4 Tips for Event Videography

Before you go cover any event, you need to make your own preparations so that you don't miss any moment worth covering! The events that you cover differ in their nature and their layout.

For instance, while in a wedding, many things might be happening simultaneously and hence you might need two or more cameras to be set up at different places, in a corporate event of a day-long workshop, you may not need to place so many cameras. Even so, some basic guidelines can be followed for event videography:

1. Know the schedule of the event
There could be nothing worse than not knowing where to be at a particular moment and missing a scene for video coverage! If you are a wedding videographer, you will need to develop a schedule outlining the day's events from the bride getting dressed, to the bride's arrival to the reception. You will know where you are expected to be at different times of the day.

Likewise, if is a corporate event you are covering, you will need to know when the corporate guests are arriving, when they will be taken on stage or when the floor will be open for questions. Since you will know what to anticipate next, you can beforehand, decide the placement and position of your camera and coordinate with the organizers for hassle-free coverage.

2. Consider yourself the only videographer
Videographers tell beginners to think as if they are the only videographers covering the event even if they aren't!

For instance, you might not be able to get the close-up of the host presenting the award to a guest and you might think that your assistant will take care of it from their camera. However, what if your assistant was unable to do so? In somewhat informal functions such as weddings, you can carry out a reenactment to make up for any missing elements. However, this may not always be possible in a corporate event.

3. Arrive early and leave last.
This will be for your own convenience. It takes more time than anticipated to set up the equipment. Similarly, leaving last will allow you to capture as much footage of the event as possible.

4. Length of shots
For the best possible shots, keep the average shot length between 5 to 10 seconds and keep a shot steady for at least 10 seconds. This will make the video fun and enticing.