Editing the video

This is where the fun starts ... and where your creative and editing skills come to the fore. Other pages on this site will give you ideas of various techniques you can use.  For example, make the movie in sections - don't try to do it all in one go. Join all the movie parts together for the final master. You can use stills from the movie creatively - for example, grab the first frame of a particular scene (the establishing shot of the church, for example), change it to black and white or sepia in a photo editor, drop it down as a still before the scene on the video time line, then use a dissolve to go from one to the other.  Effect - the b/w or sepia tone 'still' picture transforms into a colourful moving picture. Use the still picture for a sub title ('The Ceremony...' ) . Here are some other tips ...

• Watch all of the recording(s) through several times before deciding on your edit.
• Don't rush the edit. It's better to come up with a top notch movie than a quickly put together video.
• Don't litter the movie with a myriad different transitions. Use straight cuts where events occur within the same short time span (a speech for example - cut from the speaker to a guests reaction). Very fast dissolves (one third of a second) can be useful to 'soften' hard cuts. Use a longer dissolve (or suitable transition)  of 1 to 1.5 seconds to link events separated by a short lapse in time - such as between the end of the guests meeting the bride and groom at the reception, and the bride and groom entering the dining hall for the meal. Use a fade to/from black or a dissolve to/from a title screen to separate the different phases or sections of your movie. It may be worth considering 3d transitions - the peeling page, for example - to separate the 'sections'. It's my opinion that a transition should indicate to the viewer a part of the 'story', and not be used 'because its available' as is so often the case. The clock wipe is a rather hackneyed way to indicate the passage of time. A peeling page says ... 'here is the next part of the story'. I allow myself ONE 'heart' transition, at a suitable point in a wedding video. And haven't always used that if there isn't a suitable point for it. Using it just once at a crucial point gives greater visual impact and makes the scene change more memorable and 'important' than using it repeatedly. That's my opinion. You may think otherwise.
• For me, the hardest part to edit is the ceremony itself. The couple will want it all in. That means judicious trims and cuts. Example ... if hymns are sung which have, say, 4 or 5 verses, I usually manage a careful cut between the 1st and last verse. If you have used two camcorders, the singing congregation is a good place for insert edits as well. Watch the sound joins if using the video and sound from both camcorders.
• If using CD music, rip it into a wav file first (and edit the file if you wish).  For example, a piece of music that spans people both inside and outside a reception area (say) could be given the appropriate 'ambience/echo effect' with a sound editor such as CoolEdit200. But don't overdo it.
• Don't kill all background sounds behind added music/song tracks.
• Remember you can add sound effects. A bird singing or a cockerel crowing over (for example) opening shots of the church can 'bring it to life'. I always try to video the bell ringers at work ringing the wedding bells (if and when) - if only to use the sounds over other parts of the movie.
• How long should the movie be?  As long as a girl's skirt .... long enough to cover the subject properly, short enough to maintain the interest. A well made wedding video carries the audience through to the end without desires or requests to 'fast forward this bit'.  And, most important, make sure everyone at the wedding is shown in the movie at least once. Relatives will be aggrieved to find they're not in the video even though they were there. If you are selling your work, people who don't appear will not be buyers.
• Presentation is everything ... seriously consider a special tape box - of your own graphic design using a still or two grabbed from the movie perhaps. Keep it simple, elegant and 'classy', not crude and brash. It'll look like a quality video before they even put it in the player. (Glossy cards that can be printed on and made into VHS cases are available from a number of sources ... I use NEATO, but there are others). If you're making a DVD of the movie, consider one of the inkjet printers that can print directly onto the surface of (printable) DVDs.

Let me stress that, for the most part, these are my own techniques and ideas - embellished and enhanced with the thoughts of other posters on the forums. A professional Videographer may wince and throw his hands up in horror at some of the suggestions. I can only say ... it works for me, and I have had no complaints or disgruntled viewers so far. Quite the reverse.