New to videography, advice needed!

[Jordan Berry]

Alright.

My name is Jordan Berry, I'm 19 years old, taking a year off before going to film school. If this goes well i'll take 2 years off and pay for a good chunk of my education before attending. I just invested in a pretty decent setup (i think)..

Equipment:
Canon XH A1
Rode NTG2 Mic /w DeadCat
Bescor 35W Light kit /w independent power supply / diffuser / barn doors
Bogen 503 Head /w 351MVB2 Tripod Legs (Black, pads, nice legs)
Glidecam 2000 Pro
Case, protective lens. 2x 970g bat, duel charger, etc.

I'm really just missing an external mic and a second camera. I'll purchase these once I make some money, i'm almost broke

I'm planning to charge around $500-800 since i'm starting out.

Client base:
I actually have quite a few places to pull from.

1) The internet, i'm a pretty decent web designer and I know a few about SEO. I'll hopefully get some decent business through here. I have the domains kansascityvideographer.com and kansascityvideography.com already. (These domains will point to a copy of my website, each having its own sub dir hosting (masked to show up as a regular domain)) I've built a decent list of vendor directories, etc to post my sime on, once it's finished.

2) Referrals, I know many people in the wedding business, including my dad, who has between 2-4 weddings a weekend (He's a DJ). I'm going to do a bunch of promo work / give bunches of business cards to my buddies.

3) Bride Shows - October 21st I'm doing a bridal show / model search in KC. I'm going to video live and project to 2x 8x6 projects (while the models are going down the runway) and then interview models / have the second best booth at the show (my dads got #1). My dad goes to a lot of these and usually DJs at them, so I'll be going to those with him.

4) During the week I help manage a tent business, we usually do wedding tents. So i'm going to have a word with brides after we put up the tent, explain who I am, my service, and give them a card. This is a great opportunity if I'm good enough with the brides. I'm pretty good at retail, but I don't have experience selling videography.

Branding...
This is by far the hardest part for me. And i think this is where I need the most help. I need to think of a business name / domain.

It's wedding videography specific.

Ideas:
Jordan Berry
Professional
Penguin
Berry
Motion
Euphoric
Memories
HD

I can't think of much.. Just brainstorming. I have the domain beautifulhd.com, if you think that would work? It's not catchy though.

My questions are:

What's the best way to sell this service in person? I believe in my product a lot, so It's easy to be passionate and honest. Im not sure this is something you guys can advice me on much..

Branding, branding, branding, any brainstorming or suggestions would be awesome.

General tips, suggestions, advice are welcome!

Thanks!

[HankCastello]

Whew - that covers a lot of territory!

First, you have a great camera, but it is not a great wedding camera.  Receptions, in particular, may force you to break out that Bescor more than your clients would like.  But with sufficient light, it will shine!  (Hmm, unintentional play on words!)

Second, you have a great shotgun mic - but it is not a great wedding mic.  Your mic could pick up a pin drop at twenty feet - which is NOT what you'll want for your wedding audio.  A cheap lav mic will get you much better sound for weddings.  Actually, you'll want at least three - minister; groom; fob.  If there are singers, musicians, etc. - of course you'll need to mic them also.

Getting back to your shotgun mic - as you move your camera around to get different shots, the sound will change drastically - again, this is not an effect you'll want.

I like your tripod setup as long as your legs are stout enough to stay on the ground for tilts and pans (I didn't check the weight).  Great head for the money!

I'm not sure that a Glidecam 2000 is heavy enough for your camera.  If you've already checked this out and are satisfied - then great.  If not, do investigate this issue while you may still have time to upgrade to the 4000 model.

You might even consider getting a consumer camera to fill in as camera #2 until you can do better.  This can then become your "Honeymoon camera".  A couple weeks ago, we upgraded our hi-8 Honeymoon camera to a digital and with two clients taking that option since then (at $199 per), it has already paid for itself.  I can see a wide-angle lens in your future, also.

You have fantastic opportunities to meet potential clients.  Be sure and line up your first two as freebies and to make a good demo out of them.

As for your black-hat seo ideas, I don't think those will do you well.  Also, your domain names may do better with an underscore separating each word.

Best of luck to you!  We hope you'll stay around a long time.

[HankCastello]

Be careful about advertising, branding, etc., until you've gotten your feet on the ground.  We made the mistake of branding as a cheap wedding videography service - often doing two weddings in a weekend.  But we quickly found that we preferred to do quality work and spend the necessary time on each wedding video, so we spread out geographically and increased our gear to five cameras and a dozen mics.

We still occasionally get calls from an old yellow page ad offering wedding videos from $499!  Our cheapest plan on castelloproductions.com is $3495.  A brand can sometimes work too well and we wonder how many out there might still consider us as inexpensive videographers with a high price.

If you wait until after you've done a dozen weddings, you'll have a much better idea how you want to brand your company.  Since you can easily get business in person, there is no rush to do advertising or even a web site, where your message will get pinned down.

As for getting started - why not offer to shoot for free and give them a ten-minute short form video?  You can then offer the long form for a higher price.   Be sure and tell them you're just getting started and that they should let you video their wedding only if they were not going to hire an experienced videographer. This way, you're not under the gun, yet you have a chance to earn money.

To sell the long form version, have "DEMO VIDEO BY.. 'Your Name'" translucent and in large print, right across the middle of the screen on the copy you give them with their short form.  Most brides couldn't turn down a good long form, even if it costs an unexpected $500 or so.

[HankCastello]

One more reason to hold off on advertising/branding/etc. - if you think you might want to brand yourself as a top-notch, professional wedding videographer - you'll likely need to wait until you have sufficient gear to produce that type of work and to produce a demo that typifies that kind of work.

Be careful not to fall into the trap of thinking your early work is good/great.  Ask any of us what we thought of our first wedding videos at the time and what we think of them now.  There is a big difference!

[Jordan Berry]

HANK!

I see you patrolling around on DVinfo, I wish you would have posted in my thread there

As far as light, I think I'll be fine in ceremony situations, since most are in well lit churches / outside. As far as receptions, that's why I got the light. Hopefully no one will care. But that's something you have to deal with when shooting in HD, no matter what, right?

What mic do you suggest? I'm sure I can return the mic.. I didn't realize better wasn't always better, haha. I thought I should have a good on camera mic, would the default one just work alright?

I wanted to get lav mics in the beginning but at $500 a pop, it's something I can't really afford at the moment. I could get 1 probably if I take back my current mic.

Glidecam 2000 pro is able to handle up to 6lbs, i did the math, i will come out to be like 5.8 pounds, should work alright, don't you think?

I'll get everything in the next few days, and find out quickly what works and what doesn't.

Thanks Hank, just wish i could have heard this before I ordered everything..

[Jordan Berry]

One more reason to hold off on advertising/branding/etc. - if you think you might want to brand yourself as a top-notch, professional wedding videographer - you'll likely need to wait until you have sufficient gear to produce that type of work and to produce a demo that typifies that kind of work.

Be careful not to fall into the trap of thinking your early work is good/great.  Ask any of us what we thought of our first wedding videos at the time and what we think of them now.  There is a big difference!

Well i'm not going top-notch, i'm going professional. I'll be professionally dressed, I behave professionally, i'm using professional equipment, and I've done wedding video before and pleased.

I feel confident saying I'm professional, and just charging less. I'll explain i'm new to this and that's why i'm charging less.

[HankCastello]

What mic do you suggest? I'm sure I can return the mic.. I didn't realize better wasn't always better, haha. I thought I should have a good on camera mic, would the default one just work alright?

I wanted to get lav mics in the beginning but at $500 a pop, it's something I can't really afford at the moment. I could get 1 probably if I take back my current mic.

Quantity is more important than quality when it comes to miking weddings and events.  In other words, a cheap Azdem WMS-PRO $149 wireless lav/handheld set for each of four speaking persons will do better than a single $5000 shotgun mic, for weddings.  Problem is that the WMS-PRO only comes in two frequency settings, so you can only have two at the most.  Also, these can sometimes be more susceptible to interference in metro areas, than their UHF brethren.  Azden 100 series (without the handheld) starts at about $350, I think.  The 200 handles two transmitters/lavs from a single receiver.

At no time will your on-camera mics serve you well at a ceremony, although if you tap the DJ's sound system, they'll do for ambient sound at the reception.

Note that cheap sometimes means lower quality.  While I don't have any serious issues with their sound, I have had to return about half my six Azden items to their shop for warranty repairs.

Glidecam 2000 pro is able to handle up to 6lbs, i did the math, i will come out to be like 5.8 pounds, should work alright, don't you think?

Test it.  Companies sometimes push the limit as to what weight, etc. their gear can handle.  Also, test with receiver; light; battery; etc.

I got the 4000 model for my FX1 and VX2100s.  Lighter is better, so long as it can handle your camera and accessories.

[Jordan Berry]

You make a good point Hank about quantity of quality, especially with sound. Can you suggest a wireless setup that won't break me? I do need something dependable, I can't afford to have equipment failure of the sound, especially since I can't afford backup equipment.

A on camera mic won't help when introducing the bride / groom / speeches?

[HankCastello]

..taking a year off before going to film school.

You didn't ask for advice on this part, but that's the reason I never have any money - I'll always throwing in my two-cents worth!

I took a year off before going to photography/film school (Brooks Institute) in 1965.  It is now 2007 and I still haven't attended.  

LIFE can interrupt the best intentions when you're not purposely moving forward toward your goals.

[Jordan Berry]

..taking a year off before going to film school.

You didn't ask for advice on this part, but that's the reason I never have any money - I'll always throwing in my two-cents worth!

I took a year off before going to photography/film school (Brooks Institute) in 1965.  It is now 2007 and I still haven't attended.  

LIFE can interrupt the best intentions when you're not purposely moving forward toward your goals.

And you didn't spend $65k on learning stuff you already knew, and you seem to be doing well

[HankCastello]

As to your question about an on-camera mic for speeches, etc.

Either the sound will come from the person speaking, in which case all the ambient room noise will be excessive and since the mic will likely be more than a few inches from the person speaking, the audio will not be crisp - or the sound will come from the DJ's speakers.  Again, audio won't be crisp and sound will change as the camera moves.

I use an Azden SGM-1x shotgun for backup audio at receptions, but either I tap the DJ's board with my Marantz digital recorder and/or I place one of my mic stands with an XLR Shure mic next to the DJ's mic.  I'll offer up an extra mic stand for the DJ's mic to keep people from walking around with it and wandering away from my Shure on the stand.

Alternatively (and I hate to do this) I'll rubberband my wireless handheld mic to the DJ's or put lavs on the speakers.

Also - dropping a lav in front of the DJ's speaker (not the woofer part!) is a good backup alternative.

[HankCastello]

And you didn't spend $65k on learning stuff you already knew, and you seem to be doing well

Zing!   :lol:

[HankCastello]

Oh yeah, back to the wireless question -

Azden WMS-PRO (comes with handheld AND lav, transmitter AND receiver for just $149).  Get one because it's cheap and effective, but don't get two because it may be prone to occasional interference.

Azden 100 series or 200 series - these UHF sets are reliable at close distances (up to twenty feet or so), and are relatively cheap.

Adam uses ipods to tap sound boards and (I think) for occasional mic setups.  I prefer wav files over mp3, but let's see what he has to say.

[Jordan Berry]

Oh yeah, back to the wireless question -

Azden WMS-PRO (comes with handheld AND lav, transmitter AND receiver for just $149).  Get one because it's cheap and effective, but don't get two because it may be prone to occasional interference.

Azden 100 series or 200 series - these UHF sets are reliable at close distances (up to twenty feet or so), and are relatively cheap.

Adam uses ipods to tap sound boards and (I think) for occasional mic setups.  I prefer wav files over mp3, but let's see what he has to say.

Awesome, just the kind of equipment suggestions i needed.

I didn't know you could record with an ipod, i have one, but how? haha

So I have 2x XLR inputs so i should get 2 mics, 1 on bride another on the priest?

What setup could i use to combine them into 1 receiver?

EDIT: For $236 on amazon I can get the Azden WMS-PRO Wireless Microphone System and another transmitter / lapel mic.

[HankCastello]

So I have 2x XLR inputs so i should get 2 mics, 1 on bride another on the priest?

What setup could i use to combine them into 1 receiver?

Jordan, I suggest you comb this site thoroughy because your questions are answered, probably multiple times, elsewhere.  If not in the forums, then in articles, etc.

In short - never mic the bride.  The groom's mic picks her up, but mic the groom so the lav will be equal distance from each of their lips (usually just a bit low on the groom.)

Always use a separate receiver/audio track for each input.  Never mix in the field.  (You'll find the reasons elsewhere in these forums).

Use as many mics as you have audio sources for (with the exception that the groom's mic covers the bride).