Understanding the Edit

[Christopher Glavan]

I'm just getting into this business, having had no experience with live events. Just shot my first ceremony/reception. What's the best way to go about editing your wedding footage? I'm struggling with what to give my client that they'll be pleased with, but neither of us really has a good idea what that entails. Should I include the raw footage alongside the highlight? Do I pare it down to only the best shots? Any advice/insight/suggestions welcomed.

Thanks!

[John Moon]

Christopher:

I think what you give the client in terms of a finished product kind of evolves as you grow. You will hear short form and long form edits. Some provide just a long form edit, some do a clean up edit of the ceremony and offer a highlight video. Personally, I would not just give raw footage with a highlight. We are evolving into giving a long form edit, which is about 15 to 25 minutes and then a cleanup edit of the entire ceremony. It all depends on how comfortable you are in what you provide.

[Jason Robinson]

Originally Posted by Christopher Glavan

I'm just getting into this business, having had no experience with live events. Just shot my first ceremony/reception. What's the best way to go about editing your wedding footage? I'm struggling with what to give my client that they'll be pleased with, but neither of us really has a good idea what that entails. Should I include the raw footage alongside the highlight? Do I pare it down to only the best shots? Any advice/insight/suggestions welcomed.

Thanks!

It helps if you went over this with the client first. Since I have a system in place, and a common presentation (which some people might call a creative rut... :-), that means my clients know what to expect because I have showed them a few samples.

Also, for me my pricing is based on the final play time (because my time is mostly spent in Post production, for better or worse). So if the client ordered the 30 minute movie, they get a play time of around 30 minutes. If they wanted everything and the kitchen sink, they get more.

I just recently started offering a "Highlights" cut of the wedding, though no paid takers yet. I may end up throwing it in and cutting my final play times a bit. We'll see. It is hard to monkey with packages in the dead time of the year (the dreaded fall booking lull).