Why You Should Select a Filmmaker That Shoots in 4K

Your wedding day will be the most romantic day of your life, a glorious page right out of a fairytale! Your wedding day will hold a multitude of memories that you will hold near and dear for generations to come. While every moment and a glimpse into the happenings of your day can fade through the years, quality wedding albums ensure that you always remember the details. The way your floral hair accessories bloomed, the way your grandparents danced, the perfect example of the forever kind of love, and the way your partner’s eyes couldn’t hide that sparkle when you walked down the aisle, these are all gemstones of memories you want to have and hold forever; a well-made wedding film preserves just that.

While we know it is no easy feat, to be responsible for capturing a larger-than-life moment, it’s important to take time as you choose the person who can do the job justice. That entails doing the research and hiring a filmmaker who has the talent and the creative eye, is great to work with, and most importantly, shoots in 4K. Memories can get fuzzy, your wedding album doesn’t have to. A wedding filmmaker who shoots in 4K is essentially capturing your magical day in the highest quality possible and has all of the tools to best capture your special day. While it might seem obvious, not every wedding filmmaker out there is well-equipped to shoot weddings in 4K. So it might be great to first understand what it means to shoot in 4K.

Understanding 4K

High-definition (HD) video with a 4K resolution has four times the resolution of HD video at 1080p. With a 4K video, there are two common resolutions that you can choose from. 4096×2160 pixels is the Digital Cinema Initiatives specification for 4K resolution in the video and film industry and the 3840×2160 pixel 4K resolution is standard for televisions and displays. The bandwidth needed for 4K adaptive bit rate streams ranges from 10 Mbps to 20 Mbps. A 4K TV or monitor is necessary to view material with this resolution. The camera gears necessary for shooting 4K also have to match certain specifications. It needs to be able to capture a resolution of 3840×2160 pixels or more. It will also need 1,024 shades of each of the three primary colors which can be achieved with a 10-bit color depth. It will also need a high dynamic range (HDR) for accurate color and peak brightness and black level combination that is greater than 1,000 nits peak brightness and less than 0.05 nits, or greater than 540 nits peak brightness and less than 0.0005 nits black level.

As you can see from the specifications, your wedding photographer will need the correct gear to be able to shoot in 4K. 4K UHD is a relatively newer quality of videography and isn’t necessarily offered by all wedding videography companies. Check with your wedding videographer if you have experience with shooting in 4K technology and if they can show you their work. If the expectations are matched, you can go forward and hire them for your big day.

How is 4K Better?

• Higher Resolution: 4K translates to four times the resolution of standard HD video, which means you get to experience a much sharper and more detailed video. While this may feel like something which is not of great importance, this can be significantly important if you plan on displaying your video on a large screen like a projector or as a personal screening for friends and family after the big day. This will surely make your viewing experience much more amplified.

• Future-proofing: Choosing 4K means you are shooting with the future in mind. Technologies evolve and become obsolete in no time. While 4K video is still not quite as widely used as HD, it is becoming more and more common, which means it will be much more prevalent in the coming years. By shooting in 4K now, you are future-proofing your content and ensuring that it will still look great even as technology continues to advance. Your future self will be immensely happy when you don’t have to battle with technology to watch your wedding film a few decades down the lane.

• Better color and dynamic range: Shooting with a 4K camera offers better color depth and dynamic range than their HD counterparts. This means you get to experience more detail in both the brightest and darkest parts of your footage, as well as more accurate and vivid colors. You will be able to view the vibrant colors of your carefully selected wedding flowers, table setting, and overall color theme in the most beautiful way, and all the months of your extensive wedding planning will bear results and be depicted beautifully in your wedding film.

• Higher quality look: True, a wedding video is precious regardless of the quality, but something about the high quality of shooting in 4K can help give your video a more polished and professional look. This will age well over time and will be great to watch even when you are 70 and with your grandkids or showing it to your friends and family who weren’t able to attend the wedding. The higher quality of the video will make it easier to share!

Your wedding videos are not just a fond memory, but treasured family heirlooms that will tell your beautiful tale forever. It is the wide smile on your face as you look right into the camera, the carefully curated table arrangements, the sassy signage, and the funny groomsmen dance which make your wedding uniquely “you.” While wedding photography has an equally massive role to play, it’s in the videos that you get to really relive the moment. Investing in the best quality available with 4K videos is something that you will never regret. When it comes to choosing the perfect person for the job, don’t hold back. Here at ByDesign Films, we feel wedding day memories are more precious than gold, and capturing them is not just our expertise, but our privilege. When choosing us as your preferred 4K filmmakers, you’re choosing experience and expertise reflected perfectly into timeless memories.