Same Day Edit Tips

[Jordan Meserole]

Hey gang. I've got a wedding coming up with my first same day edit. (Bride wants some highlight footage shown about midway through the reception)

I've done some searching on the archives, but mostly only found posts where photogs were showing off their same day edit stuff, and not actually discussing how they went about it or little things that helped them be successful at pulling it off.

So I wanted to see if any of you that have done same day edits have any tips...

Here's my game plan: (Tell me if I have some major flaw in it)

-I've pre-shot some footage with the bride and groom during their engagements and bridals. I'll use some of that footage to build a basic skeleton, and leave blanks for the day-of stuff (like hair and makeup, putting on the tux, walk down the aisle, etc). I've got two shooters plus myself to edit, and once we get the necessary footage, I grab to run edit while my shooters stick around to keep filming the other stuff (in case something neat happens). I'll basically have the footage done except for the march and first kiss, which I can drop in when my shooters arrive at the reception location. I'll be plugged in straight to a television system from my computer, so once it's rendered, all I have to do is playback.

Anyhoo, again just looking for tips that you guys have.

Thanks.

[Kelly Langerak]

I too was asked to do this.

Rendering and playing out to a TV is a great idea.

What equipment do you need to make this happen or what do you use to do same day edits.

How many videographers are on site? What do you charge for this? How long is the scene?

Thanks!

[Jordan Meserole]

Kelly-

I know we're both looking for tips from some that have done multiple S.D.E., but here's how I approached it (to answer your questions, from the rookies perspective):

"What equipment do you need..." -- I'm taking my Mac tower with me. I know some jaws will probably drop reading that, but I don't have a laptop yet. I'm pretty much setting up a mini-editing suite where the reception is being held, and where I can plug into the TV system (there are about 10 TV's in this reception hall). I figure if I'm going on the fly, I better use what I'm familiar with. Plus, as I said, unless someone has a laptop with FCP they'd be willing to loan me for a weekend, I'm dragging my system up there.

"How many videographers are on site?" -- I'm going with two. I figure I'm using the same footage that I've used in montages before, it's just done on a time crunch. I've hired a second shooter since I'll be parked at the computer most of the time.

"What do you charge for this?" -- I just factored everything in. Cost of a second shooter. Cost to rent a third camera (I use one of my cameras as a deck with my computer...so obviously it can't be tied up shooting if I'm ingesting footage). Cost of stress. Cost of hauling my computer system up there. I know pricing is different everywhere, so I'd just say do what you think is fair for your efforts. The way I see it is that I don't want to discount my price just to have a S.D.E. in my portfolio.

"How long is the scene?" -- I'm going to make it as long as my other montages -- about 3-5 minutes. In the news business, you'll notice most stories are 1-3 minutes long. This isn't just because they have a lot of news to squeeze in, but because you also have to boil down 30-45 minutes of footage in a short amount of time (we're talking 2 hour or less turnaround). As I said in my first post, I'll have some of the skeleton already built from engagements/bridals, so I'm figuring that I'll just be missing about 1 1/2 - 2 minutes of footage.

But again, I haven't even done my first S.D.E. yet. So this might just all be wishful guessing. Waiting for any of you other S.D.E. pros to chime in here... ;)

[Johannes Soetandi]

Saw this thread from way back. A really good read for me although I'm still far off from doing an SDE. Let us know how you went! :)

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/wedding-...ps-tricks.html

[Jordan Meserole]

Johannes -- thank you! Apparently you have better searching skills than I do...either that or more patience to dig through all the old threads. If you didn't live a thousand miles away, I'd give you a high five.

Definitely some good tips in that thread.

I think I still way off from being able to do a S.D.E. too, but I'm going to give it my best. It's next weekend, so I'll be sure to post a link a few days after the wedding and let you know how it went (that is, if I just don't make a huge mess out of the video. Ha!)

[Susanto Widjaja]

Hi guys, let me take a bit of credit by saying that I started that thread! lol just kidding..

That thread has certainly given me a lot of tools to go and start my SDE journey. I have now done around 10 SDEs and am enjoying it more than ever!

Some tips that I gathered during my experience is:

PLAN YOUR WORKFLOW
have a set time of when you want to transfer cards/tape and convert your footage to whatever format if you need to. You need to make super sure that all the footage are ready to be edited by certain time.

REVISE FOOTAGE EVERY NOW AND THEN
just have a chat with your second camera every now and then to know what he has shot and for him to tell you what he thinks that is the good shots from what he took. This will get you some heads up of what to expect from his footage.

PLAN YOUR EDIT
just have a brief storyboard of where you want to insert things on the song.. but not too strict on it at the same time.. its all about creativity on the fly anyways..

ALWAYS TEST THE PROJECTOR/DVD WITH SOUND BEFORE GUESTS COME IN
I have got my share of bad experience with this issue so videographer beware!

AIM TO FINISH SOONER THAN YOUR SHOWTIME
usually you'll finish a bit later, so its good to give you some leeway.

BRING EXTRAs
bring extra dvds just in case...
bring extra DVI to VGA connector
bring extra adapters e.g. 3.5mm jack to rca, rca to whatever whatever... just in case..
bring extra card readers
bring headphones..

DON'T SHOW YOUR SDE TOO LATE
cause people will get drunk by then... 10pm is the latest really...

I hope that was useful for you as it was for me :)

Santo

[Kelly Langerak]

I passed on doing it. It isn't time for me yet.

[Jordan Meserole]

Okay, so here it is. This is what I was able to put together for the same day edit for the May 22 wedding.

The ceremony ended at roughly 5:10, and we aired this at roughly 7:10 at the reception.

Elisha + Jarrad Same Day Edit Montage on Vimeo

)

So I'll go ahead and answer any questions that already might be popping up in your head...

--No, this hasn't been touched up since that evening. This is the exact video that ran at the reception.
--Obviously the first 1:20 or so was done prior to the wedding day...but the guests didn't know that ;)
--There are pictures included because I've started teaming up with a local photographer...we've pretty much been selling ourselves as a package deal (or he does the selling since brides typically talk to him first). It's actually worked out a lot better than we had imagined it would. (Which is why he gets a "JP Beato" credit in the beginning...if you were wondering why there were two production credits)

But otherwise, any other thoughts or comments are always welcome!

Thanks guys for the help in getting ready for it!

[Roger Van Duyn]

Very nice work Jordan! I'm sure the happy couple loved it. And you are obviously in good standing with the Padre at the church, since you were able to set up a camera behind the alter! Not many churches around here go for that!

Good for you! I like your style.