Wedding videography is seen as essential to the perfect wedding day. Couples spend ample amounts of time dedicated to this single day and their guests travel from afar, so capturing each moving part through film feels entirely worthy. Naturally, the day encases an emotional story, but how does the footage reflect this narrative? Join Melbourne Wedding & Bride’s Alice O’Brien as she sits down with Ben Baker, owner of Baker Films, to discuss the power and impact of good visual editing.
Video editing is an art form many are aware of. It’s how our favourite movies are sliced together for cinema, or how quick reels on Instagram jump from one image to the next. Most importantly, it’s how a wedding film is able to speak to the emotional narrative of the day. While many are not aware of the technical skills behind editing, Ben Baker is very familiar with this unseen side.
“I sit down at my PC, fire up my editing software and start culling the footage to find the absolute best moments of the day to tell a couples story,” Baker says.
This editing process is the key behind videography storytelling as Baker takes “raw, authentic moments, weaving them into a cohesive narrative.” Just because the camera stops recording, it doesn’t mean the job stops with it. Rather, it’s where the skills of a trained videographer take over.
Image courtesy of Baker Films.
Power Behind An Edit
While anyone can point and shoot a camera, it’s the person behind the equipment who turns editing into the powerful tool it can become.
“Intentional editing is everything when creating a wedding film … it dictates the pacing, the emotional beats and the overall story,” Baker points out.
Bakers’ awareness that editing is not just about putting one clip of footage after another but rather seeps into the “way a shot cuts exactly to the swell of music making a viewer feel the emotion,” is what makes his editing so in touch. Video editing is also impacted by what the footage has actually captured. Take the midday wedding ceremony. This is the moment where a couple and their guests pause in time and focus solely on how the bride and groom promise to love each other. Naturally, as Baker points out, the editing must reflect this “calm and romantic pace and focus deeply on the vows.” In comparison, Baker mentions the nighttime reception, or more fondly referred to as the party, needs editing of a “much faster pace to match the high energy of the dancefloor.” Each section of the day has distinct atmospheres attached, so editing must match.
These differences extend into the films’ format. If Baker is editing footage for a feature film or a quick Instagram reel, he’ll take this into account.
“A longer vlog allows for full speeches, extended vows, and those quieter moments that build the story naturally,” Baker says.
“A short reel needs to grab attention immediately and I focus on the most visually striking moments.”
Power Behind Forward Thinking
Despite editing taking place at the end of a videography step-by-step process, the thoughts around it begin well before the camera clicks record.
“I am always shooting with the final product in mind,” Baker explains.
To translate this forward thinking through an example, Baker often has a mental vision of an opening sequence for a wedding film. To ensure he can edit the opening sequence to his vision, he captures specific establishing shots, while at the same time always keeping the final product in mind.
“When guests see us just standing there filming, we are scanning the room for the next interaction, checking our audio levels, monitoring the changing light, and thinking about exactly how the current shot will cut together with the next one,” Baker says.
Hand In Hand
But, even before the camera is in Baker’s hand, the true journey of videography editing begins in the initial meeting he has with the couple.
“Their vision and personality from first meetings guide every single choice I make in the edit,” Baker says.
So, even if the couple is not sitting beside Baker in the post-filming room, he still knows exactly the right edits to make. This seeps into advice around selecting a wedding videographer, as each one is different and distinct in their styles.
“Take the time to really look through a videographer portfolio … if you consistently love the way they tell a story, you can trust they’ll do the exact same for you,” Baker advises.
Visual editing has the power to connect and generate emotional pulls like no other form of media. For couples, it can send them right back into the moment their new chapter of life begun, being able to relive the memories whenever they choose, through the simple touch of the play button. Wedding videography is more than footage captured on the day, it’s the deliberate thought post wedding day that your videographer pours into every decision to create the visual telling of your love story