What is Narrative Documentary Wedding Videography?

Reliving a memory and telling a story.

What is Documentary Wedding Filmmaking? 

There’s documentary filmmaking, then theres Narrative Documentary Filmmaking.
A true narrative wedding documentary should focus on your story. Candid moments interwoven with intentional interviews. Or an unobtrusive presence that feels like a “fly-on-the-wall” that lets the moments flow naturally. Building a narrative. Creating a story that goes beyond the wedding. A timeless keepsake that you, friends, family for years and generations to come can watch and get the essence of who you were.

Why the confusion? 

With buzzwords galore it is incredibly hard to discern what each style is. And you might find a style you like and that videographer will call it one thing, and the next another term. Either by earnest intention or simply a misunderstanding, aspirational naming often causes the bulk of the confusion. Videographers wanting to call their videos one thing when they shoot another. 

So what Is a documentary wedding video? 

Documentary means creating a story. But its is often confused with Candid style videography or simply called “documentary” because it has the full ceremony, or vows, mixed in. Run time shouldn't be the hallmark of a documentary style. Story and message are the key elements that create a true documentary. The common confusion is having either:

a) a long runtime, showing the full ceremony and all speeches mashed into the edit.
b) filming a candid style and calling it Docu-style.

Candid vs Documentary

It may seem like a lot of overlap in shooting style, but there are key differences. Primarily, candid is better defined as a shooting style, while documentary is better described as a film style. 

Candid Wedding Videos

Candid wedding videos will focus on the candid moments that are happening during your wedding. This is often overlaid with music and some speeches and causes a lot of the overlap confusion in Candid v. Documentary. Its best defined as a highlight video with candid shooting style. 

Documentary Wedding Videos

Documentary is as author and media analyst Bill Nichols has characterized: "a filmmaking practice, a cinematic tradition, and mode of audience reception [that remains] a practice without clear boundaries". While the boundaries are loose, the key elements in terms of wedding videography are having a story structure and a message. 

Documentary Wedding Videos Or Documentary Wedding Films

Full documentary wedding videos or documentary films can also feel like two names for the same thing. And for general naming they are. Much like saying a “videographer” or a “filmmaker”. Both are making videos at the end of the day. 

A Note on Super 8 styling

Super 8 has emerged over the years and is often thrown into the mix when talking about documentary, candid, or vintage wedding videos. Super 8 is a style of camera and film stock. Made originally by Kodak® back in the 1960’s. When talking in terms of wedding videos, theres usually a lot of confusion and overlap with the “vintage” style. For documentary filmmaking, its often tossed in as a way to bring an “authentic” feel to the video. 

Getting a true Documentary Film

If you want to learn more about crafting and developing a documentary film to tell your story, reach out to us any time!