Monday, February 13, 2012

Documentary vs. Cinematic Wedding Film

Don't believe everything you read. There are some who would have you believe that "documentary" wedding film is straightforward and raw, untouched by an artistic eye or hand. Not necessarily so.
Here's what Wikipedia has to say about documentary:
 "Documentary" has been described as a "filmmaking practice, a cinematic tradition, and mode of audience reception" that is continually evolving and is without clear boundaries.
And,  Merriam Webster:
 relating to, or employing documentation in literature or art; broadly: factual. objective. documentary film of the war
What a documentary is not is what your cousin Bob offered you in the way of raw footage.
Now, Cinematic, often positioned as opposite to documentary, just means edited or produced.
According to Merrian Webster:  
(Cinematic means) filmed and presented as a motion picture <cinematic fantasies>
Motion picture styles come and go - and whether your wedding film is made on Super 8 filmstock, shot handheld, on tripod or with Glidecams and Glidetracks; silent, filled with music or dialogue; if it's a good wedding film, shot well, with careful and thoughtful art direction, it will be a good wedding film on your 25 th anniversary and  beyond. 


Jack and I were invited to be guests at the wedding of one of our very talented former interns, Jaime. The wedding was in NYC, on the day following a wonderful wedding we filmed for Allison and Daniel with SD Events at The Four Seasons in Boston. We woke up late on Sunday, drove down on a beautiful, late October Sunday, and although we were not hired to film the wedding, couldn't help but do a little filming - I on my Harinezumi, Jack on his DSLR. Mind you, there was a paid videographer, but we find it hard to attend weddings without watching them through a lens.


Jack finally got around to putting together this little edit, which I just love. He forgot about the 'zumi footage until I reminded him, then we added a few "retro" clips to introduce the piece. The bride loved it. So is this documentary? Cinematic? Or WHAT?






No comments: