So… I have beeen an editor for more than twenty years and I dont know what is all about yet. why?
because the director controlls editing. how ? By what they shoot. Just how do you cut to a close up if
there is no close up? Editing is highly overated.
ps
Im not editing anymore.
The post is for young editors, there is a reason why you no longer edit.
There is no close up. Care to mention the reason why you no longer cut? it’ll add a lot to the post.
Thanks.
Right. It is under the line. Even DPs got more pull than editors. FTSht. Im writing now. Editors become scapegoats. The only time you hear about the editing of a film is to blame it for some screwup the director made. Tone rhytm etc.
Francisco, if you care to, I’d be interested in hearing about your transition from cutting film on a steenbeck to a digital environment, and what that was like.
To me it was preety smooth. I had been waiting for it for years so I welcome AVID ito the editing room. It was the linear CMX guys who never recovered. I know a guy who ended up becoming a drug dealer.
Awesome. Thanks for reply sir.
Perhaps the hard won lessons of the trade inform it. I am fascinated by people who have been doing this by a long time, and take much time to learn a craft.
High respect, so thank you for your opinion.
I beg to add that yes, the editor does get treated as such but only if he / she lets them to it. This is the reason for #4, which is to state your principles and damn everything else. If you’re lucky to work with good directors (as I have) then well, the upside overrides the jump cut. I speak as an optimist of course. The sleepless nights, constant changes, and ultimate responsibility lies on the editor, even through it is the director or producer (in commercials) that has the final say. This is a most troubling notion, as at times you feel as if you’ve done something great but must pull back to where they want it to be.
Ultimately it’s a collaborative medium, even though editors work in isolation. The DP is there for the duration of the shoot, while next to the director no one else spends as much time with the material as we do.
It’s an argument I use quite often, because the importance of the editor is often overlooked.
Would Scorsese be as highly regarded a Director has it been for Thelma Schoonmaker’s contribution? no doubt, but the shoe fits. People remember who he is, crafts remember who did it. All contribution is valid.
Like editing itself, it’s all highly subjective.
These reasons are why I (sometimes) overstate the importance of the editor, I fight for the credit & what’s mine, and ultimately let the picture dictate it. Everything else is a chance’s journey in which hold no control.
I love directors but I love what’s in front of me and that’s the task that must come true.
-Alan
Another tip:
If you’re not yet an editor, be aware that other things get edited besides just movies (and television series). Honestly, expect to be editing really bad interviews from film festivals and DVD extras (if you’re lucky and not just cutting PSAs together) while building up your “demo reel” (editor’s form of portfolio to be handed in with your resume). It is boring and low-paying work, but it’s what gets you in the editing room, frankly. If you want to edit anything better, you gotta shoot it yourself—which is an invitation, by the way, not a threat. So make your own movie.
—PolarisDiB
Editors can be scapegoats, but so is everyone working in post. And during production. And anyone not the director really. And then the director is the producer’s scapegoat.
On editing though,
One thing I’ve seen people do is just edit away bit by bit for hours, and not stop to watch the entire thing until the end. At which point they usually realize they need to start all over.
You can judge continuity going shot by shot, but to cut for performance you need to watch the entire scene play out.
Agreed. Editing is rewatching the movie more times than you can count, and then saying you’re done when you just can’t stand looking at it anymore.
—PolarisDiB
^ I’m writing that down.
Which explains the incoherent action sequences in those Michael Bay films, the editors can only take so much!
There’s almost no cut in Armageddon that lasts more than three seconds. How agonizing is that.
It’s worth mentioning, in reference to the whole continuity vs. performance thing, that film editors really did not have quite as much room to tweak as video editors, and honestly it’s much easier these days to aim for both. Before, editing was largely a process of cutting down, while now it’s a process of arrangement and post-production effects. Whereas I am no nostalgic fan of film, it’s worth understanding that with DV has come a lack of general discipline in shooting and editing, which can open up possibilities in both realms but adversely affect the tightness of structure and an auteur’s commanding “voice.”
I have, in fact, edited film. To be clear, it’s a miserable experience—and one that I can understand the deep-felt and die-hard love of, simply because it’s a process that requires and demands a level of devotion. Whereas any asshole with iMovie can recut The Shining into a trailer for a romantic comedy and post it to YouTube.
Edit: and when I say I’ve edited film, I mean 16mm without sound . I can’t even imagine the difficulties faced with editing for sound.
—PolarisDiB
Taken as a whole, the advent of HD and the tools available now has indeed radically changed the landscape of post, just as it has the shooting methods of filmmaking.
I have had the experience of working on fast paced, commercial work that demands knowledge of the latest tools and the discipline to meet the show’s requirements, which ^ Polaris mentioned any a hole can edit on Imovie but yet professional editors don’t follow that mantra, and aren’t intimidated by amateur video. There is a reason why picture cutters are in demand, and that’s to facilitate the post process in both film and commercial industries. Post has become the go to solution for a lot of shows, partly because the tools are there and shooters have gotten lazy having reliance on it.
Some directors are good cutters, and do their own work (like Robert Rodriguez and James Cameron) but to me the skill of a trained editor is invaluable to a film’s success no matter how it’s done.
This to me is what makes the huge difference, something akin to a hobby vs something you commit energy and considerable technique to learn, akin to a career. I do agree to a point about a general lack of discipline on both ends of shooting and editing on certain jobs, but if you have worked on commercial filmmaking it’s very very structured and specific on what needs to be done, unlike in film where it’s an evolving process geared with a well oiled machine. Depends on the show. Television is arguably where the freshest work is being done, as shows become more cinematic and films become a lot like TV. Seen any comedies lately?
No matter who what the work is, the footage speaks for itself. A general lack of discipline is not on the tools, but on the show, and the people who made it.
Everyone who cuts has their methodology, right?
The methodology changes show to show too, as well. Every time I edit another project, I find myself having to do it differently than how I did the last project.
—PolarisDiB
^ Agreed. It’s why I love post, it teaches you something new. And takes out the comfort zone.
Alanedit
Starting a career in post? already in post? good. Here are 5 things I learned, practically.
1. Drop the book. Hit the edit room.
Walter Murch is god among us, but he can’t tell you how to cut. No matter how many times I read his book, I didn’t have The Godfather or The English Patient to Edit. Better yet, none of us can cut like he does. No one cuts alike, right? That’s because post is a singular field, where emulation is not as valid as in film directing.
FWI: Start cutting, master the tools of storytelling-and gain experience. Orson Welles once said that in editing is where the true art of making pictures comes true, and you control it. (hahaha)
2. Three D’s. Deadlines, Deadlines, Deadlines.
90% of your job is a race against time, how you adjust requires organization. Once you’ve done this enough times, you’ll get good at it. Save time by getting all the specifics of your task before pressing return.
That means consulting with your client, director, cousin, whoever.
Knowing what you can / cannot accomplish in given time is what leverage is, otherwise you’ll be treated like a puppet in this world of emerging deadlines. And you’ll never sleep.
3. I know Final Cut Pro. I know After Effects. I know everything.
Guess what? pick two skills and get really good at it. Time and again I encounter the portfolios of everything in the kitchen, while no set sticks out distinctively. It is true that a lot more is demanded out of us these days when software facilitates use, just remember that if you’re doing grading, graphics and photoshop, expect to be paid for each skill you’re offering.
It’s impossible to be equally good at five jobs, pick two skills and market those well. And just because you know the software don’t make you an editor. (cracks knuckles).
4. Do the first edit yourself, listen to your client. Whichever comes first.
Are you uncomfortable having a director (or client) breathing on your back without a breath mint? nitpicking all your decisions? this is what I do: get the details right, and lay your cards on the table.
Once they trust you, chances are they respect you. I am not grateful for every job I get, because the dollar to hour ratio don’t match. So guess what? have conditions. You’re not a machine although in New York they expect you to have infra red capabilities and work miracles overnight.
The client is always right, even when they’re wrong. Getting paid for the assignment? then get inside their brain just like the footage you’re about to edit. Push on their weaknesses (directors sometimes don’t know what to do) and always, always pretend like you know what you’re doing even when you don’t.
Rough patch? fight for your right. If you feel strongly about something chances are you’re right.
The job tells you how to do it. Trust you.
5. Last but not least. Learn how to edit.
Final Cut Pro has made a lot of editors, and has also made a lot of amateurs into editors. Where you fall is up to you. One thing I agree with is that Editing is more than just a technical means, learning the art form is what you bring from your life using technical means, married to tell a story. How effective you are doing it is what will keep you employed, and hopefully keep you apart from the next person.
I know nothing, just what I can tell.
-Cut.