Everyone has a phone and a boundless array of apps these days, so what are my top 10 apps for a wedding videographer?
This list is neither exhaustive, well informed or particularly novel. You may well already use all of these or none, or something better, but these are what work for me. What will become immediately apparent is that they are not all about filming, in fact, only three of them help with planning filming. The rest are equally important to the full process of providing a wedding videography service. Which other apps do you find useful?
(Headings are hyperlinked, even if they don’t look it)
Evernote
This is my brain dump. Essentially it is a note taking app, but it allows divisions into separate notebooks and notes, along with integrations for browsers and phone cameras. So from a wedding videographer point of view; I create a new folder for each client and put everything to do with them in there, from contracts to running orders to music choices. I may collate all of this content on the desktop version but can access if all on my phone, so if I need to look up any details for a wedding coordinator when I arrive at a venue, sorted.
It’s also useful for learning. Rather than trying to bookmark interesting articles or videos, Evernote usually allows you to save them from browser or phone with click. You can tag posts which makes searching easy i.e. colour grading, venues, etc.
Dropbox/ Google Drive
I’d advise everyone using cloud drives for their general documents but for my purposes, it allows me to do things like share photos saved to my computer to Instagram, but I also save all my Premiere Project Files in the cloud, to avoid any data loss (which is the nightmare scenario for any wedding videographer)
Cadrage
If you want to do a quick shot recce before you get the kit out of the bag, then this app is great. Bang in your camera and lenses and it gives you a representation on your phone screen. It is much more useful for commercial work, especially location scouting, but it can be useful to the wedding videographer for choosing a lens without having spend time heaving them around first.
Suncalc (iOS or web browser)
Light is our paint. Knowing what direction that will be coming from and when it will be coming is awfully useful. It means that when I arrive at a location, even if it is dull and overcast, if the weather forecast is set to brighten up, I’ll be able to recce good locations for golden hour.
DarkSky (iOS/ Android) / BBC Weather (iOS / Android)
Knowing what the weather is up to is important for any wedding videographer. Dark Sky gives hyper local data so If I need to know when it is going to rain, or stop raining, in the precise location in which I am working, it does it. I always cross reference against BBC Weather for accuracy.
FreeAgent ( iOS / Android )
Creatives aren’t typically much inclined to the wonders of administration and accounting. I have spent my time in the salt mines of excel cashbooks and profit/loss statements. Well FreeAgent basically makes it incredibly easy to manage your accounts, as the programme integrates with your bank account and you just add a description for all the transactions. Cash receipts can be scanned (which is key because receipts are basically cash). You can, though I haven’t attempted it yet, submit your tax return through the programme as well.
Google Analytics (iOS / Android)
Websites are your shopfront. You need to know what people are looking at in your shop, who sent them there, how long they stayed and what they last looked at before they left. If you’re getting really into it, you’ll want to measure your funnel from total visitors through to those completing a booking form or contact form.
Musicbed (iOS / Android)
So far this is the best stock library I have found. It gets really pricey if you’re editing a track for a large commercial company but for weddings it is the same price as most other providers. The quality of the music on offer is simply superb though, with Tony Anderson being the big daddy of the pack. As with most of the libraries, you can save playlists of tracks you have found. With Musicbed, you can listen to all these playlists while you’re in the car or walking the dog, which means the process of getting the feel for the right track is made far more easy. More importantly, you can make the playlists available to listen to offline, rather than chewing through your data.
Google Maps ( iOS / Android )
Simply put, weddings involving multiple locations can be a nightmare to plan. Time spent in reconnaissance is seldom wasted and all that. I ask for postcodes in my wedding info form and plot them into my google maps on my desktop, then on the day, I have a pocket reference to get me where i need to go, to let me know deadlines for moving to next location etc.
RingGo ( iOS / Android / Blackberry / Windows )
Once Google Maps has got you to where you need to be, chances are you’ll 1.) need to find a parking space if you haven’t already arranged something; and 2.) pay for it. In Edinburgh, as in most places, pay and display machines rule. In this era of contactless payment, actually carrying cash is pretty rare so having coins for the meter is a pain. RingGo app allows you to pay using your card, via the app. What is more, it emails you the receipt for uploading to FreeAgent and if the ceremony is overrunning a bit, you can extend the parking in a couple of swipes.
* * *
Now, I have not been incentivised or sponsored for promoting any of the above, mores the pity. I am writing this purely to share the apps which I have found useful in the pursuit of a stress free, creative process. However, should you wish to petition the companies above and insist they shower me with riches, crack on with my blessing.
Failing all that, if you’d like to contribute to our livelihood yourselves, and receive a priceless memento of your wedding day in return, get in touch today.
