Absolutely Weddings’ experts answer your wedding questions. Here, filmmaker Alice Rausch discusses how to get a wedding film that matches the glamour of your day
Q: I want to film my wedding, but this must be glamorous and in line with the occasion. How do I choose and brief a company and how should the filming work to get the results I want?
A: It’s important to find someone whose style of wedding film suits your vision. Videographers have vastly different approaches – my work centres on glamour, ensuring people and places look their best and I create a mini movie not a documentary-style film. Watching the work of different videographers is the best way to ensure you find the approach you want.
Like all modern videographers, I use a small handheld with a zoom lense to be unobtrusive. But I also see it as my role to be as discreet as possible, so that guests don’t know I’m there. And, because the goal is make people look their best I will never, for example, film them eating and drinking. I then choose my images in post-production really carefully to make sure everyone looks good.
These are all points you need to find out about, so do meet the videographer before agreeing to hire them to ensure you have a connection. I see that as critical because the bride must feel at ease with me from the moment I start filming. She’s the most important person and I’m there to make her feel relaxed and beautiful, which requires trust. At your meeting, also get the videographer to describe their time commitment and process. For instance, I am there from start to end to capture the whole story. Then the editing takes two or three weeks, after which the couple approve the final cut. The final film must capture the magic of your day, so ask lots of questions to ensure that the final product will match your expectations on quality.
Alice Rausch is a leading international wedding, fashion and music filmmaker. See her work at cinemalice.com
See photographer Neil Horne’s expert advice for the camera shy bride or groom
