OUR APPROACH TO STORYTELLING WEDDING VIDEOGRAPHY
How your journey as a couple led you to your wedding day
Storytelling: a word that is used everywhere today! Since it’s all over our site, we thought a little clarification on how we define it is in order.
WHY DO STORYTELLING?
The reason we’ve made storytelling our trademark is because we are cinema lovers. And in cinema, without a story, without a truly captivating script, we lose interest!
When Thomas was a wedding photographer alongside Maryem, he always thought it would be great to become a videographer, to form a photo-video duo to offer a truly complete package to our couples. But he often found himself bored watching existing wedding videos; he felt they lacked a story and he frequently stopped watching them before the end or skipped ahead. He didn’t want to do the same.
It took watching the videos of someone we consider the best in the field, Meryll de Gordon, to inspire him to start! Luckily, he was right next door at the time, so we were able to invest in training with him from the beginning.
Since then, Thomas has developed him own style, his own approach to storytelling, and here it is.
STORYTELLING PHILOSOPHY
Each of our couples is unique and has a specific story that led them to marriage. This is the story we want to tell, so that your wedding video is more than just a sequence of shots.
We don’t want our wedding videos to simply be a series of moments from the day, speeches lined up one after the other, a mere reflection of your day.
We want your wedding video to be unique and reflect your personalities, your story as individuals and as a couple, so that every time you watch it, you remember not only what a beautiful day it was but also what binds you together.
This is also the reason for our business name: Heritage Story, a story in heritage. We want to create a video that will be the legacy of your family, so your grandchildren and great-grandchildren can know your story through it.
STORYTELLING IN YOUR SPEECHES
For us, we can’t talk about storytelling without a real story guiding your video.
Our wedding films aren’t just speeches randomly picked from your wedding. Each speech is meticulously chosen to serve the story of the video.
Our storytelling videos are based on speeches that speak about your unique story, capturing the essence of your love and going beyond just a report of your wedding day.
We don’t talk about storytelling when our videos are based solely on the speeches from your evening or your ceremony, or even on a letter exchanged during the preparations, though these are often elements added to the video later.
To tell your story, we need something more: a storytelling session where you talk about a key chapter of your journey that was essential in getting to where you are today.
THE STORYTELLING SESSION TO GIVE MEANING TO YOUR VIDEO
This is during the storytelling session that we explore your story together.
THE PERFECT TIMING FOR THIS SESSION
We recommend doing this storytelling session the day before your wedding or during an engagement session.
Why? To allow you to enjoy your guests more on the wedding day, but also to take more time to express your feelings, provide more context for your video, and go beyond just the scenes from your wedding.
This storytelling session can also take place on your wedding day, after the couple’s session: it usually takes about fifteen minutes so as not to take up too much of your time.
A CUSTOMIZED PREPARATION
It’s important for us to understand who you are as individuals and as a couple to tell your story as faithfully as possible!
To prepare your storytelling session, we will have many discussions beforehand to talk about what you’d like to discuss at that moment, using questionnaires, email exchanges, and possibly video calls.
We’ll share with you what we envision for your video’s storytelling to ensure we’ve understood your love story correctly.
A NARRATIVE STRUCTURE
To tell a story, we often follow narrative rules from cinema or literature. We usually use a simplified narrative structure with an initial situation, a disruptive element, and a resolution. This means that in your wedding and storytelling session audio, we look for elements that posed a challenge and show how you grew stronger as a couple, how your relationship solidified because of these elements.
It’s important for us that you are perfectly comfortable with what will be in the final edit of your video, which is why we communicate a lot before your wedding.
These challenging elements can simply be a misunderstanding at the time of the proposal, a period of long-distance relationship, etc.
They don’t always need to be dramatic, like the death of a loved one or an illness, of course!
To illustrate all these elements of your life, your video will capture not only the key moments of your wedding but also significant moments from your story and events from your entire weekend.
WHAT MY WEDDING FILMS DON’T INCLUDE
We know it’s hard to choose your wedding videographer when it’s your first time getting married and you don’t know the subtleties that differentiate videographers from each other. So, here’s what you won’t find in our wedding videos, to help you make your choice!
- Our wedding films are not documentaries: they are not chronological, and you won’t find two hours of speeches that we recorded. For that, there’s the long version option, the full ceremony video in dual-camera, or the full evening speeches video.
- Our wedding films are not auteur films: We are not fan of big effects everywhere (excessive crossfades, slow motion, unexpected camera movements, ultra-creative framings that have never been seen before).
FIVE QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF TO KNOW IF STORYTELLING IS RIGHT FOR YOU
Here are a few questions to help you identify if you like this style of video and if storytelling is right for you. Only answer after watching one of our videos in full!
You’ll notice in the videos presented on this page that the edits are deconstructed to pace the video, surprise, and break the monotony.
If you felt like stopping it before the end, that’s probably a good indicator that it’s not right for you!
If yes, then that’s a good indicator that you like it!
Our storytelling films last between 3 and 4 minutes, and we also offer a longer video between 12 and 15 minutes, along with the complete video of the speeches and the ceremony… But if you want a one-hour wedding video, Thomas won’t be the right videographer for you!
If yes, then the best way to know if you’ll really like it is to contact me for an in-person discussion!
If you don’t want to share your story but love the style, rhythm, and approach, contact us anyway!
We can also base the video exclusively on your ceremony and evening speeches.
We still look for a common thread but don’t call these videos “storytelling.”
CONCLUSION
You’ve understood that in our videos, the emphasis is on your love story. To better tell these stories, Thomas is not alone: we are two working on the editing, the common thread used, to translate into images the bonds that unite you. Maryem, Heritage Story’s wedding photographer, is with him on each service but also afterward: with her romantic heart and her head full of dreamy stories, she is an indispensable help. Together, we combine our feelings about your story, the ambiance of the day, to create a touching, meaningful wedding video that faithfully represents you.
Are you looking for a photo and video duo for your wedding? Discover Maryem’s light and airy wedding photography approach!