Wedding trends catch on quickly for a reason. When you’re at a friend’s wedding and love something specific they’ve done, you mentally tuck the idea away for your own wedding. When it comes to wedding videography, plenty of new techniques have emerged over the years. You’ve most likely heard of a trend that has captured the hearts of many couples — slow motion wedding videography.
Like other trends, slow motion wedding videography has caught on for its ability to enhance what is already special. As wedding ideas spread across the country, from one wedding to another, or from a moment in person to an idea shared online, they gather momentum and take root in tradition.
Let’s take a closer look at slow motion wedding videography. What does it mean to add this cinematic technique to your wedding video? Will it profoundly change the video you plan to keep and watch for decades to come?
Why Use Slow Motion?
Slow motion video serves a specific purpose. When you think about the times you’ve seen it used on television, in movies or even in commercials, it creates a dramatic impact. By slowing the visuals, while keeping the music at pace, the video emphasizes the emotion of the moment, allowing the viewer to process more thoughts and feelings than they would in real-time.
The result is almost always emotional. In the case of wedding videography, slow motion video magnifies the feelings of the day, allowing viewers to fully experience the expectation of the moment, the love in the room and the joy of the day.
In other words, slow motion wedding videography has become popular for good reason — it shines a spotlight on the emotion of your wedding day, exaggerating certain moments, so you can be fully present in the smallest details. It allows your mind to linger on moments of happiness and joy.
How Slow Motion Wedding Videography is Used
Wedding videography has come a long way from its origins when a single camera followed the newlywed couple over the course of their wedding night. In the early days, there was little focus on the setting or the wedding guests. There was also very little done post-production; editing was minimal and cinematic techniques simply didn’t exist.
Today, wedding professionals can create top-notch, cinematic productions of your big day. The right videography team will use multiple camera angles, drone footage and full editing services to create an exceptional keepsake video that captures both the event itself and the emotion in the room.
Slow motion footage is another useful tool, to help professional videographers enhance the detail and richness of your final wedding video. Used sparingly, slow motion wedding videography can emphasize moments of emotion, shining a spotlight on the highlights and even quiet moments of the day. The footage allows viewers to savor each scene; when set to music, it evokes feeling, warmth and a sense of importance.
Even elements of scenery can be beautifully captured by slow motion wedding videography. Table settings, the bridal bouquet, the flower girl’s shoes, and details of the venue itself — all of these details add to the overall atmosphere and experience of your wedding. Captured in slow motion video, they offer richness and depth to the final product.
How is it Done?
Most video footage — for movies, television and high-quality, cinematic wedding videos — is 24 frames per second. This speed allows for the natural capture of movement, offering a fluid, polished video as an end-product.
When your wedding videographer captures slow motion footage, they’ll first adjust the camera settings to capture at least 60 frames per second, with a shutter speed above 120. With this capture speed, the slow motion portion appears twice as slow as a real-time video.
Of course, not everyone has the equipment or expertise for slow motion wedding videography. In changing the camera settings, it is easy to miscalculate and underexpose the footage, especially in low-light situations, due to the high shutter speed. While some adjustments can be made through editing, if you miss the original moment, you are not likely to get it back.
For this reason alone, it is important to work with an experienced wedding videographer. Do your research to make sure you have the right team on your side. Ask to see samples of wedding videos so you can get a feel for their expertise and level of professionalism.
Plan Your Slow-Mo Moments
Even once you have a trusted wedding videography team in place, you’ll want to do further research. After all, your wedding video is one of the most important keepsakes you’ll have from your big day — you want to be proud of the end product and happy with the memories.
As you watch wedding videos for ideas and to get to know your preferences, be sure to take notes on how slow motion wedding videography is used. Are there common moments that call for slow motion capture? Are there elements of your own wedding that you know you’d like captured in slow motion?
Be sure to make a list and speak with your wedding videography team about your interests and goals. While a little slow motion wedding videography goes a long way, it can add that extra element of cinematic drama to produce a next-level wedding video.
Of course, your wedding videography team is there to guide you. They will draw on their experience and expertise to help you with an overall vision for your wedding video, hitting your must-have moments along the way.
Let Your Wedding Videographer Work Their Magic
Once you’ve found your trusted team for wedding videography and you’ve had the chance to share your hopes and vision for a final video, it’s time to sit back and let your team do their work. Trusting your wedding team, including your wedding videographer, means giving yourself the space to step back from the planning and truly enjoy your wedding.
Your wedding videographer will come to your wedding day prepared, with backup plans for people and technology, in case of emergency. They will have a clear understanding of the flow of events and key moments on your wedding day.
While you relax and enjoy your guests and your overall experience, they will use the highest quality cameras and the latest techniques to capture the emotion of your wedding. After the fact, they will provide skilled editing services to create smooth transitions and final touches that will make your video pop.
Whether you’ve just heard about slow motion wedding videography or have had your heart set on it for years, make sure you have the right team to deliver a finished product you’ll love. With the right partners in place, you’ll have the freedom to enjoy every moment of your big day.
At Pro DJ Services, we serve Detroit and southeast Michigan with first-class wedding services, including DJ services, wedding photo booths, wedding uplighting and wedding photography, and wedding videography. We are proud of the relationships we build and the awards and recommendations we have received, including more than 400 5-star ratings for our wedding services.
Contact us to talk about our wide range of services, including wedding videography. We will capture the meaningful moments of your wedding day in stunning detail, showcasing the emotion of your unique love story.