What do I need to video record a wedding party?

Question

What camera?
How many cameras?
extra light and any tips?

Answer 1

A good quality camera( maybe a extra one with a friend who knows his stuff)
Lots of tape
A shotgun Mic
no light if outdoors, small light if indooors
a monopod, or u can hold a tripod straight up.

Post- production:
If you have a mac that is the best computer for the job. If not u can pay a $100 to your nearest Apple Store to sign up for program called Procare. It is like a exclusive club at the Apple store, you can sign up for classes to be taught to use Apple software. Use this to sign up for Final Cut Pro classes, it will be a free oppurtunity to use a Mac.

Answer 2

Well it really depends on how experienced you (and your crew, if you have one) are. Im not actually going to recommend a camera, because that is something I could tell you only if I were in your position or knew you. As for how many cameras, this goes back to experience, money, and/or crew. Obviously, if its just you, then your kinda limited to one camera :-). If you have a crew, no matter how much or how little experience you have, you wont be able to use two cameras if you only have $50 (even the crappy ones). However, if you have the money, and the people, (and experience helps as well), you can get two cameras and shoot the party. But thats just a minimum number, and 3 or 4 is the optimal number. The best way to get a lot of cameras without spending money is just to find friends who have cameras and know how to use them, or just borrow their cameras (but find people to use them). The only disadvantage with this is that footage from different cameras looks, well, different, and matching shots might cause headaches later in post. (not to mention you might as well throw everything you shot away if the cameras were different formats). Anyways, assuming you have 2 cameras, and another person and yourself to man them, what now? Dont worry about extra light. You probably wont need it. If you absolutely need some light, add a small video light to your camera (note:small. as in so small, it might as well not be there). And dont even think of plugging in extra lights into the wall. Its a party, remember? Your there to document the action, and conform yourself to the action, not to make the action and the environment conform to you (obviously if this was a film, then it would be different). If possible, see if lights in the room can be brightened, instead of bringing in lights that wouldnt be in there normally. As for shooting tips, not much. If space isnt an issue, bring tripods (nice ones, although really crappy ones work as well). For most of the time, shoot handheld, except attach your camera to the tripod, and extend the legs, but fold them up, so your camera is on a long stick. Hold it at the middle. See how much smoother your shots are? Thats the ticket. And then, whenever you need a steady shot, just plop the whole thing down somewhere, and you didnt even have to set up a tripod. Most of the time, it gets really annoying if one camera guy shoots the other one (like in the frame. not kill him). So dont do it. Also, since you arent shooting one another, you can shoot more of the party, which means more options when editing. And last but not least, stagger shoot. Have one person start shooting then the other start shooting. This way, there will always be continuous coverage of the action, and if one person's tape runs out, the other person covers while he changes it. And of course, bring tons of batteries and tapes.

So what happens after the party's over and you have a ton of tapes? Well I guess thats up to you. Just cut together whatever seems interesting, but remember dont cut everything thats interesting. If you can compress a 2 hour party into 30 minutes, that is perfect. So that means you will be throwing away most of your footage. Its okay, most of it wasnt that great anyways, thats why they called it editing. Just leave the good bits in, and youll have a great video. Hope this helps!

Answer 3

Look at the costs involved and whether or not you'll use the camera again and consider just hiring someone to film it for you. With pretty much all video camera's you'll buy these days the battery that comes with the camera is only good for about 20-30 mins. Replacing that with one that will last longer can range between $50 - $150 depending on the camera/battery. Then there's all the accessories you'd need, tripod, lighting, recording media etc. If it's a wedding that you're attending as a guest you won't be able to enjoy it fully with a camera in your hand too....

Answer 4

That really depends on the level of quality and details that you are seeking to provide with your wedding video. You could certainly do it with only one camera. You'd need to be really aware of what's going on and make sure that the camcorder is in the center of the action.

What you need is a good post-production video editing program. Ideally you will have a fire-wire type setup with your camcorder so that you can digitally download the images onto your computer. Once you've done that then you need to edit the video, perhaps add some music, etc.

Also depends on the expectations of your client. Two or three cameras at a wedding will make a dynamite video but will be very costly for the client.

FP

Answer 5

Ture: you can get an "Olymipia Camcorder" very light type
as reqired useage calls for
2.0 vediographicmemorycard
2powerpacks & chargerunit
camera tripod just 1 also florestantlight mount device
refer to http://www.olymipiacamcorder.accessories.com

Answer 6

I`ll give you a friend of mines numbers to check with. He does this proffesionally. His add reads,
"If You Need Someone Shot"
"Call Jimmy"
"803-808-9650."
He` s a great guy and knows his stuff. As a CSI Inv.I would not suggest anyone else.
Good luck my friend and may your endevours be successful.
Jim