Please welcome Joseph of Joseph Testa Production to our Tuesday Tips blog this week! Joseph Testa Production is a full-service video story-telling company, from weddings to small businesses based Ohio and enjoys travelling to Cincinnati for work! They are a family owned company! Joseph has had the privilege of working with his wife and all 3 of his children. They shot their first wedding in 1991 while living in Germany using a full size VHS camcorder. They love helping clients capture cherished memories. Recently, they were able to scan a driver’s license picture and have a 5×7 image printed. This was the last photo of the client’s father, who tragically died in an auto accident. Joseph is passionate about ensuring your memories are properly captured to enjoy for a lifetime.

Photo Credit: Joseph Testa Production’s Facebook

As you look at the cost of everything else for your wedding, does it make sense to add one more thing, a wedding film, most commonly known as a videographer? Questions you are probably asking yourself are, “I have pictures why do I need/want a professionally produced video?”. “It would be more cost effective for me to just buy a camcorder and set it up in the back of the ceremony location and have a family member run it during the reception, right?”

Those are fair and valid questions. Today, I’m going to try to hopefully clear up some of the misconceptions of videography. But first, let’s quickly address those 2 questions above:

Pictures: Yes, you are probably paying a professional to take your wedding photos. What do you get with video that you don’t get with pictures? Audio! A video professional will have the equipment to capture your vows and the speeches at the reception with the utmost clarity. Please keep in mind, a great video with bad sound just became a bad video. The sound and audio will make or break your wedding day video.

Camcorder: Sure, that is feasible. You will get good video but if you’ve never heard how a camcorder captures audio and sound? If not, here is a link for you to listen: https://vimeo.com/243310507.  Remember, audio is the reason you want someone that understands audio and sound to film your wedding day oppose to just setting up a camcorder.

Now that you have an understanding the advantages of hiring a professional videographer, here are some of my tips for you, the Bride, to keep in mind when considering your wedding day videographer:

1. What types of wedding film does the videographer produce? I will use my company as an example, we produce 3 types of wedding films
   1. Story-Film: We tell your wedding story, it starts 6-8 months BEFORE your wedding day! We find out how you met your finance, fell in love and everything leading up to your wedding day, and of course your wedding day. We take all of that footage and build your Wedding Story-Film. It is different than most wedding videos you see. how? Well it is not the same old dress, drone, or church shots. The film is truly a short-story of your love story… not just your wedding day.
   2. Documentary: A documentary film is recorded as your wedding day happened starting at with the ceremony and continues through all the big events. We record the full day and you can relive the day, in its entirety, with a video up to 1 hour in length.
   3. Highlight Film: The type of film will be up to an 8-minute short film of your wedding day. It will include all the best parts of your day
2. How long will my wedding film be? This will depend on the videographer you hire. For my company, it can be anything from an 8 minute highlight film to your full love story. Each company has their own term and lengths for various types of films they produce. You will want to find the right videographer that will offer the type of film you are wanting from your day.
3. Can my family and friends watch my wedding online? Some companies offer online viewing of the final products and some do not. You will want to verify if the videographer knows how to handle music licensing. Music has to be licensed to be able to play online, if it is not and violate that rule there could be fines starting at $50,000. Yes, I know of someone personally who had to pay that fine.
4. How long will it take to edit my wedding film? This entirely depends on how many weddings a company will shoot per year. Be sure to ask what their current backlog time is and how long you should expect before receiving your video.
5. How will you capture the audio for our vows and toasts? They need to have a complete understanding of sound, microphones and how to edit audio collected. Please be aware of a videographer who said they will record your vows using on-board camera microphone. If you do not believe me, check out the above link and listen to why this is a bad idea!

We hope these tips will make choosing the perfect videographer right for your! Thanks so much Joseph for sharing your expertise today with us!

Happy Planning,

Nicole and Ryan