Q U E S T I O N S & A N S W E R S
W H O A M I
Hi!
My name is Sam and I'm a Videographer from the Wirral, UK.
I've always been fascinated by professional film and photography and wondered how I could achieve that myself.
I spent many years trying to find a creative outlet, all the while trying to capture great moments using my phone and editing the occasional video for fun.
I eventually realised that I could merge all those things together and create something special, so I purchased myself a camera, started taking the kinds of photographs and making the kinds of videos I'd always been fascinated with, and Studio EIGHTSEVEN was born!
I aim to use my eye for emotion and capturing special moments and combine it with my creativity and perfectionism to create something truly memorable for my clients.
I hope you enjoy my work as much as I enjoy creating it!
Sam
W H Y Y O U S H O U L D H I R E A V I D E O G R A P H E R
I think that very often, videography is an afterthought.
It's usually one of the last things that gets allocated to the wedding budget and is severely underestimated.
But why?
Well, videography has come a long long way since that shaky camcorder footage of your parents getting married in the 80's.
What can be created these days without the need for huge camera rigs is incredible!
You might just be thinking of it as "photos...but they move".
That would be my mindset before starting out with wedding videos.
I had the honour of being the best man at my best friends wedding and a videographer didn't even cross my mind.
My speech took months to write and I put so much thought and effort into it.
How do I re-watch that? Well, I look at some blurry phone footage where I can't hear the audio.
How do I go back to that day? Well, I don't really.
I can look at some photos where the photographer told us to smile and shake hands, but was that really the vibe? (I'm not knocking photography, I like taking photos too, bare with me).
The point is, this is one of the best days of your life. You've spent a lot of time, money and effort to make this happen and trust me, it will be over before you can say "I do".
Don't you want to be able to go back and see what happened?
Do you want to hear that heartfelt speech again?
Do you want to see yourself walk down the aisle?
Do you want to see the best man fall over?
Not hiring a videographer is one of the top regrets of most couples, alongside not relaxing during the day (honestly, google it).
All my couples so far have watched their videos over and over again and one of the most common comments I've had is that it just gives you the emotional impact that photography doesn't (again, get a photographer too, they are important, they just serve a different purpose!).
So make sure you don't have any regrets.
You just need to decide if I'm the right fit for you as a couple...
M Y
M I S S I O N
There is a proverbial minefield of fine lines when it comes to wedding video.
From cringe, to self indulgence, to boring and more.
My goal is to avoid these things.
I never want to make you out to be something you're not or the day to be something it wasn't.
I want you to be taken back to the day as it was, so I try to avoid making my videos look like perfume ads.
I want things to look as natural as possible.
Yes, we'll pose for some portrait shots (you look amazing, why not flaunt it?), but what I'm interested in is the moments between.
That awkward laughter. That chemistry.
Can we get creative? Hell yeah!
But I want to show you as you are, so I tailor everything to you as a couple.
The most important thing to me is that you both feel comfortable and everything video related adds to the day rather than gets in the way of it.
W H A T C A M E R A S D O I U S E
I shoot my videos on the Canon R5 & R7.
These two cameras are absolute 4k power houses and allow me to shoot video in a variety of ways,
From an insanely crisp and cinematic 24fps for your speeches, and a beautiful smooth 120fps for those dreamy slow motion sequences that really make you feel like you're in a movie.
Do you want to know all this technical jargon? Probably not.
So to summarise?
They are INSANE cameras and I love them.
W H A T L E N S E S D O I
U S E
I use only the finest prime cuts of glass.
No but seriously, the lenses are more important than the cameras.
Each one of these allows me to shoot in a huge range of focal lengths, from those grand wide shots of the venue to those awkward closeups during the speeches.
And then there's my baby.
The 50mm.
This one lets me shoot in low light situations (the reception, basically) and delivers ultra crisp picture quality.
I sound like I'm trying to sell you these lenses.
What I'm saying is that such a mix of focal lengths allows me to create a really dynamic and interesting video.
W H A T A U D I O D O I
U S E
Ok, so this is the most important part.
The audio.
This is what makes and breaks a video.
"I am your father!"
"I'll be back"
"We're gonna need a bigger boat"
Imagine if you could barely hear those iconic lines or they were muffled.
Wouldn't be so iconic would they?
Audio is one of the most important things that you didn't know about.
I use the Tascam DR-40L lavaliere mics to pop on the groom during the ceremony and everyone that's doing a speech. These things are absolute monsters and deliver some CRISP audio.
I also use a shotgun mic on my main camera for some nice ambient sound, and the DR-40X to record the audio coming directly from the venue (Microphones).
W H A T I S M Y E D I T I N G
P R O C E S S
This is where the magic happens.
How long does the video take to edit?
I mean, how long is a piece of sting?
Absolute dad answer, sorry, but it honestly depends on the scope of the video and how much work I currently have to edit.
I put a ceiling of 6 months on the delivery of your video, but In reality, it's much shorter than that.
I know that's all annoyingly vague, but really, I never want to be churning out videos on a production line. That's when I lose my love for what I do.
There are some videographers who just have a template.
They get shot X, Y and Z and put them at point 1, 2 and 3.
And you know what? It works for them and it works for their clients.
But I want to make you something special that is unique and designed around you and how the day felt.
If it takes me 1 week or 6 months to make your video perfect, then that's what it takes for me.
I can spend something like 50-100 hours on a video.
Selecting the music, picking the right shots, making sure the continuity is right, colouring the video, tweaking the audio. I can end up spending hours on 2 seconds of footage making sure it's seamless and you won't even notice it. But that's a good thing, because all those seconds add up and make a better viewing experience.
I W A N T Y O U T O F I L M
O U R W E D D I N G
( W h a t ' s n e x t ? )
Amazing!
Well, you just have to get in touch!
Once you contact me, I can give you a quote based on a few factors (mainly travel and accommodation).
Then, when we have agreed on the quote, we can move forward and have a meetup, either in person or over a video call. Whatever suits you!
If you decide I'm the right guy for you, we do some basic paperwork, do the deposit and we're good to go!
I like to get to know my couples so that I'm not just some random guy with a camera when it comes to the wedding day.
I want you to see me as one of your guests and what I mean by that is you can approach me whenever you need, or ask me any questions,
If you're relaxed, I'm relaxed.
And if I'm relaxed, you're going to get a better video.
I'm there for my couples every step of the way with whatever they need!
