How should a bride choose a videographer for her wedding?

Sergey Andreev: To begin with, I advise you to familiarize yourself with the videographer's work. Naturally, the presence of a website, Instagram inspires confidence. It is good when the videographer can be found on different sites - Vimeo, Youtube, Instagram. The more such sources, the better. Pay attention to whether the videographer suits your spirit and temperament. There are many videographers who do their job well, and many have their own style. Someone shoots in a romantic way, someone in a dynamic way - there are many styles. And it's important to figure out what's closer to you. Keep in mind that on the website there are longer videos, with a timing of about 3 minutes. And on Instagram - only one-minute clips, which can be edited even without having enough material. Then you need to contact the videographer, see how the communication will go, and understand if you will be comfortable being with this person during the wedding day. You can ask the videographer all the questions right away and clarify what you want to get in the end. It is great when the bride and groom have wishes on what they want to get at the end of the day. If you ask for the price of the shooting day, immediately specify where the wedding is planned - in Russia or abroad, what will be the number of guests. The cost of work may vary slightly.

When a couple has already decided on a videographer, how does communication proceed? Who comes up with the script, who selects the music?

Sergei Andreev: Most of the clients we work with know our work. We understand what they need. They come to us because they are interested in the projects, they like our style, the way we do it. But we are always happy to have new clients and are ready to go for any experiments, as it is interesting and allows us to develop.

Every wedding is individual, and we try to catch the atmosphere and pass it on to the audience. As a rule, we do not do wedding scripts. However, at some weddings there is no script at all: there is a host, a videographer, a photographer, a banquet hall and an exit ceremony. In this case, as a videographer, I can give recommendations on how to start the morning of the bride and groom and so on. However, despite the fact that all weddings are different, there is a lot of schematic: groom, bride, guests (or lack thereof), off-site registration or registration in the registry office, banquet or buffet, wedding or lack thereof. For each combination we have a scheme, but, of course, the scheme is superficial. When we see an interesting moment at the wedding, we grab it. And of course, do not show in the videos passable moments - a hole in the wall, a drunken guest ... We show the wedding from the artistic side.

What other tips can you give to brides?

Sergei Andreev: I recommend meeting the videographer in person. It's great when you book in advance. If you book a videographer a year, six months in advance, you will get an attractive price and you will definitely find time to meet, talk, come up with an interesting idea for a love story.

Let's talk about music in more detail. You said that you choose the music for the videos yourself.

Sergey Andreev: As a rule, videographers follow their own style and choose music based on it. If you have special requirements to the music, you need to warn them in advance. Sometimes it happens that the client doesn't like the music, the contract stipulates such moments - making corrections. But keep in mind that remounting a video is a huge job. Each fragment of the video is selected in time with the music, each music has an event, development, climax. It's not easy to change the music, otherwise the video will be itself, and the music will be itself.

What is your favorite stage of creating a video?

Sergey Andreev: My favorite stage is when clients write or call and say, “This is awesome! Why so cool!!!”. By the way, this is exactly the kind of message that came from Lyuba Sidorkina. I've never understood clients who, when they receive a finished video, don't write anything. When you see the gratitude from clients, you feel the taste and flavor of a job well done. And of course, if you take the working process itself, I like to shoot. Another very important feeling in the process of work is to realize that the couple is comfortable with you and they want to shoot.

What can you advise a couple to feel more confident in the frame?

Sergey Andreev: Whatever advice you give, everyone will be shy anyway, unless they are models or actors. But it is possible to lower the “threshold of sensitivity”, for example, to conduct pre-shooting, to shoot a love story, to understand how it happens, where to look. Such moments come with experience, and recommendations on the day of the wedding will not be as productive. You can look at magazines, photos, pictures on the Internet - for inspiration. These moments are stored in the head. And I also advise you to start shooting in advance (for example, an hour in advance) on the day of the wedding. The videographer can come when the bride will do hair and makeup to ask questions, to prepare. Both the bride and the photographer need to look at each other, feel for each other. In this case, the result will be better!

Tell us about the wedding of bloggers Lyubov Sidorkina (@lubyatkina) and Igor Oskin (@igor_humor)?

Sergey Andreev: First of all, it was a very interesting experience. It's funny to see dozens, if not hundreds of phones in addition to your camera or another videographer's camera. And these phones require a lot of attention. Guest bloggers were posting a lot of content, you probably remember what was going on in the internet space on the wedding day. That had to be taken into account. Secondly, I made not only a video, but also a vlog-style clip for Lyubov Sidorkina's channel. And this is also an unusual experience for me.

What non-star wedding do you remember?

Sergey Andreev: There were many! For example, the wedding of Stephanie and Samuel, who dreamed of a celebration against the backdrop of the winter Swiss mountains, with local color and in a heartfelt atmosphere. As a result, their wedding was held in the famous ski resort of Switzerland, the city of Zermatt, the backdrop of which is the most famous mountain, the symbol of the country, the Matterhorn. For the photo shoot, the couple went up into the mountains to capture the beginning of their family history against the backdrop of the winter Matterhorn.

How would you describe your style?

Sergei Andreev: Many people call it blockbuster. Although I don't understand why (laughs). I like positivity, movement, but I can not call this style “blockbuster”. Yes, in my videos everything flies, everything moves. For me, professionalism means a well-coordinated team, a quality product, modern technical equipment, clean picture, good color correction (when you can watch the video not only from your phone, but also on a TV screen, and the quality of the picture is not lost). My movies are dynamic love movies. I don't have a lot of tearjerkers. I can do it, but I don't get couples coming to me with such a request. However, I am ready for any suggestions. Perhaps it is you who is waiting for me!