10 Tips to make your wedding film POP!

So you’ve spent your hard earned money on a wedding film and you trust in your cinematographer (hopefully us!) to make it look fantastic!  However, did you know there are things you can do to help increase the quality of your film / video?  Here are 10 useful tips YOU can do on your wedding day to add pizzazz to your final product.

1. Letter Reading – Exchanging letters between you and your fiancé and reading them on camera adds narrative to your film. Getting the reaction and tears after the read is an added bonus!

2. Gift Exchange – This can be for either your bridesmaids/ groomsmen or for the bride/groom.  Seeing the smiles, “oooh’s” and “aaaah’s” when they receive the gifts works wonderfully for visuals and sound.

3. Make-up done near natural light – A cinematographer’s best friend is natural light.  Natural light hitting your face allows you to look your absolute BEST on camera.  Be sure to let your make-up artist know that you would like to have your make-up done near a window.

4. Brief period of Music OFF – During bride and groom prep, we all love to groove to our favorite songs while we get ready for our big day.  However it is nice for the cinematographer to have a brief period of time (5-10min) to get some natural audio of you interacting with your loved ones – without music playing in the background.  It allows us to add these genuine moments into the film without background music competing with the music in the film.

5. First Look – Now we completely understand that the First Look isn’t for everyone, especially for couples that want things more traditional.  However, the First Look provides the couple to see each other for the first time without the pressure of the ceremony surrounding them.  It allows for great reaction and dialogue when the groom turns around and sees his bride for the very first time.

6. Writing your own vows – Writing your own vows (instead of going with the standard vows) adds a personal touch to your film and helps to tell you and your fiancè’s story.

7. Bubble Exit after the ceremony – I mean…who doesn’t like bubbles?  It looks GREAT on film.

8. Mic Stand During Speeches – When your loved ones are giving their speeches, some like to move around, A LOT.  It makes it much easier on the cinematographer if each guest stood in one spot as they share their speech with you – and more importantly, it looks better in your wedding film.

9. Thank your Guests – At some point during the reception, you should get on the mic and thank your family and friends for spending the special day with you and your spouse.  It helps to add narrative as well as dialogue to close the film.

10. Sparkler Exit – Its a sure-fire (no pun intended) way to end the night with a bang!  It also looks spectacular on camera – especially when the groom dips the bride and leans in for a kiss!  If your venue allows it, we definitely recommend it!

BONUS TIP – Breathe…remember to enjoy the day!

We hope you add some of these ideas to your wedding day.  However, even if you decide not to do ANY of these things, when you choose Digital Pride Films, your film will turn out spectacular anyway! 😉