ABOUT VIDEOGRAPHY….
So what in the world is videography? To put it bluntly, it's an underused, misunderstood, and even sometimes, an embarrassing term used to describe professional videographers. Why embarrassing? Well, the word “video” has recently been associated with the word “cheap” or “unprofessional.” I guess it has to do with the recent surge of consumer cameras on the market that truly enable “unprofessionals” to create professional work. And I think they, the union professionals, wanted to separate themselves from the rest of the “hobbyist” out there. In fact, the term “videography” is no longer used on my local or cable news stations. They are now called “photographers,” which by the way is not the correct term. Photography literally means “the art, practice, or occupation of taking and printing photographs.” Personally, I like to take the term, photography, one more step. I define the art of photography as “the art of telling a story utilizing a still film camera.”
Likewise, I define videography as “the art of telling a story utilizing a video camera.” What are my two cents on this art? Read on and you'll find out!
Does the camera make the difference?
TRUE OF FALSE? THE CAMERA MAKES THE DIFFERENCE!
Answer: TRUE AND FALSE!
Yes, the answer is true and false. True , to a certain extent, as the quality of your or your wedding videographer's video camera does make a difference. Certain cameras are sharper than others, perform better in low light, are less contrasty, less grainy can handle wireless microphones, be manually over-ridden, the list goes on. The type of video camera DOES make the difference. The line between professional and consumer video cameras are closing quickly. Quality that was considered unattainable by professional standards in the 90's are attainable with a consumer camera that fits in the palm of your hand. In fact, consumer video cameras are capable of producing broadcast quality. Technology is quite amazing.
It is also false because common sense tells us that if your videographer only knows how to operate his or her's camera and doesn't know a freaking thing about telling a story with moving images, your wedding is basically screwed. Remember, videography is “ the art of telling a story with a video camera.” Like wanna-be photographers, there are too many wanna-be videographers who think just because they own and operate a hi-tech piece of equipment, they can create professional work. Nothing can be farther from the truth.
"A professional can get great qualtiy out of any camera, including a consumer one..."
What does this mean? Well, a true professional videographer can actually attain great quality with a low-grade camera, while a un-professional one wouldn't. A true professional videographer will now how to light his footage correctly, know how to accentuate moods to tell a story, etc..etc… Give a wannabe a professional video camera, no matter what that videographer tries to do, your footage will still end up looking amateurish.
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