George Lucas once said “The sound and music are 50% of the entertainment in a movie”.  This is especially true for wedding videos and it is the reason why you need to be sure your wedding videographer is not only experienced in shooting video, but also in capturing audio.

Bad audio can ruin your wedding video.  Hard to hear wedding vows, distorted speeches or bad sound-quality in general would not only spoil your wedding video, it would defeat the purpose of getting a wedding video.  So many couples want wedding videos for the vows and speeches.  What is the point if you can’t hear them?

Most highlight clips are backed to a song selected by the couple and therefore you never hear the audio.  This is fairly common for highlights as the audio would be very irrelevant.  These are usually the videos that studios will post online and these are the videos by which you make your investment decision.  However, a lot of the time couples are getting full length or documentary edits as well as highlights.  These wedding videos are up to 2 hours long and will contain audio from the ceremony and the reception.  You need to ensure you are happy with the audio quality before you book a studio.

The ceremony audio will be things like the music as you walk down the aisle, vows, readings, the priest’s homily, applause and maybe a quartet is playing.  The reception will include speeches, the MC, ambiance and applause as well as dancing music, be it a band or a DJ.

Hitched Productions use a combination of on-board microphones, pocket digital recorders with lapel microphones, wireless microphones, shotgun microphones as well as a multi-channel digital recorder to capture all the audio from your wedding day.  We can accommodate a range of situations with this load-out.

 

Wedding-Video-Audio-001Wedding-Video-Audio-002  Wedding-Video-Audio-003 ew 003 Wedding-Video-Audio-006

 

 

 

 

Source: Google Images

 

Here are a couple of things to look for (or should I say listen for) when looking at studios work:

  • Make sure the audio is not peaking.  By peaking, I mean distorting.  A good videographer can accommodate for this.
  • Make sure it it not too quiet.  You want to be able to hear those vows and not have to lip-read them.
  • Listen to ensure there is no interference in audio.  Wireless microphones are prone to cross-channel interference as they share a frequency band with other wireless audio devices.
  • Check there is no wind distortion.  Outdoor weddings are subject to wind.  This can be accommodated for within reason.
  • Make sure you like the quality of the audio.  Lapel microphones are must for a wedding.  You should be able to hear the vows and speeches as if you were a couple of metres from the action.
  • Does the wedding video studio have a contingency?  That is, if one audio source fails or is interrupted, what is their backup plan?  Ask them.
  • Ask to see and hear a section of the ceremony and the reception.  If your wedding is outdoors, ask to see an outdoor sample.
  • Be sure you look at more than one wedding to check that the quality is repeated.

 

Note that in some instances Wedding Videographers are limited in what we can capture.  For example, St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne do not allow the use of wireless microphones.  Some priests and celebrants will not allow us to mic-them.  Some bands and DJ either do not have an audio output for videographers or will not allow us to record their work.  I had one DJ at a wedding refuse as he thought I would rip-off his work.  Newsflash mate…you were not that good and I am far too busy to be bothered.  The point is, we can work around these obstacles but just be aware that every wedding is different and we try to work with your choice of venues and vendors as best we can.

In summary, don’t just be sold on good looking images when it comes to selecting a Wedding Videographer.  For more details please refer to our Melbourne Wedding Video Packages and to see some samples of our work (which include audio) please take a look at the following.  If you want to see a full wedding video sample, contact us to make an appointment.

Michelle and Matthew – Feature Film
Elise & Felice – Highlights
Emily & Gavin – Feature Film