What should I do about this? Wedding problem

1. destrecht
   Member

   

    I have a wedding I shot a few months ago.  When capturing, my still camera got bumped, and is staring at a a post. (http://www.codadesign.net/dick  click on mistake)

   Normally the editing would be short and sweet.  But now I wasn't even sure how I was going to do it at all.After a few weeks of "OK, I'm gonna do this..." and then promptly getting frustrated when I sat down to edit- I finally decided to do the reception and rehearsal first.  It's a real pain, since I shot as if I had a second camera.  I started getting nasty emails from the groom, and I tried to explain why it was taking so long, but he started talking about excuses. In one email, mentioned that I didn't like being blamed for something that wasn't my fault, and here was his reply.

   Subject WTF!?!

   Yes, seriously.

   Let me give you a lesson in the world of business, excuses do not make your
   customer happy, nor do they give your business name ANY credibility. The
   ONLY reason I brought up the fact that it is nobody's fault but your own is
   because you have been using this as your excuse as to why the video is not
   complete. Yes, I did watch the video, and if this "lady in the red dress"
   did in fact move your camera, there is no way she would have known. You
   think maybe you put it in the way? Do you think maybe you could have shown
   up earlier to find a better place to put it? Do you think maybe if this
   video camera was so important to your production as you make it seem you
   might have come to check on it? All these are things that a "professional"
   like yourself should keep into consideration when taking on a job like
   this. How much extra time you put into this is irrelevant to the cost of
   the video, so I don't want to hear on what a big favor you are doing us by
   not charging us any more. .Yeah...you TOLD me you were working on our
   video, but lets get one thing straight, you have TOLD us that you have been
   working on this for over three months. Now, let me TELL you something,
   finish the video and give me the date you will have it done!

   The only response I expected out of you would have gone something like
   this: Yes Paul, you are right, I should have showed up earlier to set up
   the camera better, and maybe checked on it a few times to make sure it was
   okay. Sorry this has taken so long, but I'll have your video to you ASAP.
   If you would have said this to me, I would have been happy. The sad thing
   is, I am not happy. Ignorant responses back to your customer l only
   discredit your business. The only reason I have gotten involved is because
   my Mom is upset over the whole process and doesn't know what to do. This
   is where I come in. I solve problems. I will solve this problem and will
   be in contact with you.

   Paul

    I had made the choice of where to put the camera at the rehearsal.  I gave him a discount.  He's rude.  I don't need this.

   what do I do?

   Posted 3 years ago #

2. Rob Grauert
   Post Production Host

   

    What exactly is your problem? How to deal with the customer or how to fix the problem of someone bumping your camera? What were you shooting when the camera got bumped, the ceremony? If it wasnt the ceremony, you may should be able to work around it. But of course, I don't know how you go about doing things....

   Rob Grauert, Jr
   http://www.robgrauert.com
   http://command-r.tumblr.com

   Posted 3 years ago #

3. Aspyrider
   Member

   

   You are not going to like this but my first suggestion would be not to charge for whatever you come up with. There is no way to go back and get footage and I'm not going to remind you of things you should have done, I'm sure you have had plenty of that.

   Second, go over all the footage you do have. Since you do not have the other camera photos, see if you can assemble a wedding video from what you can salvage. You may want to cut away to some graphics or artwork, or any stock type footage you can get. If possible go back and shoot the church. Shoot the exterior, shoot the interior such as windows or anything you can recreate without anyone in it or cut away to.

   Your creativity will save you here, or at least get you a end product. Look at your footage and see if you can tell a story with only what you have. Even if it's just a short highlights video.

   If you can't then there is no solution to this. Just give the client his money back and write it off as a loss. And a lesson learned.

   Your client is upset and doesn't want to lose that moment, plus he has "Mom" on his back.  Even a basic video of just the raw footage you could salvage is better than nothing.

   So, (A) Do not charge him anything. (B) Offer him something, even if it's just footage with some titles. (C) Apologize profusely! (D) Admit your error and your responsibility.

   After you explain there is nothing you can do to salvage the footage or go back in time to recreate the event, terminate your involvement. The more you both hash out what coulda, shoulda, or woulda been great, it won't bring back the wedding.

   Sorry, wish I could do more.

   J

   Posted 3 years ago #

4. destrecht
   Member

   

    I was considering the not charging part.  She already gave a down payment, And I was going to not charge any more.

   I guess it's dealing with the customer that I was worried about.  I'm just about done doing what Aspider said- and it's okay- but there is some jerkyness that I really couldn't do without the vocals in. I shot it like I had a second camera, and it was on the other side of the church- where it got bumped.  I said still, and I suppose I should say wide angle.  I have most of it done, and the vows turned out okay, it's just the whole "Is it ready yet? " and then the rudeness because it took longer.  I told them it would from the second I saw the bump footage.  I didn't give them a date because I had no idea how long it would take.  I dunno.  Weddings aren't my main thing anyway.  After this I think I'm through with them.

   Posted 3 years ago #

5. ralck
   Member

   

   I understand where the groom is coming from here- it's his (and his new wife's!) wedding, and they want to have many memories of it.  It's unfortunate he has gotten upset like this, but just remember that with a lot of companies out there people have to get upset before their error gets fixed.  It doesn't make it right- it just seems to be what works (especially big box stores- they don't like people making scenes).

   That said, I completely understand where you are coming from- it takes a lot of effort, skill, time, and creativity to edit a wedding.  And that's when you have all good footage.  When your footage is less than optimal it takes all your creativity and skill and can be very frustrating (I was editing some footage from a show I recorded for some people a while back and they basically made me stick my camera in the back... editing the footage was very frustrating!).

   But you did promise the bride and groom a video and you need to give them something.  It sounds like you've got some great advice so far.

   A couple things you could look into are the Deshaker plugin for Virtualdub.  It helps remove shakieness in video with the catch being that it electronically zooms into picture to do so (the amount of zoom depends on the amount of shakieness).  This might help remove that shakieness you had.

   Another option would be to work on sort of like a slow-mo music video kind of "dream" sequence of the wedding.  That way you can highlight the "main points" of the wedding, such as when the bride and groom kiss at the ceremony, etc, without needing too much footage.  Maybe you could do this alongside with giving "stock" footage of the rest of the wedding with full audio so they can hear their vows or something (or find a way to put the vows into the dream video... my original thought was to do that with a complete audio dub).

   I don't mean to be harsh here, but you promised something to the customer and "the customer is always right" so you need to give them something.  If you'll re-read his email he wasn't necessarily looking for a specific date, but the confidence that you would be working on it.

   It kind of sounds like he interpreted what you said as "I'll get to it when I feel like it."  It's kind of the same situation when I worked as off-hour IT help for a local company.  One of the Execs called me up and asked for some computer assistance (it needed to be plugged in, btw :-P) so I told him I'd be over to his office in a few minutes.  I meant this as it would take me a few minutes to walk across the grounds to his office.  He took it as "I want to finish what I'm doing, so when I'm done I'll come over" and wasn't happy.  Little misunderstandings like this can cause a lot of bad words to be thrown about, but you just need to push through and let your skill shine through.  Try to be as nice to your customers no matter what they say- a happy customer on average tells 6 other people, but an unhappy customer on average tells 21 other people.

   One more thing: you may have been looking for sympathy or simply trying to show how the groom was reacting, but I feel it's very unprofessional to post emails like that online (I hope you changed his name in the email at least).  Email is often expected to be confidential and people can get even more upset than this groom is by seeing an email like this posted online (it's happened to me and I got very upset about it).

   Posted 3 years ago #

6. ralck
   Member

   

   One more thing...  I just noticed your link is "/dick"

   I hope either your name is dick or maybe the groom's first or last name is dick.  If you are refering to the groom being a "PITA" that's unprofessional on every level.

   Since I'm sure your more professional than that, I'll assume it's the groom's last name. :)

   Posted 3 years ago #

7. birdcat
   Moderator

   

   Prodad Mercalli might help.  Digital Juice just ended a special on this (if you call them they may let you get in on it though).

   http://www.prodad.de/gb/mercalli_std_details.html

   Bruce Paul
   7Squared Productions
   http://www.7squared.com

   Posted 3 years ago #

8. SteveMann
   Member

   

   I can't look at your videos because they are in Real format.  Real is the pariah in video delivery, has the smallest penetration in the PC world and has a nasty reputation for installing spyware on your PC.

   Posted 3 years ago #

9. brandon0409
   Member

   

   Contract, Contract, Contract. Refer back to your contract that he signed.

   That is my suggestion.  My contract is a 14 page CYA (Cover Your Ass) contract that cover EVERY possible situation. I had a situation just recently.  The bride kept wanting me to make all of these changes nearly 2 months after the fact, and she was beginning to get down right nasty.

   I gave my bride the Approval copy of her DVD to check for error. I emphasize ERRORS.

   2 months and multiple re-edit requests later, she sent me a final email on a Friday that said "This will be my last correction... I promise".

   I emailed her that night after the edit was done, and told her that Everything was complete and that I had already begun the DVD burning and printing and I would have it the next morning.

   Lo-and-behold the next morning I get another email from her saying that she would like me to change something. Not an error, but something stupid. She decided that she didn't like the song playing in the background of one of the dances during the reception and wanted me superimpose a different love song. This re-edit would have taken about 2 hours (with edits, rerendering, re-edit of DVD, etc) but I also had to reload all of her project files back on the computer and recreate the file structure. As I told her over the phone, there was a time limit for requests for re-edits and I would be removing her project files immediately when I was done. To all of you, I do have backup copies of the tapes and clips, but I removed them from the computer to save space.

   I told her that I had already completed the DVD's, "Just as I had promised in the last email" the night before. And that any further edits would not be possible because of what is stated above.

   Later that day she sends me an email. I have included it below:

   "I don't understand.These are our wedding dvds that we will have for the rest of our lives, that we paid for. I would really appreciate you fixing this problem.Thanks."

   In response, after speaking with other professionals in my area, I sent her page 7 of my contract that I went over page-for-page and line-by-line with her, the she and the groom signed, and that she has a copy of already.And I refered her to the specific lines and refered to how much time it would take me to make the re-edits.

   Her next email was simply. "Send the DVD to. . ."

   I have included page 7 of my contract below so you may see what she saw. If anyone would like, I can email you my FULL contract for you to cannibalize how you would like. Just send me a private message. I have had my lawyer look over it and approve.

   --------------------------------------------------------

   PRODUCTION/EDITORIAL CONTROL

   - The client agrees that Event Videos by Brandon is the exclusive official videographer retained by the client to cover the event.

   - If Client contracts with another person or entity to videotape any portion of the event, the Studio has cause to discontinue coverage and no monies will be refunded; or the Client will be charged an additional $300 per hour for each videographer present not associated with Event Videos by Brandon.

   - The client grants Event Videos by Brandon full production and editorial control regarding all aspects of this production and post-production services for this event.

   - In the event that a particular segment of the event being filmed is either not recorded, partially recorded, or not part of the final edited master, it is at the sole discretion of Event Videos by Brandon.

   - If something occurred during the taping of the event that the Client does not want to appear on the final DVD, the client must instruct Event Videos by Brandon, in writing, prior to the start of editing.

   - However this does not constitute a right, by the client, to have any production or editorial control or input.

   - Event Videos by Brandon grants the client absolutely no production or editorial control.

   ----------------------------------------------------------

   APPROVAL COPY

   - When editing is complete, the client will be given an approval copy of the final DVD to make Event Videos by Brandon aware of any misspellings, missing names, unintentional omissions, or any other technical errors, as these types of editing errors will be corrected at no charge.

   - The client will be notified immediately when the Approval Copy is ready.

   - Changes that are not the result of any of the errors stated above, that will be classified a "Major Editing Changes", are not guaranteed.

   - However, if such changes are granted and require more than one (1) hour of editing time, such extra time shall be bill at One Hundred and Fifty Dollars ($150) per hour.

   - If Major Editing Changes are granted, allow an addition four (4) weeks for re-edits.

   - Any corrections or changes must be requested within one (1) week upon receipt of approval DVD.

   - After one (1) week from delivery of approval DVD, Event Videos by Brandon is not liable for any errors or requested changes.

   - Upon the client's approval of the approval DVD or after the one (1) week time limit has expired, Event Videos by Brandon will require at least an additional one (1) week to prepare the clients final set of DVDs in completed form.

   --------------------------------------------------------------

   WHEN WILL WE RECEIVE OUR FINAL DVD?

   - Event Videos by Brandon will make no official estimations on the amount of time it will take to log, capture, and edit the clients final DVD.

   - Further, Event Videos by Brandon will make no official estimation as to the delivery date of the Approval DVD to the client.

   - Editing times can be affected by options selected and complexity of the wedding.

   - Editing times can also be affected by editor illness, injury, computer or technical malfunction, excessive workload, and acts of God, among other unforeseen circumstances.

   - Please understand that Event Videos by Brandon strives to make the best possible video for their clients. This effort will take time.

   Posted 3 years ago #

10. Dallas
    Member

    

     I personally guarantee nothing for my wedding DVDs, just a DVd with some video on it. I tell them that there are to many factors involved with a one time live wedding ceremony that could go wrong, my camera could break, my tapes could run out, my camera might not actually be recording when I think it is, I might not get any audio, my second/back up camera might bet knocked over, etc. IF the footage and or audio is bad, I will put a 5-10 min montage. Hopefully everything will go right and they will get 2 DVDs FULL of over 5 videos.

    Posted 3 years ago #

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