Videographers Vs. Cinematographers

Videographers and cinematographers are both jobs that use cameras to record videos, which they then try to edit to show narrative. But videographers and cinematographers have very different scopes. 

Videographers record an event, usually one that is corporate or personal. Their reputation makes them mainly engaged in wedding work, but other works (such as TV campaigns or commercials) may have videographers. Videographers usually record with a digital camera and work alone or with a small crew. Videographers have to handle the sound, lighting, and editing with only their small team. Nobody directs them, but they usually operate under strict time constraints and resources. 

Cinematographers work on creating scenes for big productions. It could be for a movie, a TV series, or a documentary. Cinematographers in the past worked with actual film reels, but because of the high quality of digital cameras, modern movies typically use specialized digital cameras. Cinematographers work under a director who calls for specific shots or tries and sets a tone to follow. Cinematographers work with big teams that follow ideas set by a director and producer. This team is filled with different kinds of workers, from camera operators to sound designers. They may suggest some scenes to the director. They, however, are not usually involved with the actual film editing. 

The confusion on what differs between these two terms has started because of three things. First, the advent of the DSLR, or digital single-lens reflex camera, has made it much easier to record cinematic videos. While these cameras are not as powerful or have as many features as cameras movies use, the resulting videos are similar. Most movies now use digital cameras to record scenes, which causes some videographers to say that they are also cinematographers. And the last reason is that the term videographer has long been associated with poorly shot wedding videos, meaning most videographers don’t want to be associated with that term either. 

So a big difference between videographers and cinematographers is that most videographers work with a small set of people, sometimes even just themselves, for a small production that they record. They usually don’t have anyone directing them. They are the ones who edit the videos, and they are solely responsible for what gets into the video. 

Cinematographers, on the other hand, work with directors to make entertainment. They work with big teams who handle the actual cameras, lights, and other elements that complement the video. They try to film scenes that will follow specific guidelines and have the freedom to suggest scenes that follow these guidelines. They don’t edit the film, as that job belongs to the post-production crew. 

Both jobs record videos, but while a videographer handles the whole process of creating a video, cinematographers work with a big team to film scenes, not create a video.

Citations:

5 major differences between cinematography and Videography. Chennai's Visualite Film Institute. (2020, October 17). Retrieved October 28, 2021, from http://www.courseschennai.in/blog/5-major-differences-between-cinematography-and-videography/. 

Bjohnson. (2018, August 10). Videography vs cinematography: The differences between the two services. Lido Live. Retrieved October 28, 2021, from https://www.lidolive.com/videography-vs-cinematography/. 

Romano , F. (2013, January 22). The difference: Videography vs. cinematography. Videographer. Retrieved October 28, 2021, from https://vanillavideo.com/articles/difference-videography-cinematography/. 

Videography vs. cinematography | comparison guide | adobe. Adobe. (n.d.). Retrieved October 28, 2021, from https://www.adobe.com/sea/creativecloud/video/discover/videography-vs-cinematography.html.