What does Instagram Mean to Wedding Videographers?
http://instagram.com/mcelroyweddings/
Several social media breakthroughs have presented invaluable opportunities for wedding videographers to keep followers up to date with their latest events and newest cinematic techniques but none can compare to the platform that Instagram provides.
With instant viewing access, these 15-second mini-previews allow followers to catch a glimpse of the essentials and hi-lites of a wedding – the bride beginning her walk down the aisle, the kiss, the flowers, the venue, the cake – without losing any quality or opportunity for stylistic devices.
Instagram provides a unique kind of platform where videographers can customize each video according to their business or the bride and groom. They can include a watermark over their material. They can drag in jpegs of their company logo from Photoshop with a black or white background and place it underneath the video. Some choose to include an image or text above the video as well, which could include a design or the names of the bride and groom, the name of the venue, etc.
There are endless stylistic choices to be made that give videographers the opportunity to establish a unique style and differentiate themselves from other companies. They can have the video play over a song (http://instagram.com/p/wwPJdcE-t0/?modal=true) or over the audio from a loved one’s speech (http://instagram.com/p/xNY_azk-qH/?modal=true). They can experiment with different gradients. They can use a split-screen effect. They can choose to end on a freeze-frame – or they could fade to white. Either way, these 15-second videos provide the perfect opportunity to catch viewers’ attention and send them to the link (Vimeo, YouTube, etc.) to see the longer, more in-depth project.
Including hashtags like #2015weddings or #weddingvideography allow you to share with the entire Instagram community while more personalized hashtags such as #KelseyandJake2015 allow the couple to view and share a mini-preview of their wedding video with friends and relatives.
Editing and uploading to Instagram does require certain specifications and formats, such as a 640×640 resolution and an H.264 compression in order to create a square video and others are needed for more advanced techniques. If you’d like to learn more about this, check out this Wedding Film School tutorial video for more insight on how it all comes together: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktLqvGzygbE.
To see how we’ve stylized our videos and the different customizations we’ve used so far at McElroy Weddings, check out our Instagram account at http://instagram.com/mcelroyweddings/.