Videography refers to the process of capturing moving images on electronic media (e.g., videotape, hard disk, or solid state storage, streaming media). The term includes methods of electronic production and post production. It is the equivalent of cinematography, but with images recorded on electronic media instead of film stock.
The word combines "video" from Latin, meaning "I see" or "I apprehend", with the Greek terminal ending "graphy", meaning "to write". Its contemporary sense is rooted in an article titled "Videography: What Does It All Mean?" (American Cinematographer, October 1972).
The advent of digital imaging in the late 20th century began to blur the distinction between videography and cinematography.
The videography market has grown to include distribution as well as production. With this growth has come market segmentation, based on the application: event video, corporate video, broadcast video, etc.
The advent of the Internet has created a global environment where videography covers many more fields than just shooting video with a camera. Included under the videography umbrella are digital animation (such as Flash), gaming, web streaming, video blogging, still slideshows, remote sensing, spatial imaging, medical imaging, and in general the production of most bitmap- and vector-based assets. As the field progresses videographers may produce their assets entirely on a computer without ever involving an imaging device, using software-driven solutions. Moreover, the very concept of sociality and privacy are being reformed by the proliferation of cell-phone video cameras, which are spreading at an exceptional rate in industrialized societies.
A videographer may be the person actually operating the camera or he or she may be the person in charge of the visual design of a production (the latter being the equivalent of a cinematographer).
Videography also refers to the compiling of an artist's music videos or video releases (compare with "filmography" or "discography").
