Same Day Wedding Edits Can Be The Ultimate Stress

I've been a full time wedding photographer for the last 7 years. I've been in some stressful situations but at this point I'm prepared for almost any situation. Simeon Quarrie, a photographer/videographer promises many of his clients a finished wedding video during the reception the very same day. These same day edits leave no room for error and you can feel the stress yourself just from watching this video.

Lee Morris's picture

Lee Morris is a professional photographer based in Charleston SC, and is the co-owner of Fstoppers.com

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Is that their way of differentiating themselves from other videographers in their market?  I certainly hope they continue to live up to their promise of same-day edits.  All you need is one computer/HDD crash and you'll have a furious bride with possibly a lawsuit on your hands.  Editing is naturally time consuming.  It's either quality or speed.  I don't believe you can have both at the same time.  

I don't think I've met anyone who edits same day and then delivers that as the finished product. I think it's simply supposed to be a quick taste of what is to come. 

That's exactly what i was thinking....i've seen some of Stillmotion's SDE's, and theirs are usually shorter than that....i doubt that was the finished product though, at least i hope not....

And to Michael, i agree about not being able to deliver due to possible equipment issues....i would almost not even MENTION a same day edit in the contract or anything like that, and then try to do the ole "under promise, over deliver" thing, and just blow them away with one...problem is, good luck charging accordingly for the extra help needed, when a SDE "technically" isn't included...

Good comments, Michael, Lee and Nathan. With a wedding, lots can go wrong. A camera can jam, a car can breakdown, you can get robbed...a laptop can crash...

With any live project, something can go wrong.  Yet we still sign contracts that promise we will deliver a level of result on a wedding. In this case we lost 3hrs of editing time due to hiccups from another vendor. You simply have to explain to the clients prior to the day that there is no certainty. Create a separate SDE product price, so if something went wrong, you wouldn't be liable for the entire package. 

I wonder if they'll ever get hit with dcma notice on music

I'm hoping that the music was from a music site and paid for. Or, that the Simeon happens to have good connections with music artists. (Especially considering the irony it would be that the newest article about this is talking about someone stealing his work.) I would think he has to have permission to use this music because it would be a HUGE risk using it on such a public site. Does anyone know what music site Simeon used to get his music? I would love to know as it is very hard to find current, catchy music for videos.

Simeon very kindly responded to me on another post that things work a bit differently in the UK, and he went through the proper channels to use the song he did. So, now I'll just sit back and be jealous. :)

I say that people who can create SDES are the THE TRULY TALENTED ONEs!!! Yes, that's how they make a BIG DIFFERENCE! Creating SDEs is a BIG risk but ALL the BADASS ONES are the RISK-TAKERS anyway! ;-) Kudos to you Simeon!!! I know someone who created a Gangnam "Same-Day-Edit" and you could just see the reaction of their clients: https://vimeo.com/52914851

I think that is RAD!  And they are going to win over a lot of brides hearts!  

Congratulations to the bride and groom.. As for the production team, you guys are brilliant.. 
** standing ovation **

Being a wedding cinematographer myself, I do offer the option of a SDE. About 50% of my clientele are South Asian. When it comes to South Asian weddings, they have to have the biggest and baddest thing, to out do the wedding last weekend. Money really isn't an issue, even though they will still haggle you ;). I make sure though, that when I do sell a SDE, that I am getting a good chunk of money to make it worth my while. It is the most stressful day of your life. I do inform my clients though that it may not be an option for them to have a SDE if there isn't enough time from the end of the ceremony to the time in which the film will be played at the reception. For me I require at least 5 hours. Other competitors will require as little as 3 hours.

In my opinion I wasn't a fan of the SDE that this team put together, but I still do congratulate them for telling a story still and making the deadline.  @michaelk81:disqus Indeed it is just a teaser. The client will receive more edited films.

Can you link to one of your wedding videos.

tallproductions.com

The guys at Stillmotion really make it look like a walk in the park with SDEs.

Absolutely incredible. Kudos to the production team for being able to put together a nice same day edit in the midst of everything. 

I had a tripod ballhead that was getting stiff and squeeky like in the video. I used pencil lead on it: worked perfectly and probably lasts longer than hot water, without attracting dirt.

Thats a major task taking up on that! 1 hour of edit. Stressful indeed. 

/ <a href="http://zayaphotography.com/" rel="nofollow">Carlos Zaya Photography</a> 

My video guys did a same day edit for my wedding, well not really same day, but my wedding was over 3 days, so on the 3rd day they played a 2 - 3minute movie from the previous 2 days. Was stunning, and because it got shared a lot on FB etc, generated a lot of business for them. Plus its something that does you over until the full movie is ready

Someone please call the webmaster of this cool site. Look what we got instead header of post http://prntscr.com/9j757 

It's very common to edit and also showcase during the wedding banquet night in Most South East Asian Country.

It seems very intrusive having that amount of crew at a wedding.

3 is our normal crew size for video and five when we are doing photo two. I decided to increase the size of the team to 4 opfor video here. Its not unusual for Indian weddings where guest number 400+. It also ads to the glitz of the event for that community. With a wedding of 100 the approach would likely be different.

I worked second shooter with someone who did this during the reception. It made me nervous to expose my work prior to having a chance at it but it had a huge impact for the guests to see images from the same day.

Amazing job to get that done, but having shot over 200 weddings over the years I could feel the stress coming out of me just watching it!!

So...is it ok to now use licensed copyright music in wedding videos?

There are a number of sites dedicated to videographers where you can license music for around $50-$90 per use. Stillmotion uses withetiquette a lot and themusicbed is another great one.
Amazingly stressfull day! But the achievement and the reward seem worth it, great job!

True, Kyron - however, the music on those sites, that you can license, is generally from unsigned artists.   Major label music simply isn't available to license for wedding videos, or photographer websites, yet we see it time and again.  Kind of annoys me since as a breed we photographers are hot on copyright.

I can't imagine doing this. It's stressful enough just shooting a wedding.

I massive thanks to Fstoppers for posting my video! this was the first time we did this. we haven't done it again, but we definitely would.

Brilliant. Nothing short of.

With all the variables and 'unknowns' that could take place... These guys are great.

these guys do same day edit in my area...they also travel the world. 
http://www.marronevideo.com/

WOW !

WOWOWOWWWWOOOWWWW!!!! GENIUS!!!!!!!  I AM TOTALLY BLOWN AWAY!!!! AMAZING!!!   

have to watch it again!!!!!  :)

Lol glad u liked it.

Hey guys, FANTASTIC job. I have never tried a SDE for videography, though I know it takes me much more than 3 hours to put together a string of clips to music in my studio. Keep the the great work. It was excellent to see everything that goes into it.

Same here. This Isn't quite same standard as a shortfilm created in a day or two.

Here in the Phlippines, SDE is a normal part of the wedding videographer package. I hardly know any videographer that does not offer it. And production efforts are far more complicated, cranes are a normal thing (We use a KC12 with Revolution Head) and some already offer aerial shots. Ive been doing SDEs since december when I joined a fantastic studio as the steadicam operator and SDE editor/video team lead as I familarize myself with the workflow, it is starting to get easier..but of course something might always go wrong. Some suggestions to lessen the stress of doing SDEs. USE FCPX! Its freakin fast and in SDEs, speed is everything. From keyword collecton for quick organization, to thumbnail scrubbing, to super fast exports..theres no better option..other than maybe PPro CS6. But still, FCPX is faster. Here are our videos by the way: https://vimeo.com/qbetastudios/videos

You guys over there are head of the pack always

So you can render and burn a 5 minute DVD in 20 minutes? I really need a new computer.

No photographer should be subjected to this.

Lol

That is Ba NaN Nas...  Same day edit of an Indian wedding!?!   Bonkers 

How are you able to use the Usher song without copyright infringement?

I am in the UK. Copyright for our productions is a little different. Been on the phone to the authorities in the UK this week. Its really complicated!

I can't find anything in the UK copyright rules that allow this. In fact, UK guidelines seem even stricter than here.

http://www.videoforums.co.uk/wedding-event-videography/19485-music-copyr...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/filmmaking/guide/before-you-start/music...

You should consider using Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5 or CS6 for Same Day Edits since you dont have to compress the files before you can use them and it doesnt crash as often. 
Before any fanboys jump in, I use both FCP and APP. 

Very true. Thought fcpx would be even better now for putting something together quickly

This gives me nightmares.

there must be something wrong with me.... I thrive on the adrenaline and challenge of a wedding shoot...... don't really get nervous, just make sure I am prepared and approach it with a sense of adventure.... maybe I should reevaluate myself?  I really think its a lot of fun actually... :/

I agree with concerns folks brought up with same day edit, but I believe a dedicated team of professionals can pull this off well. In this case Simeon and his team had a solid plan and executed very well.

Kudos to him and his team!

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