Spinning Leaf Films and I only began our journey together the second half of 2011. We threw ourselves head first into the lair of the beast known as the Same Day Edit. And here is the list of lessons learned, some with pleasure, some with pain.

Marketing Lessons
1. Film reaction footage! Showing the crowd reactions to the SDEs is an amazing sales tool. The bride and groom during our One World Theatre Wedding SDE were streaming tears as they watched the video we put together for their reception. That’s powerful!
2. Send a follow up e-mail to the bride and groom. Thank them for allowing you to be a part of their day, and then add how they can support you. Yelp reviews, writing testimonials for your website or LinkedIn, sharing the video on their Facebook, etc. Don’t overwhelm them, but be honest about how they can help out your business.
3. Post the SDE video online AS SOON AS POSSIBLE after the wedding. Everyone that was at the wedding is still reeling from the live SDE reveal, and everyone that missed the big day is dying to see footage from it. Thus, unleash the video and watch the social media explosion.
4. Speaking of social media, use it! Spinning Leaf uses Vimeo, Twitter, and Facebook.

Technical Lessons
1. Always test the projector at the venue, with the complete video and audio setup. Once you get it working: unplug the laptop, reset everything, and make sure you can get it to work again.
2. Mac laptops play HD videos better then PC laptops. But they aren’t as friendly with projectors (You not only need a special adapter but we’ve had issues with keeping the projector screen as the 2nd display. Yes, that was an awful, during-the-reception experience). We ended up switching to a media player that plays the video off a USB stick.
3. When coordinating with the venue, list all your requirements for both showing the video AND housing your equipment and your editor. As the SDE editor, the three things I alway desire are 1) outlets 2) drinking water 3) close-by bathroom. A comfortable chair and table of a reasonable size and height are an excellent addition too.

We’ve just started. Looking forward to 2012!!

One awesome benefit of being a contract editor is that I have the freedom to work remotely a lot. What I look for in a place to work is the overall atmosphere (not too loud and comfortable furniture.), the quality/price of food & drinks, the accessibility of power plugs (always need outlets for my external hard drives), and the availability of WiFi. These are the places in (South & Central) Austin I find myself working over and over again.

I’d love to hear suggestions of other places in Austin! Or, if you don’t live in Austin, where do you like to work where you live? What do you look for when you go out to work somewhere?

1. The Hideout Coffeehouse, 617 Congress Ave (Downtown)

• Atmosphere: Dive bar, down-to-earth. Music playing, light chit-chat. Gets way louder after 5pm. Furniture is worn and pretty comfortable.
• Drinks: Delicious coffee. Try El Pachon light roast (~$1.50) or the Vanilla Lattes (~$3.50).
• Eats: Torchy’s Breakfast tacos in mornings.
• Outlets: All over, including power strips. The long orange bench requires crawling on the floor to access the outlets under it.
• WiFi: Free, spotty at times but overall good. The router is in the back next to the bookshelf, so I get the best connection when I sit closer to it.

2. Opa!, 2050 S Lamar Blvd (South Lamar & Oltorf)

• Atmosphere: Used to be coffee and wine bar, so still has that vibe despite the recent upscale to full liquor bar (still have awesome wine and lattes). Big outside area under giant tree; lots of seating inside with couches, high and low tables, plush and hard chairs. Particularly comfy chairs on your right when you walk in, along the windows. I go here so much (to work and to play) that the staff knows me; they are so awesome!!
• Drinks: Vanilla lattes are incredible. Nice selection of wine. I love Les Jamelles Pinot Noir, the Tempranillo with the orange label, and there’s a nice Chianti too. My best friend loves their sangria.
• Eats: Excellent Greek food. Try the Veggie Panini, hummus, or feta plate.
• Outlets: Haven’t found outlets outside. Lots of outlets inside, although check before you sit down; not accessible from every seat.
• WiFi: Free, strong signal.

3. Once Over Coffee

• Atmosphere: The staff is very hipster, but not pretentious. The place can get really crowded with laptop workers (“workers”?) so I usually make sure there is a table available before I order my coffee. But also means it’s pretty quiet. Regular wooden chairs; not uncomfortable. Good table. 10% off when you pay with cash!
• Drinks: They make their own vanilla, so hot and iced vanilla lattes are really good. Their house brew, also amazing (actually don’t put any milk in it sometimes!).
• Eats: El Primo trailer is outside, home of the most amazing Tortas that have ever graced your taste buds. Once Over lets you (encourages you to, in fact) bring in any food from El Primo.
• Outlets: If you can manage to snag a table, there’s an outlet nearby.
• WiFi: Free. REALLY great connection considering usually everyone there is on the internet.

4. Jo’s Coffee Shop, 242 W 2nd St (Downtown)

• Atmosphere: Very open, so makes it feel less busy than it often gets. Crowded around lunch. Sometimes gets very loud, especially on weekends; very echo-y inside. Love the bar because of plugs and I can stand sometimes, but chairs are uncomfortable for long periods.
• Drinks: Almond Latte or coffee. Have beer and wine too.
• Eats: Great for lunch, love the veggie burger. Serve breakfast until 11am, then switch to lunch.
• Outlets: Lots of outlets UNDER the bar, which is really why I love working here.
• WiFi: Free, usually great signal and speed.

Obviously, I value electrics OUTLETS, good COFFEE, and a reasonably COMFORTable seat. What do YOU look for when working remotely?

Question via Twitter from Catty Chan (@coldcatt): Sometimes I wish I could remain as editor for the day when we do SDEs…I was wondering what your process and workflow was like?

I’m only just beginning my Same Day Edit adventure, so it will interesting to see how my perspective changes in a few months. But here’s how Spinning Leaf Films and I have it worked out now:

The night before, I always listen repeatedly to the song we’re going to use, and I take notes using timecode. I jot down any ideas for what should go in the peaks and valleys of the song (“1:33- BUILD starts, dancing and ceremony. 2:02- CLIMAX: Bride walks down aisle. to 2:13 – slows down, love messages”). This of course can change once I see the footage, but it helps get me in the right SDE mindset. And when I begin my edit the next day, I have a mapped out plan for the Same Day Edit and the song already stuck in my head.

We usually have 3 shooters. One will definitely film bridal prep, and one will definitely film groom prep. The other shooter helps out one of the other shooters, films venue prep, and/or delivers the others’ footage to me. I’m usually camped out nearby bridal prep with my laptop, headphones, and printed schedule for the day covered in my illegible scribbles. LeVan always sets up the Adobe Premiere project for me the night before, so the (edited) song and Spinning Leaf logo are all ready to go. He also populates the sequence with highlights from any footage they shot before the Wedding Day (such as the timelapse and the Barber Shop footage from Jason and Accala’s SDE).

When someone brings me a card from their DSLR, I import it into a folder on the Desktop labeled with the wedding couple’s name. The shooter will usually give me a verbal list of shots to find that are note-worthy. Often, they’ll wait until I import the footage into my project and then we’ll quickly scan through some of the clips. When they point something out to me, I immediately throw it anywhere on the timeline. This is also the time for me to communicate with the shooters about anything else. Communication between the editor and the shooters is key. I can request coverage to fill in a hole in my edit. We can go over what and how they’re filming upcoming events (ceremony, dancing, cake, etc.), so I can decide if I need to waste time importing everyone’s footage. They can update me about how the wedding schedule is evolving (2/3 SDEs so far have been bumped back on the day — I hope to never experience a bump FORWARD). Communication is vital to a successful Same Day Edit.

In. Out. Drag to timeline. That’s the strategy I’ve found works the best when I’m looking at all the incoming footage. Anything that looks useable, throw it on the timeline, right now. I oscillate between pulling clips from the footage to the timeline and organizing that footage on the timeline. I’ll think, “I’m going to sort through all the first look footage,” then “I’m going to finish this groom prep section.” Organization and time management are your best friends.

Speaking of time, I aim to finish the edit at least a half hour before we plan to show it. Our 2-2.5 minute videos have been taking about 5-7 minutes to export. This gives me time to make last minute changes before showing it on the big screen. The half hour is just a guideline; I have no qualms about finishing early!

I edit on an Alienware Laptop with Adobe Premiere 5.5.

If you’re an SDE videographer or editor, what’s your team’s workflow? All suggestions are welcome!

I’m an active Twitter user (@sarahedits), but sometimes there’s just more to be said than can be squeezed into 140 characters.  So check back here for blog posts such as (off the top of my head): Favorite Features of Adobe Premiere, Same Day Edit workflow successes and failures, Creating Videos with Non-Video People, and many more clever ideas that are yet to be conceived.

Talk to you soon!