I've never run a business before!

July 5, 2008 1:41 PM

I am trying to start up a wedding video business. What do I need to know?

I already have two Canon XL2's - a camera stabilizer - a tripod, and Final Cut Pro (I even know how to use it!).

I would like to break into wedding videos. I'm in the process of editing down the four free weddings I've done so far, and will be putting together a website when I get a good reel edited together. I'm trying to go for a more high-end artistic looking wedding video. Not the boring set-it-up-on-a-tripod-and-let-it-roll kind of video. I'm an editor by trade, and I'm learning the camera skills more and more every day.

What do I need to know about liability? What do I need to know about contracts? How do I get business? What can I do to increase business? What should I watch out for? Do I absolutely HAVE to have HD cameras? (I just bought the Canons and they have 24fps capability and can shoot 16x9) What about wireless mics? What do I do if I screw something up irreperably?

In short, I have most of what I need - how do I make this business fly? In the beginning I won't be relying on this as my sole income, so there's some wiggle room. Help me out, HiveMind, what do I need to know?!?

Business based in So.Cal, if it helps.

posted by Spyder's Game to work & money (6 comments total)

I only have a few technical tidbits from my run at this business.

- Get a wireless lav mic on the priest/officiant. People can forgive minor video lapses (adjusting a tripod because a guest wandered into your shot), but only if the sound carries the story coherently. People expect to hear the vows clearly. Sometimes they'll have a PA system you can link a camera or DAT to.

- Make friends with the wedding planner and the venue manager. By default, every possible good vantage point will be unavailable to your crew, so you may have to kiss some ass or turn some screws to get a decent angle.

- Consider the lighting. Churches have really awful lighting, so see if it's possible to supplement it with some softboxes.

- Block out where to set up your cameras for each stage of the event. There may be a communion, so you'd want something beneath the altar at that point, for instance. You want to see the couple's faces during the ceremony, so you'll have to negotiate to get a camera or two on the altar, or else you're stuck with two nasty profile shots.

- Get lots of b-roll: People snapping pictures, mugging, flowers and ribbons, candles, details, hugging, etc. Then you'll have something to montage later.

- Don't agree to go from table to table to get "greetings." This is always crap. If they want that, you have to set that up outside the reception hall, where you can pick up some decent audio. You'll need a shotgun mic, ideally, though you could get away with the lav.
posted by evil holiday magic at 2:06 PM on July 5, 2008

First, I apologize in advance for not going into dirty detail about working in the wedding vidoe business. I spent about 8 years of my career doing wedding videography, and I'm really surprised I survived it without asphyxiating myself with a bride's garter. It got my foot into the video production industry though wedding videography, but I don't miss it one bit. Pure hell.

That said, you should check out WEVA, the Wedding & Event Videographers Association. They have a great magazine and a ton of resources and info about professional wedding videography. They have large conferences and expos focused on the business and technical aspects of wedding videography.

I don't think you necessarily "need" HD cameras, but at the current stage of the video game, there isn't much reason to stick with XL2s--unless you're absolutely strapped for cash and counting every single penny you spend. The cost of HD acquisition and post-production is so incredibly low right now. And more importantly, the cost to the end consumer for watching HD content in their home is low enough that I feel it's a mistake to make any large time/money investments in SD gear. Many "civilians" want HD now, and in the next year or two, HD deliverables will be as expected as SD DVDs are today.

Not having HD capabilities will put you at a serious disadvantage over your competitors (even HDV would be preferable to SD MiniDV. Although DVCProHD or XDCAM HD is much more preferable). For as much as the wedding video business is derided by others in the video industry, it's one of the most lucrative and cutthroat markets within the industry, and most of them are at least shooting in HD, and delivering downconverted SD deliverables, if not already burning HD BluRay discs and/or delivering online.
posted by melorama at 2:12 PM on July 5, 2008

When shooting the bride, be aware of her shortcomings, and shoot something else, from some other angle. Wedding videographers I've known have had clients refuse to accept their work because "you made my arms look fat."

She had huge, flabby arms.
posted by StickyCarpet at 2:47 PM on July 5, 2008

You'll need to hire an assistant so that you can have at least two cameras rolling from different angles at the same time. That way you can switch back and forth if you like in the editing process, and if one craps out, you still have material and can still get paid for the project.

Most photographers insist on 1/2 of the estimated total as a non-refundable deposit before starting work. (Mine actually made me pay the entire deposit on the day of the wedding, which I was fine with until he switched out photographers on me and stuck me with someone less experienced and much cheaper - DO NOT DO THIS). Then if you get a flabby-armed bride that refuses to pay the rest of her contract, you at least get *something* for your time.

Also be sure to put something in the contract about the videos being your intellectual property and your ability to use all your recorded material for your own purposes. Sometimes photographers just assume that this is the case - and maybe legally it is, I dunno - but brides can get really, really mad when they unexpectedly see photos of themselves, that they paid $$$ for, plastered up as a advertisements.

Good luck!
posted by GardenGal at 4:36 PM on July 5, 2008

Having performed this service and a constellation of other related services for various events including weddings, I would agree with the advice presented here. Here are some more tips I have, most of them pretty obvious:

* One thing that has not been mentioned yet that I found particularly useful was some form of communication between you and your eventual system besides SWAT Team-style hand gestures. We actually used a cheesy little set of faux-text-messaging devices made for kids that had large enough keys that it was easy to type on quickly and also carried the message quickly. I don't know if you could get something like this, but we found it extremely useful.

* Have plenty of sample footage available on your website, and put together a few styles of video, such as formal, elegant, fun, etc.

* Don't rip people off with duplicate copies of the final product. Most people these days either know how to copy DVDs themselves or have a friend or relative that does. Charging $20 extra for a DVD is a rip-off, and will turn people off to you. That said, if you can create a very nice and professional packaging solution for the duplicates, and you show them to the clients up front, you can get away with charging more for them.

* Don't blow your money on HD cams right now. Anyone in the business will probably tell you that you're at a disadvantage by not doing this, but your XL2s are very good cameras and most people will probably not know the difference. Besides, until Blu-ray becomes more popular, there's no way for your clients to truly appreciate full HD anyway. Plus, if you decide after two months that you want to shoot yourself rather than do wedding videos, you haven't blown a bunch of money on equipment you're not going to use.

* In SoCal you probably have a lot of competition in this arena. The best thing I can say about that is to look at the websites of your competitors, even send them questions as if you were a potential client looking for information. Your best source of information on the field is your competition.

* If you're doing a really nice wedding, there will probably be someone set up to run A/V. Use this to your advantage, and ask the A/V folks if you can get a patch into the board for backup sound of the event. Even if you just record it digitally and don't feed it into one of the cameras, you can throw in the sound later.

* Invest in great stock photos and videos from places such as iStockPhoto. You'd be surprised how much sheen you can add to your finished product just by having some great interstitial content. To that end, also hook up with the photographer(s) post-event and see if they would be willing to provide you with any images.

* If you're going to invest in equipment now, make sure your tripod is top-notch. Nothing can absolutely ruin an otherwise great video than a jerky pan or move. It's simply ugly, even to someone inexperienced in video.

* I would pretty much always shoot in 24p if I were you. There are probably minor exceptions to this, but I can't think of any of the top of my head right now.

* Typically, wedding videos, even from the best videographers, never turn out to be 100% of what brides and grooms picture in their heads. I am a geek of epic proportions and have videoed several weddings, and I chose not to have mine videoed because I knew it would not live up to my expectations. This is fine. You don't have to be what their 100% is, because 100% doesn't exist. Just put in your full effort, and don't be offended if they ask you to change something.

Above all, hope for the best and plan for the worst. You already know this. Good luck.
posted by joshrholloway at 8:42 PM on July 5, 2008

I've been in the wedding videography business for a few years now, and most of the advice on here is spot on. It probably varies by where you live as to what people expect, but here's what I've discovered about wedding videography:

1. Almost no one wants to pay what it should cost. I use two HDV cameras that roll constantly through the ceremony and reception, and end up with about 8 to 10 hours of footage at least. By the time you capture it and edit it down to a 30 minute highlight video, a full-length ceremony, and reception highlights, you'll probably spend 40 hours in post. Hard to justify that much time and still be competitive.

2. The officiant can ruin you. I try to go to all of the rehearsals, but sometimes I can't if it's too far away. I've run into several priests and wedding planners that think video is just a waste and therefore don't give you what you need. You need a wireless mic on the officiant and maybe the groom. You need a high vantage point for one camera. You need to be on the altar for the second camera. Many churches will not allow for any of that. My contract states what I need from the venue, and there is a disclaimer about what the final product may be like if I don't get those things.

3. I suggest putting definite begin/end times on the reception if you will be asked to shoot there. We ran into a reception last year that began an hour after the ceremony. That part was fine, but what we didn't know was that the reception ended up going from 3:30 until after midnight. That's a long time for you and your helper. My contract is a 1.5 hour ceremony and a four hour reception. Anything longer gets me overtime pay. Also, after a certain length of time at the reception, there's nothing left but dancing and drinking. Nothing to film.

4. Get ready for endless questions. I spend several hours a day on email answering brides' questions. Most of them have never hired a videographer before and have dozens of questions. I try to explain most of my stuff on the website, but invariably no one reads it and I end up answering the same questions again and again. I have standard answers that I cut and paste into email because the answers are always similar.

That's all I can think of right now. More later if it comes to mind.
posted by chitlin at 12:00 PM on July 9, 2008