn't say anything good just toss in their cheers or something. We don't want to leave anyone out.
I also like to play with blending in natural audio, moments of bridesmaids laughing and chatting during prep, the bridal party cheering, faint background chatter, in the establishing shots you can add in bird/insect noise really faintly in the background if it feels right and doesn't sound out of place. Great audio can add that certain je ne sais quois, and take your edit to the next level!
TIMELINE
Don't worry about keeping the film in chronological order. Even if there's a lot of prep/getting ready footage, don't feel like you need to start the film with that or include a bunch of it. Just sprinkle things in as they work. I'd rather the film open strongly and in a way that is captivating, than just being a chronological outline of their day.
COLOR GRADING
You don't need to color grade! Once you're done with the highlight just send the premiere file to me and I'll grade it and put the finishing touches on.
SEQUENCE SETTINGS
I typically put the highlight in two different sequences. One 4K UHD 3840 x 2160 23.976fps and one 3840 x 1920 23.976fps. The 3840 x 1920 is anamorphic 2:1 ratio. I use the anamorphic video for Vimeo and Youtube and the UHD one for Instagram. Don't worry about export settings, I'll export the final project. For the anamorphic sequence you may just need to adjust the position of the clip in the Y axis to properly frame it since some if it will be cropped.
FRAME RATES
We typically shoot the formalities (ceremony, toasts, first dances, etc) in 24fps. Details and portraits were shot in 60fps. For the 60fps stuff you can slow it down to 41%. Feel free to mess around with speed ramping for things like fun dance footage, or bridal party stuff that feels like it could use it.
STABILIZATION
If there are any clips that need stabilization you can use warp stabilizer with the smoothness set to 5% (anything higher than that gets wonky). If you need to stabilize a slowmo clip you just need to nest it before you drop the warp stabilizer on otherwise it won't let you stabilize.