9 PROVEN STEPS

L E T ' S G E T
S T A R T E D . . . .

Getting to shoot weddings and tell couples
stories is amazing! However, if you've ever
shot a wedding before you know that they
are anything but easy.
They are often accompanied by massive
stress and exhaustion.
In it, you will find proven tools and strategies
to crush it at every wedding and kick stress
out the window. Huzzah! Let's get started!



Ok, so here's the truth. There is no 100% correct way to shoot a wedding.
When I first realized this I was like "DUDE, mind blown!"
However, there is a correct way to shoot a wedding based on who you are
as a person and what's your way to do it.
Knowing how you should shoot a wedding depends on what style and
stories YOU want to tell to others,if you want your wedding films to be more
authentic and beautiful it might be strange to shoot your weddings like
a yash Raj movie with tons of themes,parties, people's etc because India loves the Yash Raj movies wedding.
To help find your style answer the following questions:
What kind of wedding films are you drawn to?
What is it that you like about these films?
If you could sum up what you like in these wedding films in 5 words what
would those words be?
Once you answer the above questions, think hard about your color,
lighting, composition, storytelling and posing and make sure that all these
aspects fit and match your style.
A good way to figure out if your shooting matches your style is to find
someone else's film who's style is exactly what you are going for. Then
think if your posing, lighting, composition etc would fit seamlessly in this
person's film. If yes you are on the right track if no then you may have a
little more work to do.



Would you pour your heart out and confess your true love for someone to a
total stranger? I know I wouldn't.
However, often times this is EXACTLY what we expect from our couples. We
hardly get to know them before the wedding and then on the wedding day we
expect them to bear their hearts and all their deepest feelings in front of us so
that we can make emotional and moving art.
This is so backwards.
We need to take a new approach. One where we get to know our couples as
close friends first, then and only they should even think about pressing the
record button.
These are the best ways to get to know your couple before the
wedding:
1. Send a detailed questionnaire to the couple 30 days before their wedding
asking questions like: "Where will you be getting ready, Where will the
groom be getting ready, Is your ceremony inside or outside, What specific
things to do you want to be captured". Doing this will help ensure you have
all the details you need to shoot their day. You can use Google Forms to
create this questionnaire and send it to the couple. Be sure to have them fill
out the questionnaire before the Skype meeting.
2. Schedule a 30-60 minute Skype meeting with the couple 2-3 weeks
before their wedding to get to know them and go over any timeline issues.



One of the most amazing things about weddings is almost all of them
follow a similar structure. This means that you can plan out what you are
going to shoot before you shoot it! Score!
To take advantage of this, write down the exact shots you are going to
get and how you are going to get them for every part of the day (Groom
prep, Bride Prep, Ceremony, Reception etc)
75% or more of creating an incredible wedding film is proper planning
beforehand. Having the right plan will help you eliminate stress and
focus more on telling the couple's story.
One of the parts of the day where having a predetermined plan is
priceless is during portraits. Take 30 minutes before a wedding look at
some of your favorite photographers who's style you love and note down 3
- 4 poses you want to do with the couple on the wedding day.
*Bonus tip: I love to make a photo album on my phone before the
wedding day and put all my favorite poses inside. This helps me
never forget and it keeps me on track.
Seriously do this!! Can't stress it enough. If you only get one thing out of
this ebook this should be it. Just by having a plan for portraits you will
massively reduce your stress on the wedding day.



Wedding days are incredibly stressful, mainly because there are no
retakes so you need to make sure you get everything right the first time. You
also have to make sure that you have enough shots of each important
moment. We've developed a simple-to-use mental tool that helps you get
important moments every time.
It's called the 4-Shot Standard.
The way it works is for every moment you film, whether that be the bride
getting her makeup on, groom getting dressed, or bride with her talks to her friends
capture each of these moments with 4 different types of shots in this exact
order.
First: 2 Close - Ups, Second: 1 Medium Shot, Third: 1 Wide Shot
The way this breaks down practically for say, a bride writing her vows to her
groom, would be like this.
1. Close up shot of letter being written
2. Close up shot of bride's face as she writes letter
3. Medium shot of bride writing letter
4. Wide shot of bride writing letter
By using this tool you will now have the necessary building blocks to create an
engaging edit for every moment that you capture :)



Shooting weddings is exciting! I know when I first started I was like a kid in
a candy shop on the wedding day. I wanted to film EVERYTHING.
This resulted in me being curious and impatient on the wedding day. When I
looked back on my shots in the editing room I noticed that I only stayed on
each moment for 1-2 seconds. This was WAY too short. Since the shots
were so short I ended up not having enough content to fill out my edit.
What I learned is that it's much more important to have 3 solid length
shots then 7 shots that are too short. The reason for this is that when the
shot is longer it allows you to have more to work with in the editing room.
Here is how you ensure you will always have enough:
1. Hold every shot for 8 Mississippi seconds. I know this seems like a long
time but it's not and you will thank me when you are in the editing room :)
2. When getting any shot with movement. Think slider, jib, gimbal be sure
to get that same shot at least 2 - 3 times. Lots of things can go wrong with
movement shots and its always good to have a backup.
3. Try not to immediately rush into every moment you see. Instead, take a
breath and think "Do I really need this and will this really help add to the
couple's story". This will save you so much energy and HDD space.



Can think of no greater skill that will increase the quality of your wedding
films by 100x then using natural light as your main light source.
What this practically looks like is turning off ALL the lights in the room
when the bride is getting makeup on and placing her in front of the
window or placing the groom in front of a window when he is reading his
letter.
Natural light makes people's skin tones look 1000x better and more
cinematic than the artificial tungsten hotel lights or house lights.
Natural light is not always possible at every moment of the day because
sometimes it is just not available. However, if you strive to use it every
time it is available I can guarantee you that the quality of your films will
increase.
Natural light action steps:
1. Every room you walk in identify the artificial lights and turn them off.
Then look to see where the natural light is coming in. Place your subject
there.
2. Make sure the natural light is hitting both of the subject's eyes. This will
ensure they are properly lit.
3. Pay attention to the color of the natural light. The natural light should
be as close to white as possible. If it is not find a different source of
natural light.
4. When shooting with natural light as your main light source keep your
White Balance at around 5500 K this will help you remain lighting
consistency.



Apple is one of the most successful companies in the world because they
got one major thing right: simplicity.
By embracing simplicity you allow yourself to really focus on what matters
and sharpening your craft effectively.
When you are first starting out don’t include everything but the kitchen
sink in your film packages.
This means taking out things like RAW footage, 1-2hr Doc Edits, Full
Ceremony and Toasts, Drone Footage, Unlimited Coverage, DVDs etc.
Offering all these things to clients is a sure-fire way to get burned out.
What we suggest is just offering a 3-5 minute film and that's it.
This will allow you to focus on nailing and perfecting this one type of film.
Once you grab that you can move up and start offering longer films and
more add-ons.
It's amazing how much more creative you can get with your coverage when
you are not worrying about delivering a 1 hour doc edit :)



In my opinion, one of the hardest things you could ever do is film a wedding
by yourself. It might seem like a good idea in order to save money but in the
end, you will end up miserable.
Having a second shooter on the day of the wedding will allow you to be in
two places at once and massively lower the stress level on the day. This will
ultimately help you focus more on the story and give a better wedding film
to the couple.
The best places to find second shooters are wedding filmmaking facebook
forums, local film schools, etc.
One of the best things to do is go on socialising and look up the wedding
filmmakers in your area and ask if they would be interested in second
shooting with you.
Rates for second shooters really depend on the area your in. The best thing
to do is just ask the second shooter what their rates are and pay them
accordingly.
If you cannot afford a second shooter one cool thing to do is swap services
with a fellow filmmaker. You can offer to second shoot for one of their
weddings and they can offer to second shoot for some of yours. This works
really well especially when you are first starting out.



Slow motion is an incredibly cinematic tool to pull the audience into your
story. However, If used incorrectly it can come off as cheesy or overdone.
These are the two main reasons I love using slow motion:
1. It allows me to elongate amazing moments. Sometimes you only get the
couple smiling in that perfect pose for 1-2 seconds. With slow motion, you
can lengthen that already amazing shot. This ease a lot of stress on my
end, especially during portraits because I know I don't need to shoot a ton
to have a lot of usable material for the edit.
2. If used correctly it really draws people into the moment more than a
regular shot does. For a bride this is huge. Because a wedding day already
seems to go by so fast for her and when you are able to slow down really
important moments, she feels like she is experiencing them again for the
first time and is able to soak in all the little memories.
Our rule for how to avoid slow motion being out of place is to only use slow
motion to underline already existing strong emotion. For example, we use
slow motion when the bride is putting on her dress, the dancing at the
reception, portraits between the couple, and the grand entrance. All these
moments are already full of strong emotion. The slow motion draws the
viewer in and the emotion makes them stay :)

*Bonus tip: Film decor in slow motion. This will allow you to get really
cinematic pans, slides, and handholding because the movement will be
slow and subtle.

First off, you rock! Thank you so much for taking the time
to read this guide!
This guide is meant to be super quick to read (a review
for some of you and new stuff for others) and a
reference point.
If anything doesn't make sense or is confusing in any
way... don't worry!
I'll be back soon with more great stuff to answer any
questions and make it all super crystal clear.
- Biswa Kamal Jit