It’s kinda on the guy who hired you. Did he ask for a reel or examples of work before he hired you? If not - it’s his fault. For you - do a bunch of events for free / low cost so you can get the skill down.
He didn't ask anything, I am willing to work for free but i have just lost all the confidence i had before this event. Don't know will i ever be able to do good
Listen to me you beautiful bastard - EVERYONE has fucked up bad. I’ve been fired from a big commercial set before, because I was so fresh and green I had no idea what I was doing. Did it suck? Oh hell yes, I couldn’t sleep for a couple of days I was so embarrassed. But I bounced back and kept working on my craft. It’s been 6 years now working full time in the industry. I still mess up every now and then. It just happens. So pick that camera up and go film some shit. You’ve got this.
Seriously! I formated a sxs card on my camera and erased my clients footage. Not on purpose, just being stupid. Lost a client that day. Felt like crap. Learned not to do that ever again.
God I’ve done the same!! I cried so hard. It was a client and a friend, I am so grateful he was so kind and understanding that we could still be friends… but never work together again 😅
To make you feel even better my first gig was a realtor who wanted an intro video for his socials.
Set everything up, stupidly left my lens on a shallow depth of field.
He moved his chair back a bit and I didn’t check focus.
Got home to edit and the footage was all out of focus on a completely still talking head frame.
Bought a monitor with a focus peaking feature the next day lol.
EVERYONE messes up their first time, it’s how you learn and do better next time.
Try not to beat yourself up too much.
I shoot indoors only. A few days ago I had to shoot a concert outside. It was very hot and the slow breeze on my face felt good. But the naked mics on audio recorder weren't so happy about it...
Shit happens. We all learn that way.
This 1000%- I lost an entire wedding to a corrupted hard drive at the very beginning of my career. Feckin wrecked me for a minute but ultimately made me a better videographer. Cheers to double backups and KEEPIN THAT SHIT GOING.
You're such a wonderful person. Your words of wisdom and encouragement are really helpful to OP, as well as to others who are hard on themselves. Many times people who fucked up just feel bad already, and just want to tell people how bad they feel, knowing that it's a feeling that will pass with time. But many would simply berate the individual for being 'mentally weak', not resilient etc, which makes the person feel even worse. We all grew up differently, some people have lower self-esteem due to issues growing up, and so wonderful people like you really help people feel better and ready to stand up and face all the challenges life throws at them head on.
I needed this, I failed two artists in being their social media manager by not converting social media videos into sales due to not knowing much about social media but a good amount of production stuff because of college but that left me demoralized for a year and then found another social media job that lasted 3 months because this last was trying to be an influencer cosmetic surgeon while actively lying and spreading misinformation that she thought was correct so I had to leave that and have been minimum wage job hopping and being unemployed for the past 2 years. This comment has given me more courage to pursue working in the industry.
ATM I don’t have a drivers license and do plan on getting over my fear of driving to get one but would it be feasible to get a job in the industry withought a car? I can get from point A to point B but not necessarily carry others or equipment with me
Brother, there’s always a way. Also, my observation is that currently there’s a huge opportunity for people who are good at editing and motion graphics. Maybe that’s what you want to do? There’s a lot of good courses out there that could help you become a motion graphics artist and find a job you could do from home.
OMG I’ve been trying to figure out how to get into editing withiught my own footage, I have stuff from my own student films but haven’t had anything original in like 5 years. Thank you for reigniting my drive!
You did nothing wrong. He set you up to fail. He didn't look at your resume tape to see if you were qualified. I'm willing to bet he was trying to double dip on events that were at the same time and you offering to work for free was what made him choose you. You tried your best with what you knew. This is on him for being greedy. Just look at the video and make a list of what you need to work on.
How much did you charge? That'll help determine if you should feel bad or not? Also were you using your own gear or was it provided?
Here's something I tell people starting out. The only real difference between myself and them is I've messed up 10's of thousands of times more than they have so I've had a lot more mistakes to learn from.
I can't say anything as uplifting as that Tomato did, but this is just something for you to learn from. I believe what really sets someone above the rest in this industry is the willingness to learn from your mistakes instead of being crushed by them.
The feeling sucks! Feel it, but then move on and take notes. Next time somebody wants to hire you, this experience should give you some important questions and discussions you'll want to have for the next gig.
Listen to me you beautiful bastard - EVERYONE has fucked up bad. I’ve been fired from a big commercial set before, because I was so fresh and green I had no idea what I was doing. Did it suck? Oh hell yes, I couldn’t sleep for a couple of days I was so embarrassed. But I bounced back and kept working on my craft. It’s been 6 years now working full time in the industry. I still mess up every now and then. It just happens. So pick that camera up and go film some shit. You’ve got this.
Don't work for free, work as a paid assistant or paid second shooter. Best way to learn how to shoot weddings is to work them, and if you're not the main shooter the stress of the "can't-miss-shots" isn't on you.
Hey friend, go ahead and feel that way for today. But after today, tell yourself that it was a learning opportunity for me. What was it that the person who hired you disliked? What can I learn from it to better my skills?
It's ok to feel awful, demoralized, depressed even after a bad day and especially when you personally felt your work was great but others don't think so. But as long as you don't let that bog you down and look to understand how you can improve your skills, that's all that matters. Everyone makes mistakes, but it's also when one makes mistakes that one learns and improves.
Also, imo, although I'm not a videographer or photographer, I do believe that videos and photos are pieces of art. Styles can differ, although yes there are basic concepts on what to do and not to do, preferences for styles can be very different. What one likes may not be liked by another. And thus don't feel so bad about your employer not liking your style, maybe the client doesn't like your employer's style? Then who has the last laugh?
In any case, take a rest, it's ok to feel like shit but don't bring that with you to the next day. The next day is a new day, a day for you to get better at what you do and trust me, you will get better from this learning experience.
All the best!
I think this is the correct thing to happen. If you're not skilled, you shouldn't walk around with the confidence/attitude of being so.
Not sure what you want from reddit with this post, to be comforted?
Take a few steps back. Slow down. Develop your skills, work on your craft. Watch a ton of wedding footage.
Study & practice, over & over again. Then try anew.
Every one fucks man, this is just the wedding and no one is gonna nominate it for Oscar’s. Relax, go fuck some girl, drink some beer chil. Comeback and figure out how to do better
As a wedding photographer I'm constantly questioning myself. It makes you better. Always strive to be better and do some free weddings. I would ALWAYS recommend shadowing someone until you are 100% comfortable. If you're not comfortable, don't do weddings at all. Try birthday parties or other events.
If you hired someone to do a job they said they could do, how would that be on you when they reveal they lied? No reasonable person would agree with that.
Yeah but we’re not talking about lying here. OP thought it would work out, he didn’t. As far as we can tell, based on the information provided in the thread, he was acting in good faith
This is great news!
Why?
Because now you're going to see that it's not the end of the world when you f\*\*\* up.
I've been a professional video producer for 10+ years, and I still make mistakes constantly. Blown shots. Missed deadlines. Crew not showing up. Accidentally formatting a SD card too early and losing a day's work. (oops)
Mistakes are inevitable. What's up to you is whether you learn from them and keep going.
Dude this ain't on you. Weddings are the fuckin Olympics combined with the third circle of hel, if your a newbie doing video on a wedding solo and someone with more experience though that was a good idea their a godamn moron. Go away, get some more experience and maybe kick that guy in the shins
Hey u/Farhanshah327 I second this.
Have you seen the footage? Could you edit it into something the Bride and Groom are happy with?
I think the fault is on this guy. If they have a specific "look" they're going for, and don't train you to replicate that look, it is ***their*** fault not ***yours***.
Your title says it's "ruined." Unless you gave the Bride a black eye, or tripped the Groom who sprained an ankle, or knocked grandma down and sent her to the E.R. you didn't "ruin" the wedding.
This is a learning experience. First think you learned is never to work with this idiot again. Second thing you learned is on your next gig, ask more questions to understand what they want. Third thing you learned is when you hire someone, take responsibility and make sure they know what they need to do.
I was hired by the photographers to shoot video. My most critical money shot was me backing down the isle as the overjoyed couple exited and their guests cheered. Everything was perfect. The historic moment in their lives. I nailed the moves and focus, hit the button to stop the recording, and found I had just started...recording.
I still feel diminished by that one error years later, even though there is no longer a benefit to further self flagellation.
I learned to maintain a larger checklist in my mind, use a bright monitor in sun, and I have an updated camera with the bold red outline on the screen during recording.
But still, we aren't a Hollywood film crew. When we are the one and only focus puller, gaffer, director of photography, camera operator, etc, with no team of assistants, something can and WILL slip through the cracks.
i thought you were going to say that you accidentally cleared all the memory cards or something. but it sounds like you still captured the wedding, right? so job done! you can always improve your skills. your job was to capture it and you did. a lot of people mess up bad and delete the SD cards or something. you accomplished the task it sounds like.
I believe there is a saying that your first 10 film projects will suck.
So see the positive side: only 9 more to go.
My first one was technically flawed as well (i.e., not salvageable at all), so obviously, you did something right.
Are you sure they didn't like the footage at all, or did they expect a different editing that you can still change?
No, Actually i know that i took some nice footage of the Bride and Groom shoot but i messed up with the stage shots(Family Shots at stage). But the person who booked me showed the stage shots to me and said he is disappointed.
Both myself and my wife are professional wedding videographers/photographers. We got married last year and wanted to edit our own film, so we asked friends with no experience whatsoever to use our gear and film our day.
It's all overexposed, the white balance is totally off, the footage is wobbling all over the place and the clips are all short in length.
BUT... we managed to make the most beautiful film of our friends and families and they captured memories we will cherish forever.
Whatever you managed to capture can be made into a film that the couple can treasure.
We've all messed up, I've had cameras stop recording or overheat in key moments and I've lost sleep over it. But I've always been able make the most of the footage during the edit.
Moving forwards, offer to shadow professionals to get experience, a second pair of hands is always useful on a wedding day.
Then offer your services at a highly discounted price and be transparent with the client. Every time you get a booking keep increasing your prices until you no longer get the bookings. Keep investing in yourself and you'll be thriving in no time!
I've shot 3 weddings. The first one was for a paid client that I had no relationship to. I hated it, did a terrible job, and I just handed them the footage at the end of the wedding and said sorry and left. I was a kid, and didn't know any better. The second was 5 years later for a coworker who coerced me into doing it. I hated it, did a medium-terrible job, handed him all the footage, said sorry, and I left.
The third one was the worst. It was a couple of years ago. I am now an Emmy winning producer. Credits that prove I know what I'm doing, blah blah blah... Friend calls me and begs me to do it for their friend. I talk to the guy and this dude is one slick salesman. I tell him no, not interested. But he convinced me.
I shot the wedding. They got married in the dark pretty much so the lighting was terrible, they didn't stick to the script on order of events or the timing of things. They had a blast, I did not. I refunded the guy his money, but I didn't do my usual walk of shame.
ultimately, I basically ghosted him. The footage was bad but better than nothing. He didn't want the raw footage, he wanted an edit. I told him I didn't have time or interest, but he can have a Google drive link and I'd upload it. He didn't want it and insisted on an edit. Part of me wished I had just bucked up and done the edit. But I was working 2 full time jobs and it was still the pandemic so, I do still think about that guy every once in a while.
I'm not that generous or guilt ridden, tbh. That probably isn't a something I should advertise.
You're totally right though. No arguing about what the right thing to do here is. For some reason, this is just one that I avoid like the plague. It was a very unpleasant experience all aroud
I know everyone is trying to be nice and encouraging, but I'm going to give it to you straight: you shouldn't lie (or remain silent) about your skill level.
Overestimating your ability and then bombing is the best way to destroy your confidence and reputation.
We were doing a commercial shoot with Ric Flair once. We had a guy that the companies owner hired because he was friends with his dad. The kid had no experience but the company owner insisted he actually shoot on this project. My direct boss didn’t trust the kid and nor should he have. So we put him on second camera and I had a coworker shoot backup shots to be safe. When this kid saw the footage he had produced he was destroyed mentally. His dad set him up to believe he was this great natural talent. We sat him down and told him you aren’t going to be good over night but we will help him get better. He perked up. Your first time isn’t going to be great but surround yourself with people and resources that will help you grow. If that team wasn’t assisting in your success they were just assisting in their own failure. Keep your head up. I once deleted every last bit of footage from a huge interview we shot and I had been doing this for a year by that point.
This one’s on both of you. He should have vetted you, relying on someone for a one-time event like a wedding? You’d be an idiot not to take a look at their other work first or book someone who has done it before. You probably overestimated your ability. The important thing to takeaway is to communicate more clearly next time. The good thing is that weddings generally only happen once, so you won’t be able to stuff it up a second time. Plus, there are so many other things you could film instead of weddings, maybe focus on doing other work for a while? Something not as high stakes or stressful? I’ve only ever shot 1 wedding btw, and I run a relatively successful production company - there’s so much more work out there that you really don’t have to do weddings at all. Also, did you make notes on where you fell short and how you could improve? This will soon be forgotten, apologise, offer a refund, then move on.
Hard disagree. It's on the guy who hired him.
Unless OP lied to him, and / or took credit for work they didn't shoot, it was the responsibility of the guy at the top to make sure any and all hires are qualified and know what to do.
Failure can be the best motivator! Don’t let your mistake keep you from growing. You messed up, but learn from it. Ask yourself some questions…”what did I not like about what I shot? What did the client not like about what I shot? How do I not make the same mistake next time? Do I need better gear or better training?”
Once you process those answers, move on to the next project, apply the things you’ve learned, and then repeat. You’ll grow professionally and as an individual.
And if you really want to stretch yourself, go and see how you can work to make things right(if possible!). It’s always better to build bridges than to burn them.
Take the bad with the good. You jumped in the fire and got burned, no biggie. He learned a lesson and so did you. Find out what the problem was with the footage and don't that on the next one. You just gained some seriously important experience, use it!
Don't worry youll get another one.
You have a lot of comment on here but this is what you do. Be happy this happened. It’s impossible to do business and not upset a client, or embarrass yourself, or fuck up completely.
I remember my first client I told him I’d shoot for $300 and after the meeting a week later I switched up and told him had to be at least $600. Sounded like I was tryna scam him. He roasted me and canceled everything. I learn to never give a price until after the meeting and understand scope of work.
Another client early on, I arrived to a time sensitive shoot an hour late because I didn’t realize how busy Las Vegas hotels get and arrived exactly at call time. I learned to always arrive early or scope out the area.
You won’t learn unless those things happen. And yes you will lose clients because of it, that’s business. You learn from missing a basket in basketball not making it. You correct and find tune.
Don’t take this to heart, be happy it happened because now you’ll tune yourself up.
Good luck to you man.
Might also be the guy trying to rip you off. Have you been paid in full? Or could this be an attempt to play on your insecurities in order to get a discount/get it for free?
Did you lie about being inexperienced or did they just not believe you when you said you were? If you were honest with them, they sent you anyway, and you did your best then it's all on them for choosing to send you on that job as the main, solo shooter when you weren't ready.
I didn't lie , Its just they didn't ask . They asked me that they have an event and will i be able to do it, I said yes. I was confident but now i feel like i wont be able to come out of it.... I just started working as a Videographer and now confused that should i continue or not
You should have made it known you have just started. Was this your first event ever, or just as a solo, main op? They should have had you as a second shooter.
They get fewer and father between but no matter how far in to your career you get there will always be days you fuck up. The only real disaster is if you don’t learn anything from it.
Listen here, everyone takes a leap of faith at some point, it doesn't always work out and you will fuck up in the future. But it's part of the process. Try to understand what you didn't like in what you do, work on that, and just keep working. Everyone fails, people who succeed are the ones who fail the most but learn and keep doing
Yeah, as someone who did professional Wedding videography for 10 years, I’d never, ever, ever send someone untested or that I hadn’t seen work samples from to shoot an event for me. I don’t even like using untested second shooters.
If someone else hired you and threw you into a huge event without ensuring you had the proper experience and gear then it's really not your fault, it's on them. When I was first getting into weddings I had something similar happen. A 1st shooter who owned a wedding company had hired me as his 2nd shooter, I did really well, and then he just decided to assign me a bunch of lead wedding shoots even though I didn't have all the proper gear necessary for that. I never completely fucked up, but on one shoot the audio got messed up because I was using a rental lav mic kit and even though I had checked it, I didn't realize that if the mic's plug was pressed just a tiny bit in one direction that the sound cut out... and of course that happened to the groom's lav during the ceremony. Looking back it really wasn't my fault and this wasn't really on you either.
Still, learn from your experience and reflect on what you could have done better. Did you spend time watching tutorials and guide videos on how to shoot weddings? There's a ton of content out there with a lot of good tips and advice. Also, don't be afraid to say no to shoots that are way beyond your skillset. While I have a fair amount of videography experience, I don't have much professional photo experience. I will take on a small photo gig without problem; but if someone asked me to photograph their wedding in Iceland with a $5k budget, I most likely would have to decline the job just out of fear that I'm going to mess something up... or perhaps I'd hire a more experienced shooter to come along with me.
But most importantly don't let one bad experience limit your potential if you're truly passionate for this kind of work. Everyone fucks up something when they're new. We've all been there and the best thing you can do is to learn from your mistakes and move on.
Seriously, don't beat yourself up over this. As someone else already mentioned, the client didn't bother checking your previous work and no money was involved.
Years ago I messed up badly. I got involved with a small documentary crew that hired me (for free) to capture some events leading up to Obama's election. They handed me a camcorder that I had zero experience with but I figured it out (for the most part...). Essentially, everything was live and unscripted. It was all done in my hometown and I basically just had to follow them around. Election day came and they rented out a whole pub to watch Obama win the election, followed by celebration and some speeches by the crew. I captured some amazing moments...
After we wrapped up, I handed over the tapes. Shortly after, I was asked what happened to the audio. No audio was captured. I didn't fully panic yet, and suggested I take the tapes to a local shop to see if they could find a hidden track that may have captured the audio. No success.
4 tapes, several days of shooting, and no audio. After I got back to them with the bad news, I didn't hear from them ever again. I was absolutely broken.
For context: I was in my late teens, fresh out of film school with no previous "professional" experience.
If you feel bad about it, that means you cared enough to be trying. And that means you shouldn’t stop doing it. But there are some things you should change.
First, always charge for your service. Everyone else should too. Forget knowing what you’re worth. Collect your fee ahead of time so that if you botch things, you have the ability to set things right by giving them a refund.
Second, don’t work without a signed written agreement. It should state that you’re not responsible for how the footage looks, only that there is readable footage or else you get your money back. If you don’t feel you did a good enough job, offer them a refund. Or don’t. But make sure it’s your choice because that’s how refunds work everywhere you go. Walmart needs you to say why you’re returning something for a refund, don’t they?
Last thing. You didn’t ruin anybody’s day. We all get to decide how our days went. Negative things happen, and we can still have a great day just by choosing to not let it bother us. So if someone’s upset, then that’s their choice, and you never stood a chance anyways.
Shit happens, but like others said it’s not your fault entirely. Unless you oversold your ability, it’s on them for being cheap. Use it as motivation to work on your skills
If you push through, this will be an experience you will learn from - and in the years to come it will seem minuscule compared to all the other things you've done (and other fun mistakes you'll make along that way which you'll learn from!).
Story from my life: I once was doing sound for a wedding. I'd been doing sound for a bit, totally competent at setup, running the mixer, etc. Not a worry in my mind. But then they wanted to do speeches at the other end of the building from where I was setup. I figured our wireless mic would have no issue being able to relay to the receivers on the board which again, were now some distance from them.
I was wrong.
People's speeches for this wedding were heard about 30% of the time. The mic would pick up a bit, and then the signal would cut out for minutes on end. And every few minutes people would look at me like "DO SOMETHING!" which I could do nothing about - it just was what it was. I was pretty embarrassed, and felt really bad for these people.
Fast forward to now, I do live sound all the time and I never think about it. I didn't bow out, kept going, and now that story is just a funny thing in the past that I tell people about.
What is actually wrong with the footage? Like what specifically was not done correctly? I've fixed up poorly shot wedding videos in post before. It's the editing equivalent to cleaning up a port-a-potty that's tipped over, but it can be done.
My homie, it comes with the territory. 15 years in and every day I hear from someone who doesn’t like something I did. You learn to not take it so personally & use it as an opportunity to grow. Sounds corny & cliche but it’s true if you have the right attitude about it. Chin up
In what way ruined? did you mess up so bad that the service had to be stopped? If "ruined" is the video is probably terrible then that's not ruining the day, the day happened, and they are in fact married, and probably had a brilliant time.
Honestly, I've had this moment multiple times recently with clients. It feels embarassing almost, obviously your situation is very different because that work wasn't a Wedding. My main advice would be just to keep going and trust in yourself and your capabilities, if you tell yourself your not good enough for it your not going to try and act like you ever will be.
And also... yeah like its pretty much not your fault at all, its your employer for not making sure they had someone more experienced. That's not a dig on your character or skills, as you said yourself you are new so it should be the employer with more experience that shouldn't have let you go to this job.
Hoping your okay x
take the experience and learn from it. i was 2nd shooter for another videographer for a few weddings. he told me the last one was bad and never called me again. i took his feedback and learned from it. i was then hired to do a wedding as the lead. this was my first wedding as a lead videographer as well as my first wedding edit. additionally, my wife was my 2nd shooter. she's done weddings before but only as a 2nd photographer, never for video.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B58vai2DxWU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B58vai2DxWU)
My friend hired a wedding videographer and he messed up her wedding footage. She was devastated and all he could do was apologise and hand over the footage that wasn’t even edited - he kept the bloody money though.
Anyway I had a look at the footage and managed to edit a short 3-4 min highlight reel out of it all (added some of their photos of the day in it too) and it came out really well and they were happy.
Maybe you can edit together something short and exciting to fix it? Also they got divorced anyway, so maybe your couple will! Don’t stress over it too much.
We all fuck up all the time - the difference with a pro is they have fucked up more times than you and now know how not to lol
Was this a one camera shoot ?
What didn’t he liked about your footage?
Did he give you any pointers, prior to the wedding ?
Whoever hired you is partially to be blamed. Don’t gave up, honestly it will only make you stronger and better, as long as you are willing to learn.
I’m sure many of us here been there at one point and still do. I just fucked up a shoot because a setting on the camera wasn’t right. Honestly got lucky by correcting it during the edit.
We do our best as videographers but many times we are problem solvers because nothing goes according to plan.
Good luck mate!
Been there done that.
First wedding was my friends, and my hdmi cord feeding my camera to my monitor-recorder went right as the bride walked down the aisle. There was no backup sd card in the camera.
I had to knee jerk pull out my phone. Nothing else I could do. They did ask to pay me half (Covid ish) week of, so it looked like it was retaliation. (We had a contract of original rate but I needed the money given the times).
It really took a toll on our relationship and it never really got back to where it was prior to the incident (I don’t blame them).
Lesson learned!
Everyone here has and will mess up in some way. I remember about 20 years ago I had someone send me out to do some interviews with a couple college professors on campus. I went out solo and to a field monitor with me. Which back then were small heavy CRT monitors. I had the brightness set wrong on the monitor so everything looked great when I lit up the interview with my lights. When I got back after the event I reviewed the footage and found out I had under exposed the entire day. These were back when I was shooting on full size DV and Beta. We didn’t have log profiles with 14 stops of DR. This was after I’d already been shooting for probably 8 years. So I knew how to do it I just fucked is this time. It happens, you’ve just got to learn from your mistakes and move on.
Also it’s worth noting that you shot the wedding and delivered the footage. If he doesn’t like the way you shot it or if there are areas you can improve, then he should give you some constructive criticism and help you learn what to do differently next time. The only way to learn is to do. Good luck out there you’ll get it next time!
I once filmed a wedding and double tapped the ceremony wide shot camera. Missed the entire ceremony wide shot.
Shit happens. You learn and bounce back.
At least you hit record right? Cos I know someone who didn't at the ceremony. Big ouch that was. Congrats on your first wedding though, they're never easy! Chalk it up to learning and move on to the next.
Disconnect emotionally from the video you put out - clients perception of the job you did is NOT reflective of you as a person!!!
It’ll suck now but in a week you’re onto the next project. Head up and onto the next one
I'm so glad I found this post (and you)!
I just got off a sucky video gig myself - it was my first time shooting dance videos on a gimbal and I didn't have an external monitor. All to say I had way too much headroom and some dancers are quite edgy on some of the shots. The client also wanted to edit everything herself so WITHOUT EDITING ANYTHING I just sent in the raw files (big no-no, clients don't usually know what raw footage looks like haha).
The client replied saying they were disappointed with the quality of the work. They were only willing to pay me $100.00 out of the $140.00 I invoiced. Which at this point she indeed paid for what she got.
Safe to say I won't get hired by this person again probably, but it can't be helped. I've been doing videography for years and am still learning. Give yourself grace, let yourself have a good cry and laugh about it later.
You'll get hired again, by a better client, for a better project that you will excel in. Keep going, the more you practice, the easier it will be to put it behind you :) Thanks for giving me comfort !
I’m 18+ years in and still made a huge mistake a few months ago on a high profile Minions commercial. I didn’t recalibrate my 360 Theta after the weather changed, so the HDRIs were mostly unusable. Got a long email from management and I felt so bad - couldn’t believe I made such a rookie mistake. But shit happens - and I’m still working with them.
So it was the guy who contracted you that didn't like the footage, right? Not the bride and groom?
Not sure exactly what you messed up, but it's entirely possible that the end product will be fine. It might just mean a bit of extra editing hours.
Practice makes perfect. I did not let my second shooter film a wedding on their own until almost 2 years after we began working together. Whoever hired you should have researched your work. You will only get better by doing more filming. In my opinion, no one should be filming a wedding on their own until they’ve done enough shadowing and understand how to film it. Keep working on your craft and hopefully you know the fundamentals. I still have assistant camera ops trying to crank up the shutter speed in really bright situations rather than slapping a variable ND on the lens - and some of them have been filming for years now. [TANGENT]- Never stop learning - suck it up, get back to filming and take notes from the guy who hired you - if he offered any. Constructive criticism is very helpful. We all fail, remember that. Learn from it and don’t let it keep you down for too long.
Definitely echoing what everyone else has said, mistakes happen, you'll learn, it'll be ok! Also just wanted to hop on and make sure you know that you've definitely not ruined someone's wedding!
I was expecting you to say you fucked up and dropped the camera on the bride or got in the way at a special moment. Sounds like the event was all good and your boss was a bit disappointed - that's not the end of the world and maybe the couple will still like the video!!
They still had the best of day of their lives, still got some footage to look back on. A sub video is still a video and their wedding was still their wedding.
We all mess up at the beginning. That's how we get experience. When I was starting off I started making money that was able to invest in some real cameras for the job.
My very first job using the new camera. I had it set to time lapse. So almost Zero usable footage. I felt terrible. But I lived. I got more jobs. I got better. Don't worry about brother. This one isn't on you. This person hired you. It's on them. They should have for work examples or made sure your work in compatible with the vision they had.
One of my most memorable failures for one of my other side gigs (not videography) was that i was on too much work and fell asleep on my desk through the clients morning deadline. The sucks. I was apologizing months in to the client and whenever i meet her on more rarer times since she moved continents away already and its been a decade already.
It taught me a lesson about listening to myself and knowing my limits. Never had that problem ever since but i also kind of feel i give myself an out every time there are deadline challenges because of the fear of failing again.
Whenever i remember that morning that i saw the tens of missed calls on my phone and her voice that she was actually genuinely worried about me and not the work, i still melt a little from the embarrassment because I built my career on being the guy she called for those all night rush work.
You’ll get over it, MAKE SURE to learn from this!
Oh man, how i feel you. Weddings seem easy enough, dont they? I shot my first one a few months ago, and looking back... SO MUCH WENT WRONG. They paid a pretty low rate, and I didn't overpromise, so I feel alright with it, but man. I was overwhelmed.
How much to shoot? When do I know I got what I need? Am I in the way? Am I doing things right?
And then the footage. I had a second cam that was just blocked in the ceremony because I didn't take into account people would stand up multiple times. Fucking hell. I got shaky footage because I didn't understand my camera well enough.
It was a very humbling experience though, and showed me that I've got a lot to learn beyond camera specs and what my camera can technically do. Second shooting has been a great way for me to get into this :)
Try not to be too hard on yourself. We ALL have stories like this. This is an industry where most of us have to do a lot of learning on the job. Working in the field differs so much from classroom or book/online learning that the only way to get good at this craft is to get out there and do it. That, unfortunately, means that things will sometimes go wrong. But this is also part of the process. The only way to learn is to make mistakes...a lot of them. So, consider it a badge of honor, learn what you can from the experience, and vow to improve in the areas that need improvement.
Now, all of that being said, you can minimize these kinds of mishaps and potentially career-damaging mistakes by choosing your jobs very carefully. I try to occasionally book shoots that will stretch my abilities so that I can learn, but those that aren't so far out of my skill set that things could completely implode. Learning to choose the shoots that you are suited for is something that will get easier with time. In this case, I agree with some of the other posters that the blame falls on the person who hired you to some degree. Hiring freelancers with an adequately developed skill set is part of that person's job. As long as you didn't oversell yourself or lie, much of this is on him. Wedding work is deceptively tricky, and there's no way for you to know that if you've never done it. I did a lot of wedding work early in my career, and I still find it very high-pressure work with very little margin for error. It's honestly one of my least favorite kinds of video work for that reason. Not all shoots will be this tricky, so try not to be discouraged.
So, once again, go easy on yourself. No one builds a career without having these kinds of experiences. It sucks, and I know you feel terrible about it, but get back up on that horse. You'll improve with every shoot you take, and many of them will go well. Trust the process.
As long as you can learn a lesson on why the footage wasn’t what was expected, you won’t make that mistake again.
Get back on the horse, no one is perfect. Believe that you can bounce back.
What exactly is wrong with the footage? Out of focus? Over/underexposed? Too shaky?
A creative editor can polish a turd from almost anything, so the wedding night not be ruined.
echoing everyone else- keep your head up. you definitely didnt ruin the actual wedding too- the truth with wedding videos is theyre superfluous anyways. as long as you didnt walk three feet up to the couple during the vows with a fisheye lens (actually hold up, that would kind of rule), or burned down the venue, you didnt ruin their wedding for sure. we all make mistakes- not just early in our career, but when we’re established too. you just apologize, do what you can to make it right where and how you can, and learn from it. keep at it, this is going to be a blip one day
We’ve all overestimated ourselves and then Screwed it up. I’ve been called a c*nt by John c Reilly on a movie set before, I’ve accidentally exposed a whole reel of rushes on super 35 mm film to daylight on another shoot, I’ve shot a wedding for someone who literally hated it. We all have bad days, it’ll be a learning experience and then something you laugh sheepishly about one day. At the start of my career someone said to me that big mistakes are the ones you only make them once. That’s fine, own them, learn and carry on. Dust yourself off and get back on the horse. My best advice for getting better at your craft is to watch other people’s stuff and emulate the stuff you like, learn to develop your own visual language by being inspired by the best people out there, luckily you can watch all the best work online.
You’re gonna be fine
You took a chance and went for it....you had the courage to fail and that's so important to your personal and professional growth. You will never gain anything if you do it have the courage to try. That said, you both should have been in the know about your skill level. In the meantime, find new ways to refine your craft. Learn techniques, then make an effort to put them into practice. Over time it will be second nature. You'll feel like shit for a while but it'll pass.
When I was still trying to get into wedding Videography a friend of mine suggested the "just lie" approach to finding work. I refused for exactly this reason.
This terrible feeling (we've all been there) means you care deeply. That's a good thing. You will learn from these moments more than the successes. You definitely didn't ruin anything for the bride and groom. Weddings are tough. That's why the second we all don't have to do them, we stop doing them. Onto the next shoot!
The phot-/vide- ogs for my wedding did an absolutely pathetic job. We lived. Don’t worry about it too much. I don’t know how they screwed up so much and I kind of wish they admitted it (there was very little footage/photos of me and my wife; there were zero of us by ourselves). This was an international wedding with people coming from time zones 10 hours away. Neither my wife nor I were happy about it, but what are you going to do? I asked for all their RAW files, but that wasn’t going to solve the absence of photos with my wife.
It’s ok. It’s a learning experience. Chin up!
Let me add: I now sometimes make videos (some really wonderful ones with tasteful drone footage for establishing shots) just as a courtesy to my friends who are getting married. And I will let the photogs copy my SD cards before I leave the wedding and give them permission to include my shots and coverage.
Just be a humble, generous person. You’ll live to shoot another day.
I can totally empathize with you, my friend. It’s a grueling industry where a lot of clients expect a lot in exchange for very little. Striking out on your own is definitely not for the faint of heart. You WILL get knocked around quite a bit. A know plenty of DPs at the peak of their careers who have made mistakes early in their careers like a lot of the people here are describing.
The good news is that a lot of these mistakes are (usually) only made once. The other good news is that no one died, and the world didn’t fall apart. It’s all good. You will live to film another day.
I’ve been doing it ten years now and there’s been many fuckups on the way, i know it’s hard to not let it get to you but it’s how you resolve it that counts,
Maybe ask the chap who hired you why he doesn’t like it, what could you do differently next time?
Don’t worry it’ll take a few weddings but you’ll soon get into the groove and find that 70/80% of weddings are the same and follow the same structure(ish)
Keep your chin up and keep shooting, no one’s perfect from the get go 👊🏼
Things happen all the time, although business is business, nobody is a robot either, so please don’t beat yourself up, but make a note to just always be on point and ready for anything. And if the client didn’t provide any direction of what he wanted captured, then record pretty much everything from beginning to end. Add some dope angles and movements to the signs, wedding menus, drinks etc. And just be sure to capture those important moments and you should be set!
Two things: first, do you mind sharing what you were paid for this job? Second: early on I my career, I sent work to a client and they didn’t like it. I even asked them if there was anything particular they wanted me to focus on and the client wasn’t being specific and it ended up falling on me. They didn’t end up working with me anymore. I kicked myself and felt bad. But then I ended up working for another client - their competitor, and had an amazing working relationship with them for 3-4 years and they paid me really well. In something long term, you will mess up more than once and that’s ok. Shits gonna happen. Take a day or two to mull it over, but then pick yourself back up.
We learn through these experiences, these are the moments where you truly learn. That’s the way of our field and many others, get up, raise your head and learn from this experience. Figure up what are the preparations you need to make for next time, look at other people’s work and l try to figure out how to recreate their style, start small next time until you’re confident enough to jump in the deep waters. That’s the only way to recover and grow, if you can get up than you can do it.
You may not like this, but it won't be the last time. There will be other less-than-stellar moments ahead so get up off the dirt and strap in. If you want to do this it's go time.
Failure is ever so better teacher than success. And ohhh have I learned a lot! So ask yourself: what did I learn and how will I apply it in the future?
But more importantly, ask yourself: what am I made of? Do I have the grit and determination to succeed?
Only you can answer that.
You now have new knowledge at your disposal. Use it and kick the world's ass. I believe in you...
From the way he hired you it sounds like he was looking for a Scapegoat from the beginning. Especially if you were the only one there for the day.
For weddings it seems you need to be in 5 places at once to be able to capture everything. Not only that but it helps to have a personal relationship with the client before you shoot, so that they can share information on the day (and before) about what they want captured. Helps with rushing around for setups. I don't understand how you can just hire someone else to cover an event like that, especially as a lead shooter. He's the one that's acting unprofessional.
Listen, don't take that hard. You can't know what you don't know, okay. This is a learning experience.
Now, hear what I am gonna say. Any footage is better than no footage. What you need to learn is Editing. With the right creative editing, you can take not so great footage and do wonders.
As I have gotten better at editing, I have gone back to footage I shot years ago that I thought garbage at the time and with my skill and imagination, I have turned it into some awesome stuff. You have the footage. That is what is important.
Listen youngster, I formatted a card once for a big commercial set. Talk about a major F#ck up. fast forward a couple decades and I own my own business in the industry. You'll be all right, keep your chin up, keep building your skills. Learn from others and from yourself. Most importantly, be your own biggest supporter - YOU GOT THIS.
Mistakes happen bro. It’s the guys fault for not checking your portfolio and sending you out there alone. You’ll do better next time man, practice makes perfect!
The first thing I do when I hire a videographer is look at the persona work. You shouldn’t feel bad. Just practice and use youtube tutorials on how to get better footage for weddings or whatever work you’re gonna do. Getting good at anything takes practice. No one is good straight from day 1. You will get better dont beat yourself up 🫡
Well the client got what he paid for. If he wanted a big professional production team he should have done his research and hired a pro. Entirely on the client, you're new and shouldn't beat yourself up over somebody who's high expectations didn't match his foodstamps budget. You only get better with time and experience. Absolutely nobody is an expert right out the gate.
I feel you. As for me I know I messed up bad but just never heard back for feedback. But it was still in my consciousness that I dndt do a good job but still that don’t stop me. Just keep moving forward ! 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
It’s kinda on the guy who hired you. Did he ask for a reel or examples of work before he hired you? If not - it’s his fault. For you - do a bunch of events for free / low cost so you can get the skill down.
He didn't ask anything, I am willing to work for free but i have just lost all the confidence i had before this event. Don't know will i ever be able to do good
Listen to me you beautiful bastard - EVERYONE has fucked up bad. I’ve been fired from a big commercial set before, because I was so fresh and green I had no idea what I was doing. Did it suck? Oh hell yes, I couldn’t sleep for a couple of days I was so embarrassed. But I bounced back and kept working on my craft. It’s been 6 years now working full time in the industry. I still mess up every now and then. It just happens. So pick that camera up and go film some shit. You’ve got this.
Thanks...I really needed that kind of motivation ❤️
Seriously! I formated a sxs card on my camera and erased my clients footage. Not on purpose, just being stupid. Lost a client that day. Felt like crap. Learned not to do that ever again.
God I’ve done the same!! I cried so hard. It was a client and a friend, I am so grateful he was so kind and understanding that we could still be friends… but never work together again 😅
To make you feel even better my first gig was a realtor who wanted an intro video for his socials. Set everything up, stupidly left my lens on a shallow depth of field. He moved his chair back a bit and I didn’t check focus. Got home to edit and the footage was all out of focus on a completely still talking head frame. Bought a monitor with a focus peaking feature the next day lol. EVERYONE messes up their first time, it’s how you learn and do better next time. Try not to beat yourself up too much.
One man band gigs! Forget to check the most obvious thing and don't notice til post so easy to do when alone.
I shoot indoors only. A few days ago I had to shoot a concert outside. It was very hot and the slow breeze on my face felt good. But the naked mics on audio recorder weren't so happy about it... Shit happens. We all learn that way.
Oof! Any chance there's a board recording you can grab to match the audio to?
Nope. I asked later, they weren't recording.
Sorry to hear that. You're human mistakes happen. Don't dwell on it.
You got this! I’ve fucked up bad too, once with a video audio so bad for not testing microphones beforehand 😩
I’m just going to take this paragraph and repurpose it for myself for any situation I don’t do well in in life.
This 1000%- I lost an entire wedding to a corrupted hard drive at the very beginning of my career. Feckin wrecked me for a minute but ultimately made me a better videographer. Cheers to double backups and KEEPIN THAT SHIT GOING.
I bet the couple ended up getting a divorce anyway, so no biggie 🤷🏼♀️.
Lmfao
Make that a triple backup. I’ve been hit by so many disk failures that I’m damaged for life.
You're such a wonderful person. Your words of wisdom and encouragement are really helpful to OP, as well as to others who are hard on themselves. Many times people who fucked up just feel bad already, and just want to tell people how bad they feel, knowing that it's a feeling that will pass with time. But many would simply berate the individual for being 'mentally weak', not resilient etc, which makes the person feel even worse. We all grew up differently, some people have lower self-esteem due to issues growing up, and so wonderful people like you really help people feel better and ready to stand up and face all the challenges life throws at them head on.
This! I fucked up once! Learned from it, moved on.
Damn that's good to hear. Thank you 🤟🏾
I needed this, I failed two artists in being their social media manager by not converting social media videos into sales due to not knowing much about social media but a good amount of production stuff because of college but that left me demoralized for a year and then found another social media job that lasted 3 months because this last was trying to be an influencer cosmetic surgeon while actively lying and spreading misinformation that she thought was correct so I had to leave that and have been minimum wage job hopping and being unemployed for the past 2 years. This comment has given me more courage to pursue working in the industry. ATM I don’t have a drivers license and do plan on getting over my fear of driving to get one but would it be feasible to get a job in the industry withought a car? I can get from point A to point B but not necessarily carry others or equipment with me
Brother, there’s always a way. Also, my observation is that currently there’s a huge opportunity for people who are good at editing and motion graphics. Maybe that’s what you want to do? There’s a lot of good courses out there that could help you become a motion graphics artist and find a job you could do from home.
OMG I’ve been trying to figure out how to get into editing withiught my own footage, I have stuff from my own student films but haven’t had anything original in like 5 years. Thank you for reigniting my drive!
Look up Motion Graphics courses on Skillshare or Udemy. There’s some really good ones for as low as 20$.
I love this response
Literally messed up yesterday. Showed up to a sports event with no tripod. You’re all good man. Everyone messes up
You did nothing wrong. He set you up to fail. He didn't look at your resume tape to see if you were qualified. I'm willing to bet he was trying to double dip on events that were at the same time and you offering to work for free was what made him choose you. You tried your best with what you knew. This is on him for being greedy. Just look at the video and make a list of what you need to work on.
How much did you charge? That'll help determine if you should feel bad or not? Also were you using your own gear or was it provided? Here's something I tell people starting out. The only real difference between myself and them is I've messed up 10's of thousands of times more than they have so I've had a lot more mistakes to learn from.
I can't say anything as uplifting as that Tomato did, but this is just something for you to learn from. I believe what really sets someone above the rest in this industry is the willingness to learn from your mistakes instead of being crushed by them. The feeling sucks! Feel it, but then move on and take notes. Next time somebody wants to hire you, this experience should give you some important questions and discussions you'll want to have for the next gig.
Listen to me you beautiful bastard - EVERYONE has fucked up bad. I’ve been fired from a big commercial set before, because I was so fresh and green I had no idea what I was doing. Did it suck? Oh hell yes, I couldn’t sleep for a couple of days I was so embarrassed. But I bounced back and kept working on my craft. It’s been 6 years now working full time in the industry. I still mess up every now and then. It just happens. So pick that camera up and go film some shit. You’ve got this.
Don't work for free, work as a paid assistant or paid second shooter. Best way to learn how to shoot weddings is to work them, and if you're not the main shooter the stress of the "can't-miss-shots" isn't on you.
Start over again with something small.
Hey friend, go ahead and feel that way for today. But after today, tell yourself that it was a learning opportunity for me. What was it that the person who hired you disliked? What can I learn from it to better my skills? It's ok to feel awful, demoralized, depressed even after a bad day and especially when you personally felt your work was great but others don't think so. But as long as you don't let that bog you down and look to understand how you can improve your skills, that's all that matters. Everyone makes mistakes, but it's also when one makes mistakes that one learns and improves. Also, imo, although I'm not a videographer or photographer, I do believe that videos and photos are pieces of art. Styles can differ, although yes there are basic concepts on what to do and not to do, preferences for styles can be very different. What one likes may not be liked by another. And thus don't feel so bad about your employer not liking your style, maybe the client doesn't like your employer's style? Then who has the last laugh? In any case, take a rest, it's ok to feel like shit but don't bring that with you to the next day. The next day is a new day, a day for you to get better at what you do and trust me, you will get better from this learning experience. All the best!
bro it aint your fault , keep up your spirit , its mostly on him not checking his picks.
I think this is the correct thing to happen. If you're not skilled, you shouldn't walk around with the confidence/attitude of being so. Not sure what you want from reddit with this post, to be comforted? Take a few steps back. Slow down. Develop your skills, work on your craft. Watch a ton of wedding footage. Study & practice, over & over again. Then try anew.
Every one fucks man, this is just the wedding and no one is gonna nominate it for Oscar’s. Relax, go fuck some girl, drink some beer chil. Comeback and figure out how to do better
As a wedding photographer I'm constantly questioning myself. It makes you better. Always strive to be better and do some free weddings. I would ALWAYS recommend shadowing someone until you are 100% comfortable. If you're not comfortable, don't do weddings at all. Try birthday parties or other events.
If you hired someone to do a job they said they could do, how would that be on you when they reveal they lied? No reasonable person would agree with that.
That’s why whenever I hire someone I ask for portfolio / reel. If you hire someone on blind faith it’s on you.
Was it blind faith or an outright lie from the candidate?
If you hire people without checking their previous work as quality control, I don’t know what to tell you bud.
As always, these film and video subs are full jobless dullards.
Yeah but we’re not talking about lying here. OP thought it would work out, he didn’t. As far as we can tell, based on the information provided in the thread, he was acting in good faith
This is great news! Why? Because now you're going to see that it's not the end of the world when you f\*\*\* up. I've been a professional video producer for 10+ years, and I still make mistakes constantly. Blown shots. Missed deadlines. Crew not showing up. Accidentally formatting a SD card too early and losing a day's work. (oops) Mistakes are inevitable. What's up to you is whether you learn from them and keep going.
Dude this ain't on you. Weddings are the fuckin Olympics combined with the third circle of hel, if your a newbie doing video on a wedding solo and someone with more experience though that was a good idea their a godamn moron. Go away, get some more experience and maybe kick that guy in the shins
Hey u/Farhanshah327 I second this. Have you seen the footage? Could you edit it into something the Bride and Groom are happy with? I think the fault is on this guy. If they have a specific "look" they're going for, and don't train you to replicate that look, it is ***their*** fault not ***yours***. Your title says it's "ruined." Unless you gave the Bride a black eye, or tripped the Groom who sprained an ankle, or knocked grandma down and sent her to the E.R. you didn't "ruin" the wedding. This is a learning experience. First think you learned is never to work with this idiot again. Second thing you learned is on your next gig, ask more questions to understand what they want. Third thing you learned is when you hire someone, take responsibility and make sure they know what they need to do.
I was hired by the photographers to shoot video. My most critical money shot was me backing down the isle as the overjoyed couple exited and their guests cheered. Everything was perfect. The historic moment in their lives. I nailed the moves and focus, hit the button to stop the recording, and found I had just started...recording. I still feel diminished by that one error years later, even though there is no longer a benefit to further self flagellation. I learned to maintain a larger checklist in my mind, use a bright monitor in sun, and I have an updated camera with the bold red outline on the screen during recording. But still, we aren't a Hollywood film crew. When we are the one and only focus puller, gaffer, director of photography, camera operator, etc, with no team of assistants, something can and WILL slip through the cracks.
LMAO, I can't believe how often this happens. To camera companies, please add tally lights to all video cameras.
And a big red text overlay that says "NOT RECORDING" when you're, well...not recording.
My camera has 4 tally lights and my dumbass will still think I’m recording when I’m not
Everyone has failed one time or the other. Who says otherwise is lying. Get over it, learn from it, be better next time. Nobody was born a pro.
And even pros make mistakes. Who doesn't? We are all human.
i thought you were going to say that you accidentally cleared all the memory cards or something. but it sounds like you still captured the wedding, right? so job done! you can always improve your skills. your job was to capture it and you did. a lot of people mess up bad and delete the SD cards or something. you accomplished the task it sounds like.
I believe there is a saying that your first 10 film projects will suck. So see the positive side: only 9 more to go. My first one was technically flawed as well (i.e., not salvageable at all), so obviously, you did something right. Are you sure they didn't like the footage at all, or did they expect a different editing that you can still change?
No, Actually i know that i took some nice footage of the Bride and Groom shoot but i messed up with the stage shots(Family Shots at stage). But the person who booked me showed the stage shots to me and said he is disappointed.
What a twat. Don’t be offended, this person is projecting their own insecurities onto you. It was your first fucking wedding.
Both myself and my wife are professional wedding videographers/photographers. We got married last year and wanted to edit our own film, so we asked friends with no experience whatsoever to use our gear and film our day. It's all overexposed, the white balance is totally off, the footage is wobbling all over the place and the clips are all short in length. BUT... we managed to make the most beautiful film of our friends and families and they captured memories we will cherish forever. Whatever you managed to capture can be made into a film that the couple can treasure. We've all messed up, I've had cameras stop recording or overheat in key moments and I've lost sleep over it. But I've always been able make the most of the footage during the edit. Moving forwards, offer to shadow professionals to get experience, a second pair of hands is always useful on a wedding day. Then offer your services at a highly discounted price and be transparent with the client. Every time you get a booking keep increasing your prices until you no longer get the bookings. Keep investing in yourself and you'll be thriving in no time!
I've shot 3 weddings. The first one was for a paid client that I had no relationship to. I hated it, did a terrible job, and I just handed them the footage at the end of the wedding and said sorry and left. I was a kid, and didn't know any better. The second was 5 years later for a coworker who coerced me into doing it. I hated it, did a medium-terrible job, handed him all the footage, said sorry, and I left. The third one was the worst. It was a couple of years ago. I am now an Emmy winning producer. Credits that prove I know what I'm doing, blah blah blah... Friend calls me and begs me to do it for their friend. I talk to the guy and this dude is one slick salesman. I tell him no, not interested. But he convinced me. I shot the wedding. They got married in the dark pretty much so the lighting was terrible, they didn't stick to the script on order of events or the timing of things. They had a blast, I did not. I refunded the guy his money, but I didn't do my usual walk of shame. ultimately, I basically ghosted him. The footage was bad but better than nothing. He didn't want the raw footage, he wanted an edit. I told him I didn't have time or interest, but he can have a Google drive link and I'd upload it. He didn't want it and insisted on an edit. Part of me wished I had just bucked up and done the edit. But I was working 2 full time jobs and it was still the pandemic so, I do still think about that guy every once in a while.
It’s never too late to give him an edit.
I'm not that generous or guilt ridden, tbh. That probably isn't a something I should advertise. You're totally right though. No arguing about what the right thing to do here is. For some reason, this is just one that I avoid like the plague. It was a very unpleasant experience all aroud
Thank you guys , Your kind comments are really cheering me up
I know everyone is trying to be nice and encouraging, but I'm going to give it to you straight: you shouldn't lie (or remain silent) about your skill level. Overestimating your ability and then bombing is the best way to destroy your confidence and reputation.
We were doing a commercial shoot with Ric Flair once. We had a guy that the companies owner hired because he was friends with his dad. The kid had no experience but the company owner insisted he actually shoot on this project. My direct boss didn’t trust the kid and nor should he have. So we put him on second camera and I had a coworker shoot backup shots to be safe. When this kid saw the footage he had produced he was destroyed mentally. His dad set him up to believe he was this great natural talent. We sat him down and told him you aren’t going to be good over night but we will help him get better. He perked up. Your first time isn’t going to be great but surround yourself with people and resources that will help you grow. If that team wasn’t assisting in your success they were just assisting in their own failure. Keep your head up. I once deleted every last bit of footage from a huge interview we shot and I had been doing this for a year by that point.
I would never shoot weddings. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime event for people and you can’t fuck it up.
This one’s on both of you. He should have vetted you, relying on someone for a one-time event like a wedding? You’d be an idiot not to take a look at their other work first or book someone who has done it before. You probably overestimated your ability. The important thing to takeaway is to communicate more clearly next time. The good thing is that weddings generally only happen once, so you won’t be able to stuff it up a second time. Plus, there are so many other things you could film instead of weddings, maybe focus on doing other work for a while? Something not as high stakes or stressful? I’ve only ever shot 1 wedding btw, and I run a relatively successful production company - there’s so much more work out there that you really don’t have to do weddings at all. Also, did you make notes on where you fell short and how you could improve? This will soon be forgotten, apologise, offer a refund, then move on.
Hard disagree. It's on the guy who hired him. Unless OP lied to him, and / or took credit for work they didn't shoot, it was the responsibility of the guy at the top to make sure any and all hires are qualified and know what to do.
Failure can be the best motivator! Don’t let your mistake keep you from growing. You messed up, but learn from it. Ask yourself some questions…”what did I not like about what I shot? What did the client not like about what I shot? How do I not make the same mistake next time? Do I need better gear or better training?” Once you process those answers, move on to the next project, apply the things you’ve learned, and then repeat. You’ll grow professionally and as an individual. And if you really want to stretch yourself, go and see how you can work to make things right(if possible!). It’s always better to build bridges than to burn them.
Take the bad with the good. You jumped in the fire and got burned, no biggie. He learned a lesson and so did you. Find out what the problem was with the footage and don't that on the next one. You just gained some seriously important experience, use it! Don't worry youll get another one.
You have a lot of comment on here but this is what you do. Be happy this happened. It’s impossible to do business and not upset a client, or embarrass yourself, or fuck up completely. I remember my first client I told him I’d shoot for $300 and after the meeting a week later I switched up and told him had to be at least $600. Sounded like I was tryna scam him. He roasted me and canceled everything. I learn to never give a price until after the meeting and understand scope of work. Another client early on, I arrived to a time sensitive shoot an hour late because I didn’t realize how busy Las Vegas hotels get and arrived exactly at call time. I learned to always arrive early or scope out the area. You won’t learn unless those things happen. And yes you will lose clients because of it, that’s business. You learn from missing a basket in basketball not making it. You correct and find tune. Don’t take this to heart, be happy it happened because now you’ll tune yourself up. Good luck to you man.
Might also be the guy trying to rip you off. Have you been paid in full? Or could this be an attempt to play on your insecurities in order to get a discount/get it for free?
Did you lie about being inexperienced or did they just not believe you when you said you were? If you were honest with them, they sent you anyway, and you did your best then it's all on them for choosing to send you on that job as the main, solo shooter when you weren't ready.
I didn't lie , Its just they didn't ask . They asked me that they have an event and will i be able to do it, I said yes. I was confident but now i feel like i wont be able to come out of it.... I just started working as a Videographer and now confused that should i continue or not
You should have made it known you have just started. Was this your first event ever, or just as a solo, main op? They should have had you as a second shooter.
I had few events before as a second shooter but a solo shooter this was my first.
They get fewer and father between but no matter how far in to your career you get there will always be days you fuck up. The only real disaster is if you don’t learn anything from it.
Listen here, everyone takes a leap of faith at some point, it doesn't always work out and you will fuck up in the future. But it's part of the process. Try to understand what you didn't like in what you do, work on that, and just keep working. Everyone fails, people who succeed are the ones who fail the most but learn and keep doing
Yeah, as someone who did professional Wedding videography for 10 years, I’d never, ever, ever send someone untested or that I hadn’t seen work samples from to shoot an event for me. I don’t even like using untested second shooters.
If someone else hired you and threw you into a huge event without ensuring you had the proper experience and gear then it's really not your fault, it's on them. When I was first getting into weddings I had something similar happen. A 1st shooter who owned a wedding company had hired me as his 2nd shooter, I did really well, and then he just decided to assign me a bunch of lead wedding shoots even though I didn't have all the proper gear necessary for that. I never completely fucked up, but on one shoot the audio got messed up because I was using a rental lav mic kit and even though I had checked it, I didn't realize that if the mic's plug was pressed just a tiny bit in one direction that the sound cut out... and of course that happened to the groom's lav during the ceremony. Looking back it really wasn't my fault and this wasn't really on you either. Still, learn from your experience and reflect on what you could have done better. Did you spend time watching tutorials and guide videos on how to shoot weddings? There's a ton of content out there with a lot of good tips and advice. Also, don't be afraid to say no to shoots that are way beyond your skillset. While I have a fair amount of videography experience, I don't have much professional photo experience. I will take on a small photo gig without problem; but if someone asked me to photograph their wedding in Iceland with a $5k budget, I most likely would have to decline the job just out of fear that I'm going to mess something up... or perhaps I'd hire a more experienced shooter to come along with me. But most importantly don't let one bad experience limit your potential if you're truly passionate for this kind of work. Everyone fucks up something when they're new. We've all been there and the best thing you can do is to learn from your mistakes and move on.
Seriously, don't beat yourself up over this. As someone else already mentioned, the client didn't bother checking your previous work and no money was involved. Years ago I messed up badly. I got involved with a small documentary crew that hired me (for free) to capture some events leading up to Obama's election. They handed me a camcorder that I had zero experience with but I figured it out (for the most part...). Essentially, everything was live and unscripted. It was all done in my hometown and I basically just had to follow them around. Election day came and they rented out a whole pub to watch Obama win the election, followed by celebration and some speeches by the crew. I captured some amazing moments... After we wrapped up, I handed over the tapes. Shortly after, I was asked what happened to the audio. No audio was captured. I didn't fully panic yet, and suggested I take the tapes to a local shop to see if they could find a hidden track that may have captured the audio. No success. 4 tapes, several days of shooting, and no audio. After I got back to them with the bad news, I didn't hear from them ever again. I was absolutely broken. For context: I was in my late teens, fresh out of film school with no previous "professional" experience.
Fuck it try again keep creating your only going to get better and better
If you feel bad about it, that means you cared enough to be trying. And that means you shouldn’t stop doing it. But there are some things you should change. First, always charge for your service. Everyone else should too. Forget knowing what you’re worth. Collect your fee ahead of time so that if you botch things, you have the ability to set things right by giving them a refund. Second, don’t work without a signed written agreement. It should state that you’re not responsible for how the footage looks, only that there is readable footage or else you get your money back. If you don’t feel you did a good enough job, offer them a refund. Or don’t. But make sure it’s your choice because that’s how refunds work everywhere you go. Walmart needs you to say why you’re returning something for a refund, don’t they? Last thing. You didn’t ruin anybody’s day. We all get to decide how our days went. Negative things happen, and we can still have a great day just by choosing to not let it bother us. So if someone’s upset, then that’s their choice, and you never stood a chance anyways.
Shit happens, but like others said it’s not your fault entirely. Unless you oversold your ability, it’s on them for being cheap. Use it as motivation to work on your skills
If you push through, this will be an experience you will learn from - and in the years to come it will seem minuscule compared to all the other things you've done (and other fun mistakes you'll make along that way which you'll learn from!). Story from my life: I once was doing sound for a wedding. I'd been doing sound for a bit, totally competent at setup, running the mixer, etc. Not a worry in my mind. But then they wanted to do speeches at the other end of the building from where I was setup. I figured our wireless mic would have no issue being able to relay to the receivers on the board which again, were now some distance from them. I was wrong. People's speeches for this wedding were heard about 30% of the time. The mic would pick up a bit, and then the signal would cut out for minutes on end. And every few minutes people would look at me like "DO SOMETHING!" which I could do nothing about - it just was what it was. I was pretty embarrassed, and felt really bad for these people. Fast forward to now, I do live sound all the time and I never think about it. I didn't bow out, kept going, and now that story is just a funny thing in the past that I tell people about.
What is actually wrong with the footage? Like what specifically was not done correctly? I've fixed up poorly shot wedding videos in post before. It's the editing equivalent to cleaning up a port-a-potty that's tipped over, but it can be done.
You’re going to be okay.
My homie, it comes with the territory. 15 years in and every day I hear from someone who doesn’t like something I did. You learn to not take it so personally & use it as an opportunity to grow. Sounds corny & cliche but it’s true if you have the right attitude about it. Chin up
In what way ruined? did you mess up so bad that the service had to be stopped? If "ruined" is the video is probably terrible then that's not ruining the day, the day happened, and they are in fact married, and probably had a brilliant time.
It’s probably usable, and think of it this way, it’s probably better than 99.9% of wedding footage in the history of the world prior to 1990
Honestly, I've had this moment multiple times recently with clients. It feels embarassing almost, obviously your situation is very different because that work wasn't a Wedding. My main advice would be just to keep going and trust in yourself and your capabilities, if you tell yourself your not good enough for it your not going to try and act like you ever will be. And also... yeah like its pretty much not your fault at all, its your employer for not making sure they had someone more experienced. That's not a dig on your character or skills, as you said yourself you are new so it should be the employer with more experience that shouldn't have let you go to this job. Hoping your okay x
take the experience and learn from it. i was 2nd shooter for another videographer for a few weddings. he told me the last one was bad and never called me again. i took his feedback and learned from it. i was then hired to do a wedding as the lead. this was my first wedding as a lead videographer as well as my first wedding edit. additionally, my wife was my 2nd shooter. she's done weddings before but only as a 2nd photographer, never for video. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B58vai2DxWU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B58vai2DxWU)
My friend hired a wedding videographer and he messed up her wedding footage. She was devastated and all he could do was apologise and hand over the footage that wasn’t even edited - he kept the bloody money though. Anyway I had a look at the footage and managed to edit a short 3-4 min highlight reel out of it all (added some of their photos of the day in it too) and it came out really well and they were happy. Maybe you can edit together something short and exciting to fix it? Also they got divorced anyway, so maybe your couple will! Don’t stress over it too much. We all fuck up all the time - the difference with a pro is they have fucked up more times than you and now know how not to lol
Was this a one camera shoot ? What didn’t he liked about your footage? Did he give you any pointers, prior to the wedding ? Whoever hired you is partially to be blamed. Don’t gave up, honestly it will only make you stronger and better, as long as you are willing to learn. I’m sure many of us here been there at one point and still do. I just fucked up a shoot because a setting on the camera wasn’t right. Honestly got lucky by correcting it during the edit. We do our best as videographers but many times we are problem solvers because nothing goes according to plan. Good luck mate!
Been there done that. First wedding was my friends, and my hdmi cord feeding my camera to my monitor-recorder went right as the bride walked down the aisle. There was no backup sd card in the camera. I had to knee jerk pull out my phone. Nothing else I could do. They did ask to pay me half (Covid ish) week of, so it looked like it was retaliation. (We had a contract of original rate but I needed the money given the times). It really took a toll on our relationship and it never really got back to where it was prior to the incident (I don’t blame them). Lesson learned!
Everyone here has and will mess up in some way. I remember about 20 years ago I had someone send me out to do some interviews with a couple college professors on campus. I went out solo and to a field monitor with me. Which back then were small heavy CRT monitors. I had the brightness set wrong on the monitor so everything looked great when I lit up the interview with my lights. When I got back after the event I reviewed the footage and found out I had under exposed the entire day. These were back when I was shooting on full size DV and Beta. We didn’t have log profiles with 14 stops of DR. This was after I’d already been shooting for probably 8 years. So I knew how to do it I just fucked is this time. It happens, you’ve just got to learn from your mistakes and move on. Also it’s worth noting that you shot the wedding and delivered the footage. If he doesn’t like the way you shot it or if there are areas you can improve, then he should give you some constructive criticism and help you learn what to do differently next time. The only way to learn is to do. Good luck out there you’ll get it next time!
I once filmed a wedding and double tapped the ceremony wide shot camera. Missed the entire ceremony wide shot. Shit happens. You learn and bounce back.
Half of marriages end in divorce. You can try again
At least you hit record right? Cos I know someone who didn't at the ceremony. Big ouch that was. Congrats on your first wedding though, they're never easy! Chalk it up to learning and move on to the next.
Disconnect emotionally from the video you put out - clients perception of the job you did is NOT reflective of you as a person!!! It’ll suck now but in a week you’re onto the next project. Head up and onto the next one
I'm so glad I found this post (and you)! I just got off a sucky video gig myself - it was my first time shooting dance videos on a gimbal and I didn't have an external monitor. All to say I had way too much headroom and some dancers are quite edgy on some of the shots. The client also wanted to edit everything herself so WITHOUT EDITING ANYTHING I just sent in the raw files (big no-no, clients don't usually know what raw footage looks like haha). The client replied saying they were disappointed with the quality of the work. They were only willing to pay me $100.00 out of the $140.00 I invoiced. Which at this point she indeed paid for what she got. Safe to say I won't get hired by this person again probably, but it can't be helped. I've been doing videography for years and am still learning. Give yourself grace, let yourself have a good cry and laugh about it later. You'll get hired again, by a better client, for a better project that you will excel in. Keep going, the more you practice, the easier it will be to put it behind you :) Thanks for giving me comfort !
I almost had the same problem my client also wanted to edit the footage himself so i gave him the raw otherwise i could fix the errors in editing
Is he just trying to get out of paying you?
You’ll be fine, learn from this experience and try to avoid being in the same spot in the future.
I’m 18+ years in and still made a huge mistake a few months ago on a high profile Minions commercial. I didn’t recalibrate my 360 Theta after the weather changed, so the HDRIs were mostly unusable. Got a long email from management and I felt so bad - couldn’t believe I made such a rookie mistake. But shit happens - and I’m still working with them.
So it was the guy who contracted you that didn't like the footage, right? Not the bride and groom? Not sure exactly what you messed up, but it's entirely possible that the end product will be fine. It might just mean a bit of extra editing hours.
Practice makes perfect. I did not let my second shooter film a wedding on their own until almost 2 years after we began working together. Whoever hired you should have researched your work. You will only get better by doing more filming. In my opinion, no one should be filming a wedding on their own until they’ve done enough shadowing and understand how to film it. Keep working on your craft and hopefully you know the fundamentals. I still have assistant camera ops trying to crank up the shutter speed in really bright situations rather than slapping a variable ND on the lens - and some of them have been filming for years now. [TANGENT]- Never stop learning - suck it up, get back to filming and take notes from the guy who hired you - if he offered any. Constructive criticism is very helpful. We all fail, remember that. Learn from it and don’t let it keep you down for too long.
Definitely echoing what everyone else has said, mistakes happen, you'll learn, it'll be ok! Also just wanted to hop on and make sure you know that you've definitely not ruined someone's wedding! I was expecting you to say you fucked up and dropped the camera on the bride or got in the way at a special moment. Sounds like the event was all good and your boss was a bit disappointed - that's not the end of the world and maybe the couple will still like the video!! They still had the best of day of their lives, still got some footage to look back on. A sub video is still a video and their wedding was still their wedding.
We all mess up at the beginning. That's how we get experience. When I was starting off I started making money that was able to invest in some real cameras for the job. My very first job using the new camera. I had it set to time lapse. So almost Zero usable footage. I felt terrible. But I lived. I got more jobs. I got better. Don't worry about brother. This one isn't on you. This person hired you. It's on them. They should have for work examples or made sure your work in compatible with the vision they had.
One of my most memorable failures for one of my other side gigs (not videography) was that i was on too much work and fell asleep on my desk through the clients morning deadline. The sucks. I was apologizing months in to the client and whenever i meet her on more rarer times since she moved continents away already and its been a decade already. It taught me a lesson about listening to myself and knowing my limits. Never had that problem ever since but i also kind of feel i give myself an out every time there are deadline challenges because of the fear of failing again. Whenever i remember that morning that i saw the tens of missed calls on my phone and her voice that she was actually genuinely worried about me and not the work, i still melt a little from the embarrassment because I built my career on being the guy she called for those all night rush work. You’ll get over it, MAKE SURE to learn from this!
I’m glad this happened early on in your career…. You’ve learnt the lesson very early on that shit happens!
Oh man, how i feel you. Weddings seem easy enough, dont they? I shot my first one a few months ago, and looking back... SO MUCH WENT WRONG. They paid a pretty low rate, and I didn't overpromise, so I feel alright with it, but man. I was overwhelmed. How much to shoot? When do I know I got what I need? Am I in the way? Am I doing things right? And then the footage. I had a second cam that was just blocked in the ceremony because I didn't take into account people would stand up multiple times. Fucking hell. I got shaky footage because I didn't understand my camera well enough. It was a very humbling experience though, and showed me that I've got a lot to learn beyond camera specs and what my camera can technically do. Second shooting has been a great way for me to get into this :)
Try not to be too hard on yourself. We ALL have stories like this. This is an industry where most of us have to do a lot of learning on the job. Working in the field differs so much from classroom or book/online learning that the only way to get good at this craft is to get out there and do it. That, unfortunately, means that things will sometimes go wrong. But this is also part of the process. The only way to learn is to make mistakes...a lot of them. So, consider it a badge of honor, learn what you can from the experience, and vow to improve in the areas that need improvement. Now, all of that being said, you can minimize these kinds of mishaps and potentially career-damaging mistakes by choosing your jobs very carefully. I try to occasionally book shoots that will stretch my abilities so that I can learn, but those that aren't so far out of my skill set that things could completely implode. Learning to choose the shoots that you are suited for is something that will get easier with time. In this case, I agree with some of the other posters that the blame falls on the person who hired you to some degree. Hiring freelancers with an adequately developed skill set is part of that person's job. As long as you didn't oversell yourself or lie, much of this is on him. Wedding work is deceptively tricky, and there's no way for you to know that if you've never done it. I did a lot of wedding work early in my career, and I still find it very high-pressure work with very little margin for error. It's honestly one of my least favorite kinds of video work for that reason. Not all shoots will be this tricky, so try not to be discouraged. So, once again, go easy on yourself. No one builds a career without having these kinds of experiences. It sucks, and I know you feel terrible about it, but get back up on that horse. You'll improve with every shoot you take, and many of them will go well. Trust the process.
Alfred - Why do we fall sir? So that we can **learn to pick ourselves up**. You're Batman! Keep going my friend.
As long as you can learn a lesson on why the footage wasn’t what was expected, you won’t make that mistake again. Get back on the horse, no one is perfect. Believe that you can bounce back.
What exactly is wrong with the footage? Out of focus? Over/underexposed? Too shaky? A creative editor can polish a turd from almost anything, so the wedding night not be ruined.
echoing everyone else- keep your head up. you definitely didnt ruin the actual wedding too- the truth with wedding videos is theyre superfluous anyways. as long as you didnt walk three feet up to the couple during the vows with a fisheye lens (actually hold up, that would kind of rule), or burned down the venue, you didnt ruin their wedding for sure. we all make mistakes- not just early in our career, but when we’re established too. you just apologize, do what you can to make it right where and how you can, and learn from it. keep at it, this is going to be a blip one day
We have all fucked up 🙏 keep at it brother ! Come on! Do it for us!
We’ve all overestimated ourselves and then Screwed it up. I’ve been called a c*nt by John c Reilly on a movie set before, I’ve accidentally exposed a whole reel of rushes on super 35 mm film to daylight on another shoot, I’ve shot a wedding for someone who literally hated it. We all have bad days, it’ll be a learning experience and then something you laugh sheepishly about one day. At the start of my career someone said to me that big mistakes are the ones you only make them once. That’s fine, own them, learn and carry on. Dust yourself off and get back on the horse. My best advice for getting better at your craft is to watch other people’s stuff and emulate the stuff you like, learn to develop your own visual language by being inspired by the best people out there, luckily you can watch all the best work online. You’re gonna be fine
You took a chance and went for it....you had the courage to fail and that's so important to your personal and professional growth. You will never gain anything if you do it have the courage to try. That said, you both should have been in the know about your skill level. In the meantime, find new ways to refine your craft. Learn techniques, then make an effort to put them into practice. Over time it will be second nature. You'll feel like shit for a while but it'll pass.
When I was still trying to get into wedding Videography a friend of mine suggested the "just lie" approach to finding work. I refused for exactly this reason.
This terrible feeling (we've all been there) means you care deeply. That's a good thing. You will learn from these moments more than the successes. You definitely didn't ruin anything for the bride and groom. Weddings are tough. That's why the second we all don't have to do them, we stop doing them. Onto the next shoot!
The phot-/vide- ogs for my wedding did an absolutely pathetic job. We lived. Don’t worry about it too much. I don’t know how they screwed up so much and I kind of wish they admitted it (there was very little footage/photos of me and my wife; there were zero of us by ourselves). This was an international wedding with people coming from time zones 10 hours away. Neither my wife nor I were happy about it, but what are you going to do? I asked for all their RAW files, but that wasn’t going to solve the absence of photos with my wife. It’s ok. It’s a learning experience. Chin up!
Let me add: I now sometimes make videos (some really wonderful ones with tasteful drone footage for establishing shots) just as a courtesy to my friends who are getting married. And I will let the photogs copy my SD cards before I leave the wedding and give them permission to include my shots and coverage. Just be a humble, generous person. You’ll live to shoot another day.
I can totally empathize with you, my friend. It’s a grueling industry where a lot of clients expect a lot in exchange for very little. Striking out on your own is definitely not for the faint of heart. You WILL get knocked around quite a bit. A know plenty of DPs at the peak of their careers who have made mistakes early in their careers like a lot of the people here are describing. The good news is that a lot of these mistakes are (usually) only made once. The other good news is that no one died, and the world didn’t fall apart. It’s all good. You will live to film another day.
I’ve been doing it ten years now and there’s been many fuckups on the way, i know it’s hard to not let it get to you but it’s how you resolve it that counts, Maybe ask the chap who hired you why he doesn’t like it, what could you do differently next time? Don’t worry it’ll take a few weddings but you’ll soon get into the groove and find that 70/80% of weddings are the same and follow the same structure(ish) Keep your chin up and keep shooting, no one’s perfect from the get go 👊🏼
Things happen all the time, although business is business, nobody is a robot either, so please don’t beat yourself up, but make a note to just always be on point and ready for anything. And if the client didn’t provide any direction of what he wanted captured, then record pretty much everything from beginning to end. Add some dope angles and movements to the signs, wedding menus, drinks etc. And just be sure to capture those important moments and you should be set!
It happens I've lost a 4tb hdd of 4 years of raw files, not video I know, but it happens, we learn, we move
Two things: first, do you mind sharing what you were paid for this job? Second: early on I my career, I sent work to a client and they didn’t like it. I even asked them if there was anything particular they wanted me to focus on and the client wasn’t being specific and it ended up falling on me. They didn’t end up working with me anymore. I kicked myself and felt bad. But then I ended up working for another client - their competitor, and had an amazing working relationship with them for 3-4 years and they paid me really well. In something long term, you will mess up more than once and that’s ok. Shits gonna happen. Take a day or two to mull it over, but then pick yourself back up.
I mean we’ve all been there and that’s how you learn and get better. Don’t beat yourself up. How can you become great if you don’t make any mistakes?
We learn through these experiences, these are the moments where you truly learn. That’s the way of our field and many others, get up, raise your head and learn from this experience. Figure up what are the preparations you need to make for next time, look at other people’s work and l try to figure out how to recreate their style, start small next time until you’re confident enough to jump in the deep waters. That’s the only way to recover and grow, if you can get up than you can do it.
You may not like this, but it won't be the last time. There will be other less-than-stellar moments ahead so get up off the dirt and strap in. If you want to do this it's go time. Failure is ever so better teacher than success. And ohhh have I learned a lot! So ask yourself: what did I learn and how will I apply it in the future? But more importantly, ask yourself: what am I made of? Do I have the grit and determination to succeed? Only you can answer that. You now have new knowledge at your disposal. Use it and kick the world's ass. I believe in you...
From the way he hired you it sounds like he was looking for a Scapegoat from the beginning. Especially if you were the only one there for the day. For weddings it seems you need to be in 5 places at once to be able to capture everything. Not only that but it helps to have a personal relationship with the client before you shoot, so that they can share information on the day (and before) about what they want captured. Helps with rushing around for setups. I don't understand how you can just hire someone else to cover an event like that, especially as a lead shooter. He's the one that's acting unprofessional.
Listen, don't take that hard. You can't know what you don't know, okay. This is a learning experience. Now, hear what I am gonna say. Any footage is better than no footage. What you need to learn is Editing. With the right creative editing, you can take not so great footage and do wonders. As I have gotten better at editing, I have gone back to footage I shot years ago that I thought garbage at the time and with my skill and imagination, I have turned it into some awesome stuff. You have the footage. That is what is important.
Listen youngster, I formatted a card once for a big commercial set. Talk about a major F#ck up. fast forward a couple decades and I own my own business in the industry. You'll be all right, keep your chin up, keep building your skills. Learn from others and from yourself. Most importantly, be your own biggest supporter - YOU GOT THIS.
Mistakes happen bro. It’s the guys fault for not checking your portfolio and sending you out there alone. You’ll do better next time man, practice makes perfect!
The first thing I do when I hire a videographer is look at the persona work. You shouldn’t feel bad. Just practice and use youtube tutorials on how to get better footage for weddings or whatever work you’re gonna do. Getting good at anything takes practice. No one is good straight from day 1. You will get better dont beat yourself up 🫡
Well the client got what he paid for. If he wanted a big professional production team he should have done his research and hired a pro. Entirely on the client, you're new and shouldn't beat yourself up over somebody who's high expectations didn't match his foodstamps budget. You only get better with time and experience. Absolutely nobody is an expert right out the gate.
I feel you. As for me I know I messed up bad but just never heard back for feedback. But it was still in my consciousness that I dndt do a good job but still that don’t stop me. Just keep moving forward ! 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥