Roger Gunkel
May 4th, 2013, 06:59 AM
Following on from comments in other threads regarding the low percentage take up of video compared to photography, I had an interesting experience yesterday.
I was filming a wedding for a client who had been recommended from previous clients. The bride was a hairdresser who had a group of clients whose husbands were rugby club members and all socialised together. I had filmed the weddings of probably 8 or 9 of the couples over the past 10 years and 3 of those couples had been invited to yesterday's wedding. When things were a little quieter, I sat down with the group and chatted generally then one of the girls said 'we recommended you because we loved the video you did for us and still watch it after 8 years'. She then went on to say that although their still photos were good, they have hardly been out of the drawer since they were delivered. One of the other couples then joined in and said that they hadn't wanted a video at all, but the first couple had persuaded them. They also agreed that having looked at their photo album a couple of times, it has since just gathered dust, whereas they often get the video out to watch. The third couple also said the same thing, adding that if they were getting married now, they would attach far greater importance to the video than the photos.
A general discussion ensued where the general agreement was that the video captures the emotion of the day, together with sights and sounds that you just can't get from still pics. As this was a golden opportunity, I asked them whether they would have liked a highlights/shortform version, bearing in mind that my style is full documentary. They were all absolutely adamant that what they particularly loved was the detail of all the things going on in the background, peoples expressions and personality and just shots of friends and family chatting, laughing and enjoying themselves. They felt that a short version would lose many of the things that they enjoyed most and after initial viewing would probably gather dust like the photo album.
I found the conversation a fascinating insight into the 'after the event' thoughts of the couples and the fact that they didn't realise how much of their day they would actually miss as it happened. It would also be fair to say that they would have picked me to some extent because of my style of working, which is probably more popular in the UK than perhaps other countries where the short form seems to be very popular.
It was also not influenced by the fact that I was there filming the wedding, as my wife was doing most of the video work, whilst I was busy taking stills with the DSLR and both stills and video with another video cam. We now offer a budget photography package to those who book a video, placing more emphasis on the video. It has proved highly successful and prompted the comments from the previous clients who thought that it was a great idea as they all agreed that the video was the better investment.
All I need to do now is think of a way of taking all my previous clients to wedding shows with me as a marketing tool, although a round table discussion, filmed and put on the website may be useful.
Roger
I was filming a wedding for a client who had been recommended from previous clients. The bride was a hairdresser who had a group of clients whose husbands were rugby club members and all socialised together. I had filmed the weddings of probably 8 or 9 of the couples over the past 10 years and 3 of those couples had been invited to yesterday's wedding. When things were a little quieter, I sat down with the group and chatted generally then one of the girls said 'we recommended you because we loved the video you did for us and still watch it after 8 years'. She then went on to say that although their still photos were good, they have hardly been out of the drawer since they were delivered. One of the other couples then joined in and said that they hadn't wanted a video at all, but the first couple had persuaded them. They also agreed that having looked at their photo album a couple of times, it has since just gathered dust, whereas they often get the video out to watch. The third couple also said the same thing, adding that if they were getting married now, they would attach far greater importance to the video than the photos.
A general discussion ensued where the general agreement was that the video captures the emotion of the day, together with sights and sounds that you just can't get from still pics. As this was a golden opportunity, I asked them whether they would have liked a highlights/shortform version, bearing in mind that my style is full documentary. They were all absolutely adamant that what they particularly loved was the detail of all the things going on in the background, peoples expressions and personality and just shots of friends and family chatting, laughing and enjoying themselves. They felt that a short version would lose many of the things that they enjoyed most and after initial viewing would probably gather dust like the photo album.
I found the conversation a fascinating insight into the 'after the event' thoughts of the couples and the fact that they didn't realise how much of their day they would actually miss as it happened. It would also be fair to say that they would have picked me to some extent because of my style of working, which is probably more popular in the UK than perhaps other countries where the short form seems to be very popular.
It was also not influenced by the fact that I was there filming the wedding, as my wife was doing most of the video work, whilst I was busy taking stills with the DSLR and both stills and video with another video cam. We now offer a budget photography package to those who book a video, placing more emphasis on the video. It has proved highly successful and prompted the comments from the previous clients who thought that it was a great idea as they all agreed that the video was the better investment.
All I need to do now is think of a way of taking all my previous clients to wedding shows with me as a marketing tool, although a round table discussion, filmed and put on the website may be useful.
Roger