Event & Wedding Videographer – Natchez MS & Vidalia LA

Business Promo Videos – Movie Short Films – Documentaries – Music Videos

VIDEOGRAPHY

Presumably, videography describes the basic filming of a project that doesn’t have an extensive edit. Similarly, it doesn’t normally have many scene changes or the use of elaborate camera motion techniques. Presently, weddings, plays, recitals and speaking events are common subjects for videography. Additionally, very limited movement of the camera typifies videography. Therefore, with the camera locked down on a video tripod or monopod, panning and zooming are usually the extent of the camera’s movement. Also, scene times between cuts to another scene are typically very long.

Cost versus Quality: Sometimes Lower Cost Wins

Moreover, in videography not much effort is spent on getting high quality audio, just sufficient audio quality. Finally, the editing process is usually much more simplified. Truth be told, the driving force in videography is to record the event at a minimum of expense. With that said, there is certainly a valid and useful place for video and videography. Ultimately, it is almost always less expensive than a more cinematic film. Presumably, the final edited version can be produced quickly because editing is minimal. By and large, use this explanation of videography as guideline rather than an exact definition. Ironically, “video” and “videography” can also be used broadly to describe any video, movie or cinematic effort. 

CINEMA / CINEMATOGRAPHY

Cinema, short for cinematography, has much more sophistication and quality embedded into its processes. First, extensive use of camera motion is utilized. Second, scene changes happen rapidly, usually no longer than five seconds elapse before there’s a change in camera angle or scene. Third, compositional optics such as depth of field and cinematic looks are much more in play. Typically, I will refer to these types of films as movies and the category described above as videos. Again however, both terms are often used in the wider sense as well.

Movies Have More Quality But Cost More

With Cinema and movies, more sophistication in telling the story captivates the audience more effectively. Therefore, storyboarding and careful pre-production planning can effectively aid in this process. Additionally, dynamic camera motion using sliders, jib cranes, and steady cams make the action much more interesting to the viewer. Similarly, widely varied camera angles, and fields of view (super-wide, wide, medium, tight, close-up and super close-up) make the movie more interesting. Finally, compositional elements such as variation of color temperature and lighting also lend more mood and feel to a movie. In my mind, videography is more “event” focused, whereas cinematography is much more about telling a story.

Audio Quality is Higher

Another important quality component of movies pertains to audio. No doubt the higher attention given to producing higher quality audio and sound effects make a dramatic difference in the viewing experience. As a result, shotgun mics on boom stands or use of a boom operator are often employed. Also, recording into specialized digital recorders for syncing to the motion track in post-production is normal. Thus, this results in higher quality audio for the movie as opposed to simple video. Lastly, editing and post-processing is a major focus. Ultimately, how the movie is edited in post-production brings a higher-quality and cinematic feel to the movie, as well as having more extensive intro titles and rolling credits at the end. All of these factors drive up the costs of producing cinematic movies, even if they are “movie shorts” lasting from three to eight minutes.

MOTION

Lastly, Motion describes films or segments of films chiefly focused upon such movies or video that move! Recordings such as time-lapse; time-lapse with motion; slideshows; animation; or short clips that feature a lot of camera movement and action. These videos or movies (they can be either) utilize dynamic motion-control devices such as sliders, jib cranes, dollies, quadcopters, and so forth. Sometimes “motion” is a stand-alone project, other times it’s simply a part of a larger film project (such as, “Let’s put some dynamic motion into this scene!”). It is also true that “motion” can mean all of the three categories I just described (for example, the menu tab for this website page), so in a very real sense “motion” has both a macro and a micro definition.