A photo montage is a collection of still pictures arranged in a video composition to show in a slide show fashion. The photo montage, however, is a dramatic improvement over a slide show since video facilitates motion which engages the viewer.
One very powerful option available is a professional voiceover. This allows a story to be told in a bold way that captures the attention of your audience. Please view a sample of such a photo montage to see what you think.
You have decided that you would like to have a video of your wedding, reunion, anniversary, or other event. The next step is to select a videographer. Please consider a few ground rules that will ensure you make an educated and wise choice while staying within your budget.
The first rule may seem at odds with one of your goals–staying within your budget. When interviewing videographers don’t be overly concerned with pricing and how much they charge. Be up front with videographers you interview and tell them roughly what you would like to spend but that at the same time you would like to know what is available. Tell them, “We are trying to get an education.” Any good videographer or artisan knows that if he does a good enough job in his presentation that the couple may be so deeply moved that they will seek out “papa” to help. If your potential videographer takes issue with that then you have addressed the next consideration found below.
One of the primary considerations you must address at all costs in securing a vendor for your wedding or event is only securing the help of individuals whom you can work with confidently and without hesitation. You want a friendly relationship to develop between you. You want someone who only says “yes” even when he says no. You want someone who leaves the distinct impression that he or she is dropping everything when you call.
One of the objectives in your search is to get an education. You want to find out what services are available and to see what sorts of styles exist for you to choose from. Having an education you will be more confident about a particular style or manner of video.
There are videographers who believe that the average bride-to-be will be sold on technology. If you find yourself listening to technical terminology that you don’t understand mark it down as a minus. What you are interested in are results and any vendor you select should understand that. Think about it: what would you rather hear about. Would you rather hear about capturing the beading of your wedding dress, the tear in your father’s eye, or would you rather hear about digital color sampling standards defined by the National Television Association?
Solomon wrote, in all his wisdom, saying, “There is safety in a multitude of counselors.” By visiting and talking with a number of videographers you will gain an improved understanding of the craft and can only improve on your ultimate selection.
Have you considered a tribute video for that someone special you have an event planned for? It may be a retirement party, an anniversary, a Turning Fifteen party, graduation party, family reunion, or any number of other gatherings. A tribute video can be prepared to show at the event creating memories none will forget.
On June 6 we had the distinct honor to capture the memories in motion of Kimberly and Atticus as they captured their dreams in matrimony at Zion Lutheran Church of Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Atticus Flores, U of M ‘02 graduate, of Canton, Michigan, proposed to Kimberly Ellsworth, also a U of M ‘02 graduate, during a romantic fall picnic in the Arboretum. Kimberly is a graphic designer at the U-M Law School. Atticus is an automotive product engineer at Plastech.
The staff and pastors of Zion were very helpful in helping us to capture wedding video memories that will serve this couple a lifetime. Of particular help was the church AV technician who went out of his way to assure that our site audio feed was superlative.
One technical issue we had to grapple with at Zion was the mixture in the sanctuary of outdoor daylight with indoor lighting. I am pleased to report that we had incredible success in overcoming this limitation. While photographers find this easy to deal with, videography imaging is challenged by it.
Digital imaging, whether still or video, must be balanced for the color or temperature of predominant light in a room. Once balanced, the light entering the imaging device cannot change its temperature without causing an objectionable change to the hue. While we can correct this in the edit room, results will be better if the original capture is balanced for color. For still imaging the photographer merely “swamps out” the ambient light with a flash. For video the problem surfaces when the camera frame moves from an area of one color to an area of another color. Such was the case at Zion Lutheran Church.
The sanctuary at Zion is architecturally divided between front and rear with a baptistery in the middle. Zion requirements for video and photography dictate that we cannot operate during the wedding ceremony any closer to the altar than the baptistery. The color of light for the rear half was predominantly daylight while the front was tungsten. This, therefore meant that to follow the processional of the bridal party down the isle a fundamental color shift occurred at about the middle. Our solution was to have one camera dedicated to following each celebrant down only half of the isle. The camera on the right covered the processional only until the middle and the camera on the left picked them up from the middle and followed them to the altar.
This, however, was not the end of the problem. The camera on the right, balanced for daylight, had to swing into a tungsten colored frame at the conclusion of the entry processional. Fortunately, our cameras are bi-modal for color. For the camera on the right we solved for two separate color balances before the ceremony. When it was then time for that camera to swing into a tungsten frame a simple switch was flipped for the alternate color balance.
At the reception, Kensington Court Hotel, we had an opportunity to view samples of the photographer’s work and decided it was excellent.
We were particularly impressed, however, with the live entertainment Kimberly and Atticus had selected for their reception. “Two for the Road,” Vincent Vitale and Brian Bogozzi, were very creative in providing live family oriented entertainment and dance music. These two knew how to engage an audience, keep them informed of events of the evening, and provide for a memorable reception. We highly recommend Two for the Road and have added them to our link resources web page.
In addition, Brian and Vincent went out of their way in helping us to capture stunning audio for the couple’s video. At reception or dinner events where toasts or other speaking activities take place, we attempt to secure an audio line from the DJ to feed an audio recording device. This frees us from having to individually mike speakers or handing them a second handheld microphone to awkwardly grapple with. The price we pay for this, however, is a dependency on the DJ to send us quality audio. While we always have redundant audio sources for these events, the primary audio source is preferred and “Two for the Road” gave us pristine audio for Kimberly and Atticus’ video.
A nice touch the couple provided for their wedding reception guests was a shutter photo booth where guests could have their photographs taken.
One of the objects of wedding and event videography is to be able to capture the memories in motion while exhibiting a low profile. The released video often times looks like we were in the middle of all the excitement causing couples to ask, “How did you do that?”
One key element is capturing superlative audio. We use UHF diversity wireless microphones that are designed for audio capture rather than for use in public address. These capture the richness of the human voice making it stunning when shown with the video. You have the distinct impression that you are actually at the altar with the couple being wed. You can even hear whispers the couple exchanges.
When you visit us at our studio to see samples of our work be sure to ask how we go about being unobtrusive.
The audio of your wedding or event video is something that very few people think of until they experience it. When you interview a potential videographer you want to ask, “How will my movie sound?”
Most people are acquainted with a home-movie approach to video and become accustomed to it. That is, the audio is captured exclusively by an on-board microphone. This approach has many limitations. Servo noises from the camera itself are picked up. Operator handling of the camcorder often introduces noises. The voices and sounds of interest to the viewer are distant and usually sound tinny. Any whispered or muffled sounds are lost.
With professional videography there is a completely different story. Persons of interest will wear a quality UHF diversity wireless microphone. These are free from static and highly resistant to dropouts. If there is more than one person of interest additional microphones will be used.
Odd as it may seem, much can be forgiven or go unnoticed with the imaging of video. However, the audio that accompanies the video will make the difference between night and day. Minimally acceptable audio on a video will be a never ending annoyance to a viewer while superlative audio will go unnoticed. Professional audio for a video makes all the difference in the world in the overall quality and viewing experience.