Wedding Video

My Camera will beat up your camera.

2007-08-04T20:26:00.001-04:00

Ok I am going to vent here. I don't mean to but this is just stupid. THE CAMERA DOES NOT MAKE THE MOVIE THE TALENTED PEOPLE INVOLVED DO. Ok there I got it off my chest. Look one of my biggest pet peeves is when you talk to a videographer and they talk about how great their cameras are, how and why their cameras are better then everyone else. Wait still have more on my chest. IF YOU ARE NOT TALENTED NO CAMERA NOT EVEN THE RED CAMERA WILL HELP YOU. Ok I am done. (deep breath)

Ok here it is plain and simple. The camera is not the talent. A camera can not center the picture, a camera can't see the smiles, can't capture the moments that need to be captured. The person behind the camera does this. If the person behind the camera can't manage to do any of this no camera out there will help. To compare cameras is impossible. I know what your thinking, there is a difference between vhs, hi8 and mini dv. There is a difference between 1 chip, 3 chip, HD, AVCHD, blah blah blah. Sure these camera are all different, and there is a difference between Cannon, JVC, and Sony cameras. But in the end it is the person running the camera that makes the difference. I have seen footage from a single chip camera that looked way better then one from a fancy 3 chip camera. I have seen footage from a BETA camera that looked better then one from a HD camera. It has nothing to do with the camera. It has to do with the talent and eye of the person behind the camera. Plain and simple.

Personally, a professional, doesn't talk about their equipment. Why? Because it doesn't' matter. If an artist paints a picture that is amazing do you ask them if they bought the paints from walmart? If the art work is amazing, do you really care if they bought their paint from walmart? Does it matter?

I know there are all kinds of benefits to certain cameras, but the way I look at it, the camera one uses is a personal choice. Let me give you an example, the cameras we purchased, have a ton of features, and some down sides. But we chose the camera because it felt right. Yep I said it the camera felt good. The buttons where in the right places, the tape ejected from the top instead of the bottom, along with other little things that just worked for us. From a critics point of view did we buy the best camera, nope. But we bought a camera that works for us, does what we need it to do, and we as the talented crew takes care of the rest.

Let me leave it at this "You can't prepackage creativity- you either have it or you don't" -Christopher Adams. The biggest, baddest, chromed out camera won't help you either.

It's in HD

2007-08-04T18:38:00.000-04:00

Well its here! High Definition and if you not sick of the commercials, or Circuit City beating HD down your throat, you will be soon.

Look don't get me wrong, I love the new cameras we are using. The color and clarity are amazing. I am really happy we made the switch. However there are some huge draw backs on all levels. Not to mention there are some half truth flying all over the place.

Let me start with your TV. No your TV will not shut off, let me repeat that, No your TV will not shut off in 2009. Yes there is a switch from analog coming. Now, at the moment that switch is suppose to be happening in 2009, however this switch was suppose to happen in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007. Congress keeps changing the date when the switch was suppose to happen, so there is a chance that 2009 may not be the date. (Why congress is involved at all is beyond me.) This is what will happen, assuming congress doesn't change things, any one who is watching their tv from an antenna will no longer have a signal. I believe this change is to free up the air waves for emergency signals. However I am not 100 percent on that part. What I do know is there will be a converter box available. There will be a discount available for two converters, through a coupon that is available from the US government. This converter box will make it so you can get a HD signal on your TV. If you get your television from your cable company, your cable company will take care of any changes and be sure to charge you an arm and a leg in the process. None of this means you need to get a HD tv. Your TV will not shut off. A HD tv will except a HD signal now, from your cable company or a free signal from an antenna. Yes a HD tv displays awesome color, however the way I look at it, if you TV isn't broken there is no reason to replace it.
There is also the difference between 1080i and 720p. With out going into to much details, both deliver a great picture. Personally I like 720p for sports and action movies, 1080i for documentaries, and "chick flicks". However take a look and see what you like for yourself. Also look out for tvs that are HD tvs and HD ready tvs. There is a difference.

Now for the problems we and other videographers are running into. HD vs Blu-Ray. If you think the whole thing is confusing, join the club. Here is the short of it. HD is still a red laser like the dvd player you have now, and Blu-Ray disc are read with, you guessed it a blue laser. Both deliver your movie in High Definition. Which one should you get, I don't know. We are watching the "market" so to speak and see who, industry wise, is going where. Confused yet, there is more. You can get a DVD player that converts your original DVD into a HD version. Well don't worry we are just as confused. Well sort of. What we want is a standard. We don't care if it is HD or Blue-Ray. We just want some version to be "the version" so we can not only make it available to our customers, but that way we can start to help those who have not make the switch to a HD dvd player and talk about the benefit of the player and system. But at the moment I think we will all just be sitting on the sideline waiting.

Welcome to 2007

2007-01-28T23:53:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year! We are preparing for a new and exciting year, as we are making the switch to HD. I will be posting some topics about HD, the differences between 1080i and 720p. How it will be effecting you and your video productions. So I hope you all have a save and happy New Year, best of luck to all of you.

Tim.

41 ways to save

2006-06-24T21:31:00.000-04:00

While working I ran into this. It is tips from the Knot to save money on your wedding. While I think there are better ways to save money this is a good start.

http://lifestyle.msn.com/Relationships/CouplesandMarriage/Articletkt.aspx?cp-documentid=460074

Pro vs Friend

2006-04-21T23:19:00.000-04:00

Everyone planning a wedding has their dream wedding. But once the budget is set things usually change. One of the common changes is to have a friend or family member video tape the wedding instead of a professional. And to an extent I don't blame them. The average cost of a Wedding Videographer is $3000. That can be a lot of money, sometimes the entire budget.

But to have a friend or family member do the video can be turn out to be a disappointment. I call this the Uncle Buck seneario. The uncle in your family who has the latest camcorders and does all the kids birthday parties. And because $3000 is a lot of money you let him tape the wedding. And you end up with a fun video (sort of) but not one that you will ever show to your friends. And this is not really your uncle's fault. He means well.

Now while cost may be the factor in your decision to have your uncle tape the wedding. There are more and more Studios that are doing Wedding Videos for a reasonable price. I am talking in the price ranges of $200 to $1000. And they deliver a finished DVD that looks just as good if not better then those charging an arm and a leg.

There are three major problems that usually occur when your uncle does your video. First is he may only have one camera. The professional who uses one camera will struggle to be every where at once. Imagine what might happen if your uncle is only using one camera. The second occurs at the reception. Again this is not a fault, but what generally happens is your uncle will catch up with a friend or relative and will end up missing shots. They get caught in conversations or find them self enjoying the party and not capturing moments that a professional will get. The third comes in editing. The phrase "I can fix it in editing" is not always true. Shaky camera, bad lighting, out of focus, audio, and more can not be fixed. Sure there are features in some editing programs that can help with some of these problems but they are more of a band aid then an actual fix. And some of these editing features can make things worse. Another scary phrase is "editing from the camera". Even though prosumer video cameras have come along way and have some neat features, editing from them will not be as good as editing with a program.

Again I do understand saving the money, and using your uncle can be tempting. But if you can afford to have a professional do the video work then go that direction. You will get someone who isn't there to party. They won't get caught with an old friend and they will capture as much as possible, making sure they have every special moment. Let your uncle do what he should be doing and that is celebrating your wedding.

$500 vs $5000

2006-04-21T20:26:00.000-04:00

Wedding Videos $500 vs $5000?

When I started Ring King Studio that was one of the questions I looked at. I did a small survey of married couples. I asked them if they had their wedding video taped and if not why? Every response we got was:

No, because it was expensive. And they had their photos.

So I took a look at the average cost of a wedding. This year the average cost of a wedding is $27000. From there the average spent for both a Photographer and a Videographer was just under $3000 combined.

The average cost for a Wedding Videographer for 2006.

$3000.

So it was obvious why couples where not having their wedding video taped. They couldn't afford both photo and video. Plus we started looking at the couples that only had a budget of $3000 to $7000 to begin with. The average videographer would eat their entire budget.

This is not a knock of the work of a studio that charges $3000+ for their services. There are some advantages and I will get to that in a second. In an earlier post, I listed questions you should ask a videographer before you hire them. This will really help weed out the "fly by nights" and "just in it for the money" studios. And believe me they are out there. Some of the things some studios charge you for really makes me laugh. There are others who think that this is just about pointing the camera and collect the paycheck. The questions that I have listed will help you in the decisions.

Back to the prices. The larger studios that charge on average $3000+ do have some bigger advantages. They are bigger. Some have the capabilities of editing from a truck in the parking lot, and can have the ceremony ready for the guest to view at the reception. The larger studios have the advantage of being able to do 2 or 3 weddings per date. They sometimes have "better equipment" then the smaller studios. I will talk more about this in a second. And last most of the packages are complete packages. What I mean is you choose the Package for $5000 you get the Wedding, Reception, interviews, photo montage, music videos, congratulations from guest, private moments before the wedding.... And so on. But this will all reflect in the final price.

The smaller studios are at a disadvantage to some of this. They normally can't edit on the spot. And in most cases they can only do one wedding per date. They normally have a small staff. However this can be an advantage. Because you know that the person you met with will be the person at your wedding. You won't have to worry about going over again and again what you want your DVD to look like. Being able to only do one wedding per date lets them focus on just you and your wedding. So the final product has a real personal touch. Where the larger studios sometimes turn out a product that looks like the last wedding they did, which looks like the last wedding they did , and so on. In most cases the smaller studio's packages are basic. The extras, like interviewing the guest, will cost extra. But this will let a build your package to fit your needs and your budget.

Lets go back to the camcorders for a minute. A studio that charges $5000 is going to bring in cameras that reflect that. An example is if the Studio is using HD cameras, it will reflect in the price. The HD cameras are not cheap. However that doesn't mean that a smaller studio have inferior cameras. Usually a smaller studio only have 2 or 3 cameras that are not as expensive but still deliver a great picture. Where a larger studio may have 6 to 8 different cameras that they can bring or can take to several different weddings. BUT.......And I know I say this a lot. The camera does NOT make the video. Just because some one has the best camera in the biz doesn't mean they know how to use it.
The difference between a good and a great videographer?

A great videographer can take any video camera and turn out a great product.

A good videographer just has a great video camera.

Now the packages. The more expensive packages are great because they cover all the bases. Every thing is included. Kind of like the worry free package. However the studios that offer the packages and extras separate have some benefits. If you are on a budget, some of the larger studios only offer the ceremony at $800 to $1000. And that is it. If you want more you have to go to the next package which may cost $1500 to $2000. And may not include the extras you want. The smaller studios offer packages that range from $200 for the ceremony only to $800 that includes both the wedding and the reception. So do the math $800 for just the ceremony or $800 for ceremony and reception. And with the extras separate you can build the package that fits you best and stay in your budget. Say you select a package for $500 that covers the ceremony and highlights from the reception, you can then add extras like interview with guest and a photo montage of how you met and still be below $1000.

Bottom line if you can afford to pay $5000 for a wedding video then you will probably go ahead and pay $5000. However my advise would be to shop around look for one in the price range of $500 to $1000 as they will deliver the same if not a better DVD in the end. Then take the money you saved and use it on your honeymoon or for a down payment on a house or new car.

Video Cameras and your wedding.

2006-03-03T22:45:00.000-05:00

When making your selection, for who will video tape your wedding, there are a couple important things to take into consideration. One is the video camera that will be at your wedding and/or reception. First, there is one important thing to keep in mind. The camera will NOT make your video better. It is the creativeness and the talent of the professional behind the camera and in the editing room that will. Someone can have the best cameras in the biz and yet have no clue how to work them. I call this the Uncle Buck Video. But that is for a different post.
That being said, there is some importance to the equipment being used. Most cameras that are being used by videographers are really a personal choice. A certain camera has a feature they like. It has a good display, better menu buttons, the camera is lighter, etc.. And it doesn't hurt to ask about the cameras being used. Ask why they chose that video camera? It might even help in your decision. Let me give you an example. We use smaller video cameras. Hand held. The reason for this, it makes us more mobile. I can come off a tripod faster and be in a better spot for a better shot. I can blend in better, hide among your guest during the cake cutting. And because the cameras are smaller we won't be blocking anyone's view of you. Others offer video cameras that are linked to a mobile editing truck so they can put together a video in time for the reception. While others offer video cameras that shot in HD (High Definition) offering great picture. (Assuming you have an HD TV). Again knowing why may help in the determining of who will be video taping your wedding, and may give you an idea that you were not originally thinking about.
When videographers talk about cameras, you are likely to hear "3ccd". I will break this down. A 3ccd video camera has 3 chips in it that capture Red, Yellow and Blue separate. This gives the most vivid color to the video, compared to a camera that only has 1ccd. They also perform better in low light situations. The 1ccd cameras capture Red, Yellow and Blue just on one chip in the camera. The 3ccd cameras are going to be the best you can get. But again this is not always the most important part. When looking at camera follow this advise if you can get video cameras with 3ccds do. Then move to the single ccd cameras. Do you best to stay away from the HI-8 and the VHS-C. You will be better off this way.
But again I can't stress this enough look for the person behind the camera before you look at the camera and the rest of the equipment.

WEDDING VIDEO. QUESTION TO ASK THE VIDEOGRAPHER

2006-03-03T20:03:00.000-05:00

When you are looking for a wedding videographer, there are a few questions you need to be asking. These questions are important and will help set a side the professionals from the fly by nighters. These question are not in any order.
1. Will you be the primary videographer at my wedding? If not when can I meet them?
(This is one of the more important questions. If you are talking to the videographer about what you want , ideas you have, the style you are looking for, you don't want a different videographer showing up at you wedding.)

2. Are you a full-time Videographer?
(This will help separate the hobbyist from the professionals. Not that hobbyist do a bad job, I have seen some that are better then the professionals, but on the same hand those that do this full time have done it all and seen it all. They know how to react to certain situations, and in most cases they have better and current equipment, and backups incase things go wrong.)

3. How long have you been a Wedding Videographer?

4. How do you stay up to date in your field?

5. How many weddings have you done?

6. Is this your recent work?
( Looking at recent work is important, however if you can see a wedding that is similar to yours or the style you are looking for then this will be beneficial in your selection. An example is if your wedding is outdoors ask to see a wedding video that took place outdoors)

7. Is this a full video or just a Demo?
(Looking at demos are ok in the beginning but when you are narrowing down your choices, you are going to want to see a full video. Demos can be done up to look great and mistake free, the full video will give you a better look at the work they do.)

8. What is your criteria for choosing what you videotape at my wedding?
( Don't hesitate to talk about your ideas. Example "Will you video the guest as they enter the ceremony?" making suggestion will give you a better idea of how flexible your videographer is. Talk over any ideas you have, they may already cover those shots but asking or telling them what shots you want is important. This is your wedding and your video.)

9. What style(s) do you offer? Example Photojournlistic, Documentary, etc..

11. Can we choose our own music?

12. What kind of cameras do you use?
(This is important and not important. Confused? Cameras don't make the video, it is the creative talent behind the camera. A great Videographer can take any camera and make a great video. However that being said, you really want to look for camera's that have 3ccds. From there a single chip digital video camera. Stay away from Hi- 8 or Vhs-c. The Cameras with the 3ccd's will give you the best quality picture, assuming the camera operator know what they are doing.)

13. How many camera will cover our wedding?
(Again this is and isn't important. A great Videographer can cover your event with one camera. However to have two or three camera's at your ceremony will give you better angles and will ultimately make a better video. Although it is your choice you really don't need more then three cameras.)

14. How many people cover the event?

15. Do you bring back up equipment?

16. Do you use wireless mics?

17. What equipment do you use for editing?
(This is another important, not important question. The editing software that is used by your videographer, is really a personal choice.)

18. What time do you arrive to set up your equipment?

19. How many hours of service do you cover? If it goes over is there an extra charge?

20. Do you do interviews with our guest?

21. Do you provide a contract and guarantee?

22. Can we get the original footage?
(This is only if you want it.)

23. How long does it take to get our DVD?

24. Is there a deposit? How much? When is it due?

25. When is the final payment due?

26. Are there any additional charges?
(This is an important question. Do they charge for mileage and how much? Is there a charge for extras like motion menus, DVD cases, titles, credits? This is something to look out for. A great videographer won't charge for all of this. Motion menus, titles and credits should be standard. Along with DVD cases and inserts. If you are being charged extra for this, ask why?. Travel charges do very.)

27. What makes your videography better or different from anybody else?

28. Why should we hire you for our video needs?
(These questions are kind of the same. Just incase you don't get the answer you are looking for this is a good follow up question. Another question that will give you an idea of who your videographer is ask "Why they chose to wedding Videography for a career?")

29. Last. This question is for you. Has the videographer answered and addressed your personal concerns satisfactorily?

Remember this is your Day you have worked hard in the planning. Make sure you find the videographer that fits you best. That can deliver you a DVD of your wedding the way you want it. You should feel comfortable with who you choose. Comfortable to the point that you can move on to the next project and not worry about this one any more. If you have any other questions you think we missed let me know and we will include them.

WEDDING VIDEO

2006-03-02T18:48:00.000-05:00

WELCOME TO RING KING STUDIO'S BLOG.
IN THE COMMING DAYS WE WILL HAVE SUGGESTIONS FOR BRIDES LOOKING TO HAVE THEIR WEDDING PUT TO DVD. WE WILL ALSO INCLUDE UP COMMING PROJECTS WE ARE WOKING ON, AMONG OTHER EXTRAS. THANKS FOR STOPPING BY.
TIM
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