What’s the Difference Between a Videographer and Video Editor?

What is a Videographer? What Does a Videographer Do?

A videographer is someone who is skilled in the capture of moving images called video. Essentially, a videographer is a cameraman, but the definition of the role has expanded to any skills that are attached to capturing video for a project. This can include staging, lighting, audio pickup mechanics, use of video equipment and various video capture effects for storytelling purposes.

The effects are usually determined by the equipment used by the videographer. They can, for example, use a hand-held camera to achieve a raw, uncontrolled feeling. Or, they can work a fly over with a drone camera. Videographers can also move the camera or stage a scene to effect emotions, the pacing of a story, and even the transition from scene to scene.

What Does a Video Editor Do?

A video editor is someone who is skilled in the creation of video productions. They take all the raw footage from a videographer or client, and work it into a story, a promotional video, commercial or movie. Video editors are skilled storytellers, and in the software side of video creation. They can alter the colors, lighting, apply special effects and animation, as well as edit audio and music. Often the video editor is also highly skilled in the creation of media for multiple platforms being well versed in social media marketing, formats for distribution and data management.

It’s not uncommon for videographers to send footage to a video editor for post production work and distribution. It’s also common for a video editor to hire a videographer and edit their video.

What’s the Difference Between a Video Editor and Videographer?

Essentially, you could think of it in terms of writers.

A journalist, for example, captures the information, conducts interviews and writes the story from the content he’s captured. The editor corrects mistakes, but may also move around paragraphs, adjust grammar, and apply style choices to enhance the story such as subheadings, titles, pictures, graphs, etc.

A videographer and video editor relationship is essentially the same. They are symbotic relationship. Videographers are the artists that capture video. Video Editors are the artists that tell the story from the raw material.

How Do I Know Who to Hire?

It really depends on your goals. If you’re looking to capture great video for your wedding for example, you’ll want a videographer instead of a video editor. The videographer will know how to get the best shots, the best video and the coolest ways to capture your moment. Most wedding videographers also can create a package that includes editing that video into a story or a highlight reel. But, most of what you’re paying for is the time they spend shooting video at your wedding and them going through it all to deliver it to you.

However, say you wanted to promote your business and recorded some of your own video. Well, then, hire an editor to put it together into a final product.

A combination of the two is also possible (and recommended).