Make Money As A Wedding Videographer While You Try To Finance Your Independent Film On The Side

If you're trying to raise money for your first independent film, then a great side job is to shoot wedding videos. You will get to keep your camera skills sharp for when you eventually raise the capital to finance your feature film. However, it's not enough to have a video camera; you will need a few other things to make sure you get the work. Here's a list of what you need to do.

Get A Good DSLR

Obviously you need a video camera to be a wedding videographer. It might be hip or trendy to shoot a short film on your iPhone, but the bride and groom won't think it's professional. You don't need to invest in a Viper or some other Hollywood-grade digital camera, but a nice Cannon 6d or some other non-entry level DSLR is fine. You will also want to have a few different lenses. You want to be able to film the wedding from various vantage points and not have to intrude to get a shot.

Get A Handheld Stabilizing Rig (or flexible tripod)

A handheld stabilizing rig is vastly superior to a static tripod. You can move around the wedding area without having to set up an awkward tripod. If you really want a tripod, choose one of the flexible types. These have legs that bend and can shape to different surfaces. You can also hold them in your hand and move around the room with them as if they were an oversized selfie stick.

If you do choose a flexible style tripod, instead of a handheld stabilizing rig, make sure that the tripod is rated to support your camera's weight. Because the legs are designed to move and twist into various positions, they can bend under the weight of too heavy a camera.

Get A Color Appropriate Suit or Dress

You don't want to show up in jeans and a t-shirt. You also don't want to wear a black dress or dark black suit. It is a wedding after all, not a funeral. However, ladies should be careful about wearing white because you don't want to detract from the bride. A professional suit or dress, in a muted color (navy, grey) is a great choice.

Set Up A Website With Film Clips

You want engaged couples who are searching for videographers to find you, so you need to have a website made up. On the website, you can list your qualifications (film school, past experience, etc…) and most importantly display some clips. You can host them yourself on your own hosted site, or you can link to a site like Vimeo which will let you upload clips.

If you don't have any experience shooting a wedding, you might want to volunteer to shoot some promo footage for a local restaurant or bar so people could get a sense of how you cover crowds.