Wedding Video Glossary
Style
A Wedding Videographer is always met with questions that need answers and every industry has its own language and terms. These words and phrases can be confusing to anyone who is not part of the daily operations of a specific sector, and the wedding videography business is no exception especially when we make your wedding video and wedding film.
To help you understand the terms, acronyms, and phrases regularly used when talking to a wedding videographer, Modus Weddings has created this handy reference guide. Here you’ll find valuable information allowing you to comprehend and communicate your wedding video needs effectively.
Cinematic
To create a cinematic wedding video, your wedding videographer will cut and edit your wedding footage to make scenes flow together like a real movie. The events won’t necessarily be in sequential order (scenes of the vows might be interspersed with dance floor shots), making for a more artful depiction of the day’s events than you would get with a documentary-style film.
Documentary
This common style of wedding videography, which is sometimes known as video journalism, simply shows all of the day’s events in the order that they occurred and is edited in a straightforward, no-nonsense way. Your Wedding Videographer will chat this through with you during our pre-wedding meeting.
Guerrilla filmmaking
This is a more organic style, where the wedding videographer often shoots solo and with only a small handheld camera in order to blend in with the other wedding guests and obtain a more natural and realistic portrayal of the day. The results are intentionally less polished, with a greater focus on the emotions and general ambiance of the day. Imagine reality TV footage with lots of surprising candid moments. You can see more examples from our wedding videographer Kent page.
Vintage
Popular for wedding videos, this style has an old-school grainy vibe with vintage-looking color grading (an effect that makes hues look softer), a sepia tone or a black-and-white effect (that would look like a movie from the ’40s). There are two ways to achieve this: with filters, which are digital treatments added later during the editing phase (so you actually end up with two versions: an original clean copy and a stylized one), or using Super 8 mm film, an old-fashioned film from the ’60s that requires a specialized frame. If you are looking for this style just speak to your award-winning wedding videographer.
Type
Feature-length video
A feature-length video is edited to include all of the day’s important moments in their entirety. The exact length of a “feature video” wedding video varies from wedding videographer to wedding videographer, but it usually ends up being about an hour long. Check our examples here.
Highlight reel
A highlight reel is a 5- to 15-minute video that includes yep, you guessed it just the highlights from your wedding day including the vows, the cake cutting, the toasts and the dance. Check the videos here.
Video booth
Similar to photo booths, video confessional booths entertain your guests and make fun keepsakes. A camera is set up in a quiet area in or outside the reception, and guests stop by throughout the night to record well wishes (or, even better, funny stories) on camera. Many wedding videographers will also create highlight reels from all the clips guests make so you can share them later. Check out our Guest Messaging Mirror.
Wedding trailer
Also known as a short wedding film, a wedding trailer is a three- to five-minute-long motion picture that wraps up the day in one pretty, shareable package. Similar to a cinematic feature-length video, different scenes from the day mixed with music (and sometimes interviews with your family and wedding party) come together to create a short, emotional clip. Most wedding videographers Kent will provide a link so you can share your trailer online.
Options
B-roll
Shots of the scenery, guests milling around or anything that isn’t a specific wedding moment qualifies as B-roll. Wedding Videographers can use this background scenery in wedding videos to help set the scene.
DSLR camera
Many wedding videographers use high-definition DSLR cameras (it stands for digital single-lens reflex) to achieve a sharp, high-quality look. It’s likely the same type of digital camera your photographer will use for your still photos.
Postproduction
Also known as editing, this is everything that your wedding videographer (or editor) does when the cameras stop rolling and when you receive your completed wedding video package back. It’s the process of cutting together scenes and adding music, titles and special effects to create the type of wedding video(s) you want.
Raw footage
If you ask your wedding videographer for the raw footage of your wedding, you’ll get every single second of video shot from the day, completely unedited. It can end up being several hours long!
Same-day edit
A same-day edit means you can watch your wedding video at your wedding! An editor will step out mid-party with a laptop computer to turn around a brief highlight video of the prewedding prep, ceremony and even your reception entrance to share later on in the evening. Please note this service does come at an additional charge. You can check out our services here in our package.
Single-event edit
With single-event edits, a wedding videographer will create separate highlight reels for each individual event i.e. the wedding ceremony, the toasts and the spotlight dances, for example, giving each part of the day its own section. You’ll get footage of the entire day, and you won’t have to fast-forward through an hour of unedited ceremony footage just to replay the best man’s toast.
Soundtrack
Simply put, the soundtrack is the music that your edited wedding video will be set to. This can include one song or a mix of tunes of your choosing edited together, we normally use your walking down the aisle and first dance song.
Steadicam
This equipment stabilizes a handheld camera onto a wedding videographer’s shoulder and arm, allowing them to get smooth, sweeping shots.
Time-lapse
To capture a sense of setting, wedding videographers will set up stationary cameras to shoot one angle for about an hour; then the footage is sped up during the editing process to make a few-second clip. Time-lapse is often incorporated into different parts of the video to show the passage of time and create a smoother transition between events of the day. Sunrises, sunsets, decor prep and dance floors are commonly turned into time-lapse footage.
Technical
4K / 1080HD
4K and 1080HD are different video resolutions. 4K is the modern standard of broadcast TV and modern televisions, and 1080HD (also known as FullHD) is the predecessor. 4K generally translates as a highly-detailed, crisp, and cleaner-looking video than 1080, especially when played on a 4K monitor.
4K and 1080HD are different video resolutions. 4K is the modern standard of broadcast TV and modern televisions, and 1080HD (also known as FullHD) is the predecessor. 4K generally translates as a highly-detailed, crisp, and cleaner-looking video than 1080, especially when played on a 4K monitor.
Video streaming
Video streaming is a technology that allows users to view online video content over the internet without needing to download the media files first. Video streaming refers to online video content specifically, such as movies, live event broadcasts, etc., and is similar to Netflix. Ask your wedding videographer for more information.
Lavalier or lapel microphones
Lavalier microphones, also known as lapel mics or clip-on mics, are small wired microphones widely used in filmmaking and broadcasting. They are ideal for recording dialogue as they are discreet and unobtrusive and offer high-quality sound while having the ability to be positioned close to the mouth while remaining out of sight. Your wedding videographer will help fix this to a suite or dress on the day.
Raw video or audio
This refers to unedited, unmanipulated video and audio files straight from the source (usually either a camera or sound recorder).
2nd Shooter
We often film with 2 wedding videographers to create your wedding video and wedding film. Your cinematic wedding videographer is super friendly and always happy to help.