Long before you start shooting any video, the first thing you need to ask yourself is “What do I want to achieve?”. The answer to this question will dictate almost every part of your video shoot, whether you’re making a short film, a corporate video, or a wedding video.
Do you want to have a simple reminder of an event for you and your family to watch? Fine, in that case you’re not going to need to worry too much about equipment, planning, editing, etc, etc. You’ll still need to think about all those things, but none of them should be too big a deal.
But what if you want to shoot a bigger production? Maybe you’ve volunteered to produce a wedding video for your sister, and you want the finished production to look slick and professional. That’s when you have to start taking things a little more seriously.
At this stage, you need to start thinking about what equipment you need, not just what you happen to have available. You need to know exactly what’s happening when, so you can be there to capture every important moment on tape, DVD, or hard drive (depending on your camera). Oh, and did I mention how you can tell the important moments on a wedding day? It’s simple.
All of them!
It’s impossible to be in more than one place at once, no matter how good you might be, so you need to start thinking multi-camera set-ups. You need to consider whether you need an assistant. Oh, and let’s not forget you’ll need to set up microphones, be aware of lighting conditions, make sure videography is allowed on the premises where the event is taking part, etc, etc.
There’s a lot to think about, which is why you need to start early. Here’s the five most important things I used to do when preparing for a shoot. Most of these apply to more professional level production, but they can be adapted to suit any type of video you want to make.
1. Talk to the client. They, better than anyone, know what they want out of the video. They can also tell you what is happening on the day, when it is happening, and if there are any parts in particular you must get on tape for them. Sometimes you’ll find two things are happening at the same time at an event, so if you can’t get both, always ask the client which one they’d prefer captured.
2. Make a floor plan. If you’ve got access to the location, then sketch out a rough floor plan. This allows you to experiment with camera setups without even having to take your equipment out of its case. However, be aware that your floor plan is a guide only. On the day, there may be flowers where you planned placing your tripod, or Auntie Jean might be doing a reading right where you intended to stand. Find out as much as you can about details like this, by doing step 1 properly, and your floor plan should serve as a useful too.
3. Attend the rehearsal (if there is one). I didn’t start attending rehearsals until my fifthieth or sixtieth wedding video. The quality of the finished video shot up as a direct result. You don’t have to take all your equipment to the rehearsal, but you should bring at least one camera. This will allow you to try out different positions, and any footage you get can be edited into a highlights montage on the finished video.
4. Picture the finished product. This one is trickier, but very worthwhile. Try to picture how each element of the day is going to look on the final video. If you want to try storyboarding it, fine, but be aware that 99% of the time you’ll be forced to think on your feet and deviate from the storyboard. Just having a good mental picture of how the video will look on screen is enough. Picturing the video helps you spot any problems you may have.
For example, you picture a wide shot of the bride walking down the aisle, then you want to cut to a tight close-up of her smiling face. Simple, right? Well, yes and no. You can do this in two ways - one by having a static camera on a tripod (or held by an assistant) capturing the wide angle shot, or alternatively by shooting wide angle with your camera, zooming in to close up, then cutting the zoom in editing. Never show zooms, by the way. They rarely - if ever - look good.
Option two is easier, and requires only one camera. But if you cut that two seconds of zooming out of the video, the audio track is now two seconds ahead. You need a two second shot to fill the gap later. If you’ve prepared for this you’ll have shot a nice complimentary shot - a close-up of the anxious groom, perhaps - which you can slot in when the time comes. So, try to see the video in your mind’s eye, and you’ll be better prepared to shoot the footage you need.
5. Plan your escape route. This ties in with number 2 above, but it’s so important I’ve given it a number all of its own. It’s all very well knowing you have a static camera set up at Point A, while you’re standing at Point B, but what happens when the star(s) of the show move to Point C?
For example, you’re shooting a wedding ceremony. The service comes to a close, and the bride and groom turn and start to walk back up the aisle, hand in hand. Do you have time to leg it up the aisle before them, stopping at the end to get them walking towards you? Are they going to be happy with you barging past? Maybe to both. But often you’ll need to find another route. Sometimes the photographer will block the aisle, as he takes a thousand snaps of the newlyweds. Sometimes it will just be impossible to get from Point B to the aisle before the happy couple. Unless you want to be stuck in a slow moving queue of guests, find an escape route, and be ready to use it.
Of course, there are lots more things to consider before shooting a wedding, christening, or other celebration video - from practicalities like making sure batteries are charged, to bigger picture things, like finding out who the important relatives are so you can make sure they get screen time. The five tips above, though, have served me well over the years, and will hopefully serve you well, too.
