Hello,
I wasn't sure where to post this, but does anyone know what it means to shoot documentary style? I was talking to someone who was talking about shooting a wedding in documentary style but I didn't understand what that meant.

Thanks!!

PhillyFilmmaker

I guess he meant that he was capturing things as they happened, which, really, is exactly how wedding videos happen. I have seen some wedding videos where there were 'set-ups' (OK, now you run over and try to grab her and she gives you a little push, then chase her through those trees) which were pretty sickening.

Documentary style literaly means making a document of what has happened. Nothing really exciting. He was probably just trying to make it sound impressive.

Most weddings are documentary style. Different documentaries have different approaches to camera and editing (for example, a Discovery Channel animal documentary looks very different from American Dream, and Fahrenheit 9/11 is very different from Some Kind of Monster).

Usually what's considered documentary-style elements are:

- handheld camera
- in-camera editing -- not "coverage" shooting, but lots of shifts in angles and shots to capture the action
- no slow-motion
- heavy use of B-roll
- unlike in most narrative films, camera can be a character; existence of the camera crew doesn't necessary
- voice-over is a common but not necessary tool

In relation to a wedding shoot, what they probably mean is that they don't want to stylize the procedures. However, it's hard to tell how much they mean that. People are sometimes careless with attributing a "style" as the strategy for putting together a piece, but they don't mean it. For example, I've had clients use "industrial" and "hard rock" interchangeably, and I've had people say they want "arty" when they want the opposite, cinéma vérité.


www.derekmok.com

I've heard "documentary style" applied to wedding photography, not videography. It usually means the photographer hangs back and tries not to interfere or set up specific posed shots. Rather, they try to just grab shots on the go that look spontaneous and less rigid than traditional wedding poses; you get a mixed bag of selective focus, people not looking at the camera, motion blur, varying exposures -- some of which can be very beautiful.

I'm not sure how you apply this technique to video though, as people generally don't "pose" for the video camera like wedding photos. You just capture what's happening as it happens, which as someone said is documentary style already. Maybe it means you DON'T elicit comments from the drunken bridesmaids during the reception?

JK

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SCQT! Self-contained QuickTime ? pass it on!

I agree with all comments here. Derek of course gave the most detailed analysis of what constitutes "documentary style".

But the original question was in the context of applying the "documentary style" to a wedding shoot.

Really wedding videos have nothing to do with "documentary style".

A wedding video is more like an industrial.

I think the main difference is that if you're shooting a documentary, you're not supposed to direct the people in front of the camera, like you would in a narrative film where you direct the actors.

In a documentary style narrative movie, you make it look like you're not directing the actors, but in fact you have to direct them. And you shoot it like the actors weren't directed but you caught everything as it happened. Therefore the camera techniques indicated...

> Really wedding videos have nothing to do with "documentary style".
> A wedding video is more like an industrial.

Not necessarily. The best wedding video I've ever edited is where I and my director partner shot the couple in a documentary style, following them around as the guy was shopping for a cheap tux. (We were supposed to film interviews with their friends, but all of them had flaked out) They were lively artist types (she was an actress, he was a graphics designer) and we played on the looseness and informality of it all, rather than the usual spitshine polish commercial style. We opened the video with the guy eating pizza and the couple talking in their unique funny way at the pizzeria, then moved on to dancing footage at Tavern on the Green. All natural, no softening. We had to ditch most of the sync sound because the capture went foul and we only had one six-hour night to do everything including capturing three hours of footage, but the style was there.

It was a hit when they played it at their wedding reception, and it stood out because they weren't presented in this elevated, hyper-romantic style, and it fit their personalities.

A wedding video can be whatever your clients want, or whatever you bring to the table. Humour, eccentricity and actual detail (rather than gushing) are very underused. The fact is, clients of wedding videos are preconditioned to like the product, so there's no need to get frozen in any one style or tone. People do appreciate creativity and humour rather than droll romanticism. And then, just because the overall style is documentary-like doesn't mean you can't incorporate hazy music-driven moments. Just look at Bowling for Columbine.


www.derekmok.com