The Highlight Film: Capture Your Wedding Day in Less Than 10 Minutes and Rewatch It for Generations to Come
When my family visited my grandparents in rural Wisconsin, my siblings and I struggled to find things to do inside the house. One day, I found my older brother watching TV. I couldn’t figure out what he was watching. I asked. He said he was watching our parents’ wedding video. I sat for maybe all of 5 minutes and found it dreadfully boring. It was one long video with one camera angle and no b roll or artistry. I couldn’t take much more of it, so I left.
Unfortunately, this story may sound familiar to anyone whose parents got married 15-30 years ago. Or perhaps your parent’s wedding video is too long and no one has ever watched it. My goal as a Catholic wedding videographer is to give depth, dimension, and artistry to the craft. Short form wedding films have the ability to highlight the entire day and present it in a captivating and engaging way using cinematic techniques to provide timeless appeal that the couple’s children and their children’s children can enjoy.
A barn near my grandma’s house
Many home video memories are lost forever because no one has taken the time to scour the hours of footage to find the best parts. Sometimes, wedding videos suffer the same fate. When considering hiring a wedding videographer, it’s important to understand what they will deliver to their couples. As a Catholic wedding videographer, I look through the footage for the best parts and I emphasize a short, less than 10 minute video for my clients. This allows them to relive their wedding day, with all the same emotion and energy in an easily digestible way. Perhaps couples had friends or family who couldn’t make it. Now, these couples can show their friends and family their wedding without imposing a long time commitment upon them, allowing for greater discussion and reflection about the day. This video I dub the “highlight film” is often a video couples and families will watch many times over in one sitting because it’s that exciting, engaging and memorable!
“As a Catholic wedding videographer, I look through the footage for the best parts and I emphasize a short, less than 10 minute video for my clients. This allows them to relive their wedding day, with all the same emotion and energy in an easily digestible way.”
Some of the older styled wedding videos are marked by unimpressive camera shots and movements. Myself and other videographers who have experience in film and cinematography understand the theory to create moving and emotional films and videos that create an engaging viewing experience. By using techniques like color-grading and incorporating sophisticated music and audio, the viewing experience is elevated close to a feature film. What creates an emotional experience doesn’t change, so this also allows for timeless appeal that crosses generational lines. All family members of various ages can enjoy cinematic wedding films.
The most important aspect of cinematic wedding videography is that the video becomes a family heirloom. At the moment a couple makes their vows, they become a new family. Then the entire day seems to pass like the flash of a camera. One day when your grandchildren visit, they will ask you about your wedding day. You can show them your wedding film proudly and share with them some of your favorite memories from the day.
This is a sample highlight film. For this couple I also filmed the full mass, full speeches, and gathered interviews with family members and guests.
