Raw footage/ Videographer question

This was not our experience. Our raw footage was the same amount of time the videographers were shooting. I would ask them to explain their definition of “raw footage”. And if they still insist they will only have one to two hours of footage after being there for eight hours, I would probably go with another videographer. Or, at the very least, have them justify exactly why you are paying for eight hours of video coverage, if they are only going to be videotaping 1 to 2 hours.

Is the 8 hours meant to cover their entire shift, so you’re paying for 8 hours of their time, not 8 hours of shooting? Especially if your ceremony and reception are in different locations, they would have to do setup/breakdown twice and then the meal break. That still seems to be a large gap, but maybe they’re thinking the ceremony and important moments like first dance, toasts, etc will be edited together in a short film so they’re not counting those as part of the raw film? I would definitely follow up and find out what they’re counting those hours toward and what they mean when they say 2 hours of raw footage takes 8 hours to tape.

I'd agree to ask for clarification on what the 6-7 hours not captured would include. I would guess that they just wouldn't include things like waiting for everyone to be seated, everyone eating, and other pockets of downtime. However, if you're paying for 8 hours of continuous coverage, the raw footage should be for roughly 8 hours, give or take for set up, breaks, etc.