my first SDE, went great!

I did my first SDE today and Im so happy how it turned out all considering. I've uploaded it without any tweaks just as I showed it at the reception.

Hope you like it!

Will+Melissa Same Day Edit (my first) on Vimeo

[Lindsey Daugherty]

I can't believe no one has commented on this yet, sheesh this part of the forum seems dead.

I have yet to attempt an SDE so I can only imagine the pressure involved. Did you go in with a plan (timeline laid out, song chosen) or just put together the footage that you liked on the spot?

Here are my thoughts:

- I know a lot of people love to show the venue preps, but some things I question the value of in relation to the story. Like, you open the video with a guy hosing off the chairs which is a little weird. I mean, I understand the reason to use it as an establishment shot but I think you could have gotten away with opening with the welcome sign. Also, I liked the shots that followed but am intrigued by the bags they were putting on the chair and wish you had a closeup of that.

- I really liked the shot of the dress hanging, stunning.

- Seemed like the photographer got in your way a few times =/.

- Cute ring shot! Kudos for doing something other than rolling them.

- I didn't care much for the rotating steadicam shot @_@.

- Favorite part of the film is when everyone walks by the brick wall - awesome! Did you direct them to do that, or was it something they did themselves en route somewhere?

- Really enjoyed the closing shots, too.

I'm sure it was really well received at the reception! Good job!

[Michael Simons]

Lindsey reall hit up on all the great insight. I really enjoyed your film and agree with Lindsey on those same points.

[David Schuurman]

Thanks guys!

Wow Lindsey, what an excellent critique! Thank you.

If I'm honest with myself I started with the venue prep shots because it was the first time in my shooting schedule at a wedding when I was able to shoot the venue prep stuff. I've always thought that some people overuse venue prep footage and I want them to just get on with it! But I found it to be an easy way to ease the viewer into the body of the day, and since i was on a tight schedule easy is best! :)

I did go into it with a song in mind, I thought long and hard about where I wanted to put things, and I knew that I'd be including their vows and letter readings but I wasn't really sold on anything until the day. I would say with the exception of the song, everything was chosen on the spot.

You know, unlike alot of people on this board I'm not too concerned if the photographer is in my shots. As long as the action I'm shooting isn't blocked it's not a huge concern of mine. However I know that when she saw the video that night she was pretty embarrassed that she appeared in it and came over apologizing profusely haha.

The wall shot was set up by me. It was when the photographer was fiddleing around with another setup so I utilized the time. I just said for the guys to walk by looking suave and then "do something, anything" and the girls to skip by looking cute then "do something, anything" lol. It worked well and I think maybe I'll try it again sometime.

glad you liked the end shots! that whole ending sequence was shot offsite and we came back to the house, dropped the shots in, and 20 minutes later showed the SDE, it was touch and go for a minute there.

In the end I'm SO happy I managed to do it and they were ecstatic so I guess I did my job. The thing that made me nervous was that they had a close friend in their bridal party who had a very good SDE done for their wedding and they showed it to me as an example of the quality they were looking for and I believe that I exceeded it, so good stuff all around. I suggest doing one ;)

[Art Varga]

David - awesome job!.I did my first SDE a few months ago and have a new appreciation for what it takes to pull these off. How much total editing time did you end up having?.

Art

[Long Truong]

Congratulations on the first SDE David!

How did you enjoy the challenge/stress? I've done about ten SDE's so far and I still get very nervous every single time. It's really something you're not allowed to screw up and you constantly have the clock racing with you but the result is always so overwhelming and rewarding.

How many shooters were you and what did you shoot with? Your techniques seem pretty neat. Mind sharing a quick overall workflow?

Some little comments:
- Watch out for your own shadow (rotating steadicam shot)

- Great steadicam shot around the tree near the end

- I love the camera movement at 1:08 when the mother was helping her with the dress (technically). But at the same time, that same camera movement made the shot seem a bit awkward because I think it'd normally be more suitable if we were actually following a conversation and the camera simply follows the person who's talking. However, the audio at that part was a bit messy and since we can't really hear the conversation properly, the camera movement seemed a bit out of place for that reason.

- Same with the movement at 1:13, when the mother says "I love you from your head to your toes", you cut it so short that I couldn't see what you were filming in the beginning before the camera moved up to their faces. I had to pause it and click back to see that she was handing her a gift. It feels like you weren't ready for that scene and tried to capture it on the fly. If that was really the case, I'd suggest to cut out the beginning part and let the audio track play first, and then cut the visuals in when the camera's already on their faces.

- Last thing, of course, is the lack of time for color correction and grading. But that is also something I have such a hard time with when I do SDE's so I'm still in the process of finding a way to edit faster to give myself time to play with colors.

Keep it up!

[David Schuurman]

Art,
I started editing at 3 and got several hours in, then I shot a bunch more and then edited for 20 minutes and then showed the piece.

Long,
I loved it! The pressure was a good motivator and I dont think there's any better feeling than showing the video to everyone. WOW, I was seriously beaming.

There were 3 of us, one who has shot with me since the beginning of the year and another who I'd never used before.

Your comments are noted, some excellent observations that I will pay more attention to in the future.