meet the people as well hun, most of them will come meet you at home and show you their stuff and talk you through it.
I met my videographer at a wedding fair and he is a bit quiet and an older chap where some of the others were modern and dynamic, i chose him because he is really into technology and his equipment etc and prides himself on being discreet at the wedding and not making us do silly things for the video! it depends what type you want and how you get on with the people who are doing it and also what your budget is
also mine doesnt copyright the disc so I can make copies which I wanted to

sometimes they bring someone/assistant with them to take a few snaps so they can put some stills on the video for you as well but if you asked them they might be able to reduce the price if you dont need that bit?
what area are you in mel?

sorry im nowhere near you but might be worth asking other local lasses who theyve used

Hey!
Most of the ones I have requested are from the Essex area.
I have only watched one and it looked like a home video, all you could hear was hissing from the bad quality mic - RECYCLED!!!!

Mel g given you a name for the guy we are using . Our reception is in east horsley/guildford so sure he'd travel your way? X

Hey Andrew,

Thanks for the response. That was my point exactly and has so far proved to be correct. I know a fair bit about advertising and teh tricks of the trade. It is all to easy to get a marketing consultant and they set up a "package". My shock was that I just expected it to be more average across the board.

I am no closer to chosing one and actually feel a bit let down.

More than once I have admitted that I am anal about certain things. Some of the stuff i have seen, it would not take a genius to work out angles etc.

Some even stated that they were HD but clearly not :-(

Thanks once again for your time :-)

If only I could find one that cheap for that length of time. I am looking at around 1k for up to the first dance only.

Well my original budget was around £600. So when I started looking I was shocked.
Oh I have defo shopped around, I contacted laods and loads and serached far and wide.

Hi JaeSin,

I think the reason that videographers up and down the country charge different amounts is because there is a much greater scope in video to produce something that is rubbish, right the way through to something that is extraordinary in every way. But on the whole, I would expect the price to indicate the quality of the video and the features that videographer offered. There is a certain amount of geography involved as well.

For example, do a Google search on 'engage cinematic' or even 'stormfield productions' and you will see some great videos. These videos look like they have been produced by major Hollywood film companies. In some cases, they blow Hollywood away as well. But they will of course set you back £5,000.00 or more.

I'm not going to point you to the videographers serving the lower end of the market (they might sue me for slander!), but there are some out there. If you want to pay £400.00 for a wedding video then you will get a £400.00 wedding video. A videographer needs to charge to make a living, so simple maths will tell you how much work they are putting into their products and services.

Personally, I spend about 60 hours editing each wedding video I create. If I charge £600.00 for a wedding video, I'm working at £10.00 per hour. Out of that £600.00 I have to pay for petrol, road tax, car payments, phone bills, mobile phone charges, website hosting, advertising, new equipment, equipment repairs, electricity, gas, computer systems, computer upgrades, wages, tapes, DVDs, Blu-ray Discs, printer cartridges... the list goes on. Also worth remembering is that as a professional, I use two very good quality cameras that cost me £4,000.00 EACH, so there is a lot of expense. The only way I could make a profit would be to cut corners in a drastic way. This would compromise the quality of my videos and I am not willing to do that.

What I am trying to say is, if you're looking at a £400.00 video then you surely have to ask yourself if that videographer is making any money. If they're not, then how can they be professional? If they're not professional, how can you expect a better product than say, a friend producing a video?

If there is one thing that has baffled me during all the years I have been running a video company, I would say it is this.... Many times I hear brides saying they just booked their photographer for £1,600.00 and they also want a video but they think £600.00 is expensive. I'm baffled. Totally. A videographer generally spends longer on location and more time on editing. Time is money. A rule of thumb.... it takes one hour to produce each minute of your wedding film. Seventy minute wedding film? Seventy hours editing, PLUS probably ten hours to film it (with two cameras that's like twenty hours of course).

With regards to HD video, you need to remember that HD only comes from three different sources. Either out of your Sky or Freeview digital box (assuming it's a HD channel), from the internet (YouTube or Vimeo are good examples) or from a Blu-ray Disc. If a videographer sends you a DVD and claims he creates HD wedding videos, that's entirely possible. But, the DVD is not Blu-ray and hence doesn't contain HD video. It's fairly normal to send out DVDs rather than Blu-ray because not as many people have Blu-ray players and HD TVs. Personally, I don't send out demo DVDs because I believe they are misleading. The only way to judge a whole wedding video is to watch a whole wedding video. Videographers tend to put their best shots in their demo DVD. Totally misleading. I prefer to meet my clients, show them my work, discuss their needs, create a perfect wedding video package just for them and charge accordingly.

Lysblanc,

Interesting you mention 2 videosgraphers for the whole day. I keep pushing this point on my website because I think it's a major selling point of my own services. I made a decision a long time ago to always shoot wedding videos with two cameras AND two camera operators. I believe I can make a much better video this way and I refuse to compromise the quality of my work. The other reason I do this is because making wedding videos is stressful and difficult. A photographer poses his shots a lot of the time so he has the luxury of walking away from the day knowing he has recorded everything he needs. I on the other hand film in real time. I don't pose shots. If I miss the shot, it's gone, forever. Two cameras is so much easier to work with and makes a much more interesting to watch video.

One of my unique selling points therefore is, I have two cameras AND two camera operators for the entire time you book me. Now you might be thinking that lots of other videographers do this, but I have been scouring the internet for three years trying to find another videographer that does this and I have yet to succeed. Yes there are videographers out there that shoot on two cameras, but are both there all day and do both cameras have a person behind them? It's easy to set a camera on a tripod in a church and leave it recording, but put a camera operator behind it and it becomes so much more. The only videographers I have found that do this either charge a much higher premium for their services, charge extra for their second camera person or the second camera person only stays for the ceremony. If you manage to find another videographer that offers this feature as standard, let me know. :-)

Thoughts, feelings, rants and raves most welcome. :-)


Kind regards,

Andrew.
******************

Hi there,
i woutld defo book an appointment with the videograper's, thats what i did, some i hated and we clashed and the one i have now is wonderful and he comes with a photographer as well and they are a real laugh so they will fit in the background and in with the family. There work is fantastic and they really did put me at ease.

Shop around and meet them and its great being nosey at other weddings