Filming my first wedding. Suggestions and tips welcomed.

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Insane

Well this saturday I am filming my first wedding. My cousins husband asked me to film his friends wedding and I agreed without thinking. I have quite a bit of experoience behind the lens, but not in this field.

So to those of you who HAVE filmed weddings and other live events. Give me some tips.

To start off. This is a mellow wedding. The ceremony will be outside at a farm property near a lake. Hopefully the sun is out for this and I can work my magic as far as the "pretty shots" go. Content though, the wedding, the special moments that cannot be relived. THAT is what scared me.

Camera wise I have an HPX as the main camera and 2x- t2i's for second angles and cutaway shots (my friend is helping with second angles as well).

I'm either renting a lav mic or my friend is letting me borrow his, hopefully that will be sorted out. I am not getting paid I don't think,I'd rather not lose money on renting the mic. If I have to, I'll drop the money because the groom needs to be mic'd up. How about the officiant? Do I need a lav mic on them as well? I'm hoping to have a shotgun microphone ON the camera as well for backup audio. AUDIO IS THE SCARIEST PART FOR ME. Most of the video work that I do requires very little focus on VOCAL audio so this is new territory for me.

I'm open to any tips, go ahead and tell me how fucked I am. I already know. Wish me luck and give me a tip that will save my life.

Jun 15 2011 10:58PM

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WillStart

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i also get freaked out by audio, so i can't really help you there. that shit's so hard.

but basically just be super, super fast. don't get hung up on one shot. get artsy, but being too artsy will waste your time. when it comes down to it, the client wants to see their wedding, not some rack focus on the wedding cake. so don't spend so much time on a shot that you miss the important parts. and plan waaaaaaay ahead so you know exactly when each crucial moment is going to happen.

here's the first (and only) wedding film i shot. i shot it last summer with one other filmer. he was shooting on an HVX with a Redrock 35mm adapter with Nikon lenses and I was shooting on a Canon T2i and an HVX with a Brevis 35mm adapter and Minolta lenses.

Jun 15 2011 11:02PM

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ILoveOhio

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Insane

Thanks Will, I'll try to be as quick as I can. I often get hung up on one shot because I'm a perfectionist, but I'll keep quickness in mind. After all they told me that they just want "to see their wedding and it doesn't matter if a few things are missed". Seems pretty low key.

Audio just gives me nightmares. I actually woke up from a nightmare regarding this wedding and audio hahahah. What did you guys do for audio for your wedding? I realize there were no vocals in that trailer but I'm assuming you had audio in the final product.

Sweet video for your first wedding though! Thanks for the suggestions man.

Jun 15 2011 11:14PM

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WillStart

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yea i'm kind of a perfectionist too; it was tought to just move on after not getting the shot i wanted.

i actually wasn't involved in editing the long-form version of the wedding video, but i believe that they had hired a separate person to record audio. all the audio was then put on a CD and given to the editor.

Jun 15 2011 11:20PM

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goodiepocket

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Insane

Will covered most the things I would recommend, but I'll see what else I can mention or add. Like Will said, be quick, you need to be one step ahead of everything, what will really help with this is to plan ahead. Get a detailed schedule of the wedding so you know where you are going to have to be and when. Also, meet the photographer and work together. A lot of times, the photographer will take charge of directing people as towards where to stand and what pictures to get etc, plus you are both going to want to be out of each others shots.
Again, as Will said, don't get hung up on one shot to make it look super 'artsy', try it once or twice and then move on. Get a variety of shots and make sure a lot of them are close-ups so you can really see the emotion (and don't forget the old people!).
Don't shy yourself on shooting too much, like any film project having more film is better than not having enough, however, at a wedding there's no redo's.
As for audio, get the lav mic a day before and practice with it so you know exactly how to set it up when it comes to the ceremony and the kind of levels it needs to be at. Depending on the situation, I put the lav on whoever is reading the service since they are in the middle. That is going to change tho if the groom is someone who is shy and is going to talk quietly (nightmare), then put it on the groom. Get something to cover it from wind, just in case it's a little windy. For speeches, buy a sound recorder or put the lav mic by the speaker.
Uhmmm, I can't really think of anything else...if I do I will add on. Here's a wedding video I shot last fall-

Jun 15 2011 11:24PM

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Static

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Don't put all your trust in some cheap wireless lav. Murphy's law assures there will be interference at the most crucial times. To cover my ass I've placed an extra camcorder up front in or next to some flowers, while the video usually isn't worth using,the audio can help you cover up interference from the lav mic and it will really help with syncing (especially if you shot with a bunch of cameras.) Do this at the reception too, the speeches there are always hard to get, lots of people talking and passing the mic around, setting the cam on top of a speaker works.

Jun 16 2011 6:40AM

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Blandct

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If you can get your hands on a h4n or so

Jun 16 2011 8:20AM

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Blandct

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Fucking ns mobile... Zoom could be good for speeches and you can plu right into the soundboard and get good clean audio, I also did this at the church and the priest used the setup in the church. Obviously this is outside and a little different

Jun 16 2011 8:23AM

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TWoods

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ask the groom and bride what the most important moments are going to be. Also, ask them for money to rent any extra gear you need. They are probably already spending a ton of money, 20 bucks to rent a mic or two won't kill them.

make a list of shots you think are important too, show up early and look around the place. Try and decide where the sun will be. it might be easier for you to man the SLR and your friend the HVX, if he's not as experienced that will probably be easier for him to use.

Jun 16 2011 11:41AM

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ILoveOhio

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Insane

He will actually be manning his t2i, I'll be on my HPX, and I will have my t2i as a backup angle for cutaways I am thinking.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. Tomorrow is the dress rehearsal so I should get a better idea after seeing the venue and talking to the bride and groom about key moments and such.

The mic would be 45 bucks to rent, but my friend is hopefully checking out a ton of audio equipment for me to use (beachtech, shotgun mic, XLR cables, Lavs) and additional lenses as well. If that all comes through I should be good, but if not I'm dropping money on some rental audio equipment. I'll see if they'll cover the rental costs.

This is a "low key" wedding from what they say, so that takes some of the stress off of me. But I am still freaking out.

Keep the tips coming guys, it's very appreciated!

Jun 16 2011 5:40PM

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ILoveOhio

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Checking it out through our university*

Jun 16 2011 5:42PM

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BieberHole69

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I just finished editing a wedding that I filmed a few weeks ago on my T2i. Mine was also pretty low key...a family only wedding at the brides house followed by a large reception at a hotel. The bride and groom had very little expectations, which made me feel a not as nervous, but naturally I had some nerves so don't feel like you're alone on that.

Do as much prep work and filming of the venue beforehand and maybe some stuff of the bride and bridesmaids getting ready. That's footage that I really wish I had (the bride told me to get there only an hour before). I made sure to get shots of the brides entrance, the "I Do", the first kiss, putting on the rings, the first dance, toasts, cutting of the cake, bouquet toss, garter belt removal and then all the dancing.

My edit definitely wasn't the most traditional, which actually worked better I think because it was the most nontraditional wedding I've ever witnessed. I also didn't use a tripod (the house was so crammed that I had to stand in the crowd), dolly, or microphone and instead opted for the blur/focus and twitch effects. I also had the music guide the edit other than the major speaking parts. And believe it or not, the bride and groom loved it.

My biggest piece of advice would be to just do your thing. Let your creativity guide you.

Jun 16 2011 11:35PM

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ILoveOhio

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Insane

Thanks for the tips man^

GOOD NEWS.

Audio came through. I now have 2 wireless lav sets, a beachtek, and a shotgun mic for backup audio.

I was also leant a 70-200L 2.8, 16-35mm, and some support gear for the DSLR's.

I was leant more p2 for my HPX and more batteries.

The kit is scary expensive now, lets hope the rain holds off!

I luckily have another hand to hit record on the stationary camera and check exposure/battery life, etc.

I am going to the dress rehearsal today so we'll see what the venue is like after that. I plan on letting my creativity and ideas take over instead of stressing about certain traditional methods. They seem to have low expectations, which is good because my expectations are high.

Thanks again everybody!

Jun 17 2011 3:51PM

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