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Cutting to music works best when the edit follows the song's structure. Change shots on bars more often than on single beats, save the strongest downbeats for moments like the kiss or the confetti, let speech sections breathe, and use footage shot at 50 or 60 fps for slow motion.
Cutting wedding video to music gives a highlight film its rhythm. The pictures move with the song, the big moments land on the strong beats, and the quiet ones get room. All it takes is a clear idea of how a song is built and a few habits in the edit. This article is part of the complete guide to the wedding highlight film.
What are tempo, beats, bars and phrases?
- Tempo is the speed of the song, measured in beats per minute (BPM).
- A beat is the steady pulse you tap your foot to.
- A bar is a group of beats. Most pop songs have four beats to a bar. Songs in waltz time, which some couples choose for a first dance, have three.
- The downbeat is the first beat of each bar and usually the strongest.
- A phrase is a group of bars, often four or eight, that completes a musical line. Verses and choruses usually start at the beginning of a phrase, which is where the song changes feel.
The length of a beat is simple arithmetic. Divide 60 by the BPM and you have the number of seconds per beat.
| Tempo | One beat | One bar of four beats | Frames per beat at 25 fps |
|---|---|---|---|
| 80 BPM | 0.75 seconds | 3 seconds | 18.75 |
| 100 BPM | 0.6 seconds | 2.4 seconds | 15 |
| 120 BPM | 0.5 seconds | 2 seconds | 12.5 |
Beats don’t always fall exactly on a frame, so snap each cut to the nearest one.
How do you find the beat in a track?
Play the track and tap along. Most editing programs let you add markers while the timeline plays, so press the marker key on each beat, or on each downbeat to start with. Check the markers against the waveform, where drum hits show as sharp peaks, and nudge any that landed late. Mark the start of each phrase in a different colour, because those are the natural places for the film to move from one part of the day to the next.
Should you cut on every beat?
Rarely. At 120 BPM, cutting on every beat means a new shot every half second, which feels frantic and gives the viewer no time to read a face. Cut on the beat, and be choosy about which beats:
- Every bar is the everyday unit. A shot that lasts a bar or two feels calm and still moves with the music.
- Every two beats lifts the energy for a build or the party.
- Every beat works for a short burst of a few shots at the peak of a build, before you return to bars.
- Two bars or more suits portraits, slow motion and anything the viewer needs time to take in.
Vary the rhythm. A film that cuts at the same interval throughout starts to feel mechanical, however precisely it is timed.
When should you hit the downbeat?
Save the strongest downbeats, especially the first beat of a new phrase or the start of a chorus, for the moments that matter most:
- the kiss
- confetti filling the frame
- the couple stepping onto the dance floor, or a lift during the first dance
- a cheer or a raised glass after a speech
- a sparkler exit
Line up the action itself with the downbeat. If the confetti peaks a second into the shot, start the shot a second before the downbeat so the peak lands on it. If every moment hits a big beat, none of them stands out, so keep a few in reserve.
How do you let dialogue sections breathe?
When a vow or a speech line plays, the words take over from the music. Dip the music under the voice, slow the cutting down and let the speech set the timing. Cut in the natural pauses between sentences, hold on the speaker or on the couple’s reaction, and never cut in the middle of a word.
After the line, give it a moment, then bring the music back up on a downbeat or at the start of a phrase so the film picks up again with the song. Using vows and speeches in a highlight film covers choosing the lines, and music for wedding films covers choosing a track with room for them.
How do you get slow motion from high frame rate footage?
Slow motion comes from shooting at a higher frame rate than your timeline and playing every frame back at the timeline’s rate. The playback speed is the timeline frame rate divided by the shooting frame rate.
| Shot at | Timeline | Plays at |
|---|---|---|
| 50 fps | 25 fps | 50% (half speed) |
| 60 fps | 30 fps | 50% (half speed) |
| 60 fps | 24 fps | 40% |
Use it where the music is gentler or the moment needs time, such as portraits, a dress turning, confetti or the first dance. Slowed clips can’t use their own sound at normal speed, so they sit best under music. Slowing ordinary 25 or 30 fps footage repeats frames and tends to look jerky, so decide which moments you want in slow motion before the wedding and set the frame rate then. Camera settings for wedding video has more on choosing frame rates.
What are J and L cuts?
J and L cuts separate the sound edit from the picture edit. They are named after the shape they make on a timeline.
- In a J cut, the sound of the next shot starts before its picture. You hear the officiant begin the vows over the last shot of the guests, then cut to the couple.
- In an L cut, the sound of the current shot carries on after the picture has changed. The best man’s joke runs on over shots of guests laughing.
They are how you reconcile the music and the words. The pictures can keep cutting on the beat while a spoken line plays through the cuts on its own timing.
What order should you work in?
- Choose the track and shorten or extend it on bar lines to fit the film’s length.
- Mark the beats, downbeats and phrase starts.
- Place the key moments on the strongest downbeats.
- Lay in the vow and speech lines, and dip the music under them.
- Fill the gaps with shots cut on bars, cutting faster where the energy rises.
- Watch the whole film at full speed with the sound up, and fix anything that feels early or late.
For how the sections of the day fit together, see how to structure a wedding highlight film. If you start from an AI first cut, making an AI first cut your own covers the adjustments worth making.