Wedding filmmaking changes constantly.
New cameras.
New editing styles.
New transitions.
New ways of moving a camera.
New things that suddenly seem to show up in every wedding film for a while.
Some of them are great.
I'm not interested in rejecting something simply because it is new or popular.
If I see a technique that makes me think differently or gives me another way to tell a story, I'm interested.
I just don't want the technique making the decisions.
New Isn't the Problem
I have been doing this long enough to watch wedding filmmaking change many times.
That is a good thing.
Cameras have changed.
The way we record sound has changed.
Editing has changed.
The expectations couples have for their wedding films have changed.
I have changed too.
I would be much more concerned if I were making wedding films exactly the same way I did twenty years ago.
Experience should not mean getting stuck.
It should give you enough confidence to keep learning without feeling like you have to chase everything that comes along.
“I'm not against something because it's new. I just want to know why I'm using it.”
If the answer is that it helps me tell this particular story, great.
If the answer is simply that everybody else is doing it, that usually isn't enough for me.
The Technique Has to Belong There
A camera move can be beautiful.
A transition can be clever.
A certain editing style can create a lot of energy.
But none of those things automatically make a wedding film better.
They have to fit.
Some weddings want movement.
Some want quiet.
Some moments can handle a lot of energy.
Others get weaker the more I try to do to them.
The same technique that feels perfect in one film may feel completely wrong in the next.
That is why I don't want to build a wedding around a bag of tricks I decided to use before I arrived.
I want the people and the day to tell me what belongs.
I Don't Want Couples to Feel Like They Stepped Into My Template
Every filmmaker develops a style.
I certainly have preferences.
There are things I naturally notice.
There are ways I like to build a story.
There are choices that probably show up across a lot of my work because they are part of the way I see things.
But I don't want my style to become a mold.
If every couple ends up feeling exactly the same in every film, then somewhere along the way I have stopped paying attention to who they are.
One wedding may be emotional and quiet.
Another may be completely ridiculous.
One family may say everything out loud.
Another may communicate mostly through little gestures and humor.
The filmmaking should have enough flexibility to recognize those differences.
“My style should help me tell their story. Their story shouldn't have to fit my style.”
Social Media Has Its Own Rhythm
A lot of filmmaking today is seen first on a phone.
I understand why fast edits, immediate hooks and visually striking moments work there.
There is nothing wrong with making something that catches someone's attention.
I want people to stop and watch too.
But I also have to remember who the finished wedding film is ultimately for.
The couple.
Their family.
The people who will watch it again after the wedding is no longer new.
That changes some of my decisions.
Something that gets attention for a few seconds today is not automatically the thing that will matter most years from now.
Sometimes it will.
Sometimes it won't.
I want room for both.
Some Things Don't Go Out of Style
People change.
Weddings change.
Filmmaking changes.
But there are certain things I have never seen become outdated.
A genuine laugh.
A nervous look.
A parent trying to find the right words.
Two people teasing each other.
A room full of friends who know exactly why something is funny.
Someone unexpectedly saying something honest.
Those things worked twenty years ago.
They work now.
I suspect they will work a long time from now.
That is where I want the foundation of the film to live.
Everything else can change around it.
I Want to Keep Learning
I never want experience to become an excuse to stop experimenting.
There are always new things to learn.
There are filmmakers younger than me doing things I would never have thought of.
There are new tools that can solve problems I used to handle completely differently.
I like that.
It keeps filmmaking interesting.
But learning something new and feeling obligated to use it are two different things.
I want as many tools available to me as possible.
Then I want the freedom not to use them.
Because ultimately I'm still asking the same question:
Does this help me tell these people's story?
If it does, I don't care whether the technique is twenty years old or became popular last week.
If it doesn't, I can leave it alone.
The trend doesn't get the final say.
The story does.
