Photo by: www.kurtiskronk.com
A New Generation of Wedding FilmMaker is a series of articles we are releasing breaking down the differences between a modern-day wedding filmmaker and a wedding videographer. The first topic and probably the most controversial in the business is that of music. Read below to find out more!
1990's Wedding Videographer
Wedding Videographers have been around for as long as portable consumer video cameras have been around. When you think of videographer, you typically think of a boring video being filmed by a person lugging around a big camera, or standing in the back of the room quietly with a camera on a tripod. Thats pretty true of a videographer because the definition is someone who makes a movie with a video camera. That’s it!?! We still use the term videographer because that’s what many people search but in fact we are wedding filmmakers: meaning we use more than just a camera to make your wedding film. There are cameras involved, but only as a part of the big picture. We use “grip” which is basically anything that supports the camera to keep the film interesting. Sometimes that is a steadicam, other times a linear track system, and even monopods, tripods, and a jib/crane system. We also use location audio recording equipment and specific lighting to create the best environment for making a movie. All of this combined with a crew of talented, well-trained individuals makes for the short films you see on our website. Live events filmed to look like movies, but none of it would work without a soundtrack….
1990's Wedding Videographer
There has always been great confusion amongst wedding videographers over the use of music in their wedding films. What music can I use and what can’t I use. Well the real answer is, licensed music is the only legal way to go. We would like to tell everyone a little more about this in hopes of educating those who might not know about it because we too were in those same shoes not long ago, but we have found a great option and its only fare we share it with you! For the last few years there has been a slow but steady movement by music licensing companies to provide an affordable option for wedding and event videographers, but up until now the libraries weren’t worth spending the money on. Now they are. With the help of people actually paying for the service, a few companies have reached out to record labels and secured the rights to songs for use with event videos. Finally we can afford to use good, solid, soundtrack music in our wedding films. The company we have partnered with is called SongFreedom. SongFreedom allows us to license music for our wedding films in an affordable way. They were the first company offering a small library of popular music and have since grown into a leader in the industry. We couldn’t be happier to support them and all musical artists by paying for the ability to use their music. As filmmakers, we consider ourselves artists and wouldn’t appreciate others using our work illegally and that’s why now that there’s an affordable option, we are calling all other videographers to do the same and STOP the illegal use of music in their wedding videos. More videographers signing up with companies like SongFreedom will provide more resources for SongFreedom to go to the record labels and acquire more music for all to be able to use. On top of that, their amazing browsers give you a great option for finding new music by genre, mood, etc. which gives the ability to open your eyes to new music that you might really like as well as offering popular artists like One Republic, Colbie Caillat, Rob Thomas, David Gray, Jason Mraz, and the list goes on. (These artists are listed from SongFreedom)
What does this mean to you the couple who is about to be married? Well as you can see by watching a few of our trailers here on the front page, the music we are putting in our trailers is amazing and it will allow us to create a soundtrack for your wedding film specific to you!
When planning for your reception, it’s important to find a great DJ to entertain and emcee the conclusion to your big day. More importantly, you need to find someone who matches your tastes and can keep your guests dancing through the night. Greenbelt DJ Productions provides professional services beyond just playing music for your wedding. 
They will help you select specific songs and generes, meet with you in person, mix tracks live, and ensure that your “must have” list is played and your “must nots” aren’t. One of my favorite services they offer, is the ability to listen and select music from their library of over 100,000 songs online before your wedding. This provides you the capability to truly customize your reception. They bring a high level of experience with over seven-hundred weddings in the past six years. Beyond the music, they provide the highest quality lighting, microphones, and equipment. You can be sure that they’ll always go above and beyond to make your reception fun and stress free. There are two lead DJs, one the owner (pictured above) DJ Joel and the other is DJ Anthony (pictured below), both of whom are more than qualified to make this night custom designed special for you.
In fact, because the weddings here are primarily outdoor, though they’ve only had rain on 5% of their weddings, they have a backup plan, or “Plan B” as they like to call it, so that you never have to cross your fingers and just hope for beautiful weather. They only allow one wedding per day so that the wedding party has all day to relax and hold their event without the added time constraints of regular venues, and they accommodate every season with fans for the summer and early fall, roll down glass walls and space heaters for the winter and early spring, and a fire place for the weather in between so you and your guests can appreciate the beauty of the Hill Country around you without being exposed to the ever changing Texas weather.
One of the most important aspects of wedding videography, is the cohesion between a photographer and a cinematography team. Knowing a photographer personally makes things just that much easier. I met Paige in the second grade I believe, and have known her to be a wonderful person ever since. Paige Ogilvie has been doing photography sinse high school, and I was extremely excited when I found out she was venturing into weddings! We
Paige : My parents gave me a 35mm Canon (film!) camera for my birthday when I turned 15. I developed and printed most of my own pictures in the darkroom at my high school. I actually shot my very first wedding with it when I was only 17.
Paige : I love what I do. For me photography is my paint. I love taking photos that I feel will forever hold that moment still in a world that is constantly changing. I think still photography is one of the only things that does that, and its the reason it still holds strong in the “video” generation that we live in. Every picture allows a person to make their own assumption as to what had happened just before or after it was taken; and the story behind it is left up to the person looking at it. Recognizing that makes a huge difference in a photographers work, and I personally feel that it shows in mine. Also I only take on a few weddings a month to ensure my clients get the best experience possible.
