Career Paths: Editor

POSTED BY Wesley Scoggins, 19 July 2008

Hey there everybody, I am glad so many of you appreciated the previous article on Directing, and I was happy to hear that people got some inspiration or guidance from it. Well today I am going to focus on a career that many people seem to forget about when they talk about how a film "looks" or how it's pacing goes. Most people when they talk about a film's look, they talk about the Director, but one of the most unsung heroes of how a final film FEELS is the Editor.

I obviously am NOT an Editor (not a Professional one at least), but our very own forum user Westcroft, is currently working on his Video Productions Certification, and wanted to address some things he has learned while working towards his accreditation. 

Take it away Westcroft!

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Right now I'm currently taking a series of courses that will get me a Digital Audio/Video Productions Certificate and hope to be cutting my way into the industry soon... Sorry for the pun.

A few things I realized, learned, heard about, etc. is that a great way to get into the industry is through being technical and creative, Robert Rodriguez talked about this in the first 10 minute film school, if you're creative and technically trained then you're unstoppable.

Editing is obviously a technical aspect of film making, but that doesn't mean you can't be creative. It gives you great chances to give different pieces your own little spin, and it also allows you to gain experience of how things work behind the scenes and builds up your resume fast!

Everyone runs out and films a ton of stuff and a good chunk will rely on others to edit. It's great to get out and make connections with the people who make up that chunk. Networking at festivals, university film classes, etc. You never know... you might ride on somebody's coat tails to the top.

However, as fun as editing can be, you have to to be serious. You have to know the programs you use inside and out. You need to be able to do whatever a director wants done, it's not just cropping and intercutting.

You have to LEARN, you have to go take classes and read books, watch online tutorials, and most importantly practice, practice, practice! Nothing is better than real world experience, and you're not going to get work if you only do a half-assed job and you certainly will do a half-assed job if you don’t accept the fact that you know nothing at first. Many people try and skip the learning process (“How hard could it be”... this mentality is bold, but won’t guarantee you work... Clients aren’t going to pay to have it cut by someone who isn’t certified).

Some quick tips are:

- Take some courses (film school might be a waste of time, but learning the technical and hands-on skills is a good reason to attend.)

- Read some books (library, bookstore, etc), watch tutorials online, etc.

- Learn mostly about digital editing, but never ignore the original approach... try and find information on cutting film and splicing (it can't hurt and will increase your IQ... at the very least you can bullshit with old filmmakers at festivals)

- Know Camera jargon (f-stops, frame rates, exposure, different lenses, etc), it helps when communicating with directors and allows you to understand what you're dealing with

- PRACTICE!!! Shoot random stuff with your camcorder and just cut it all the time, in different ways... see if you can change the mood or tone just by cutting it differently

- Learn about the "onlining" process and color correction, how to finalize a film

- Take note of your favorite movies, watch how they're cut, how coverage is used, what the hell coverage is, etc

- Check out some famous editors and look at their work, try to figure out what’s so damn special... make a pact with yourself to top them.

- See if there are any film workshops in your area, attend them if you can! They are a great way to learn new things, possibly network and get out of the editing room once and a while.

- PRACTICE!!! I said this once, I’ll say it again. You need to stay ahead of the game, always experiment... you need to show that you can raise the bar and think outside the box as well as follow the rules when needed.

- Try to get as much knowledge of visual effects (green and blue screening, rotoscoping, etc) With movies like Sin City, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow and A Scanner Darkly that are pushing the medium into a whole new direction, you’ll need to keep an open mind about what’s going on. Ignorance isn’t an excuse.  

Remember that the visual aspect is obviously a big part of movies (you 'WATCH' them right?) BUT never underestimate sound. There are multiple courses that I’m taking just on sound alone, how to record it properly, how to edit it, how to use soundboards, microphones, sound effects, scores, etc.

Perhaps set-up your own little studio. An optional tip is to try and save up for your own Higher Quality computer, something that can edit HD (doesn't have to be real-time, but it helps).

I am currently running things off of an over-clocked laptop that might explode at any minute... I'm saving up for a desktop that will hopefully be my home base. I run sound recording software off of my laptop as well, and soon my laptop will be used only for that.

I hope to be done my home studio soon, which will be used not only for editing flicks, but also for making better quality scores for; my own flicks, the free film project, and future clients; ADRing; etc.

The editing process isn’t just a video where you connect the dots and your done...

Coherently order the shots, make sure you’re getting the best out of your coverage, You need to color correct (make sure every is matched and is unified), fix any screws up (grain issues, over exposure, etc), you need to synch up audio, overlay audio, clean up audio (hiss, fuzz and hums), ADR dialogue when necessary, add the score, add the sound effects, prepare shots for any visual effects, etc...

It’s not something you can waltz in and do in a day, it takes weeks and months depending on the project. You need patience, you can’t rush and botch the job, you’ll get fired and possibly ruin any chance of getting far enough into the industry to start making the big bucks. You’ve got to listen to the director guidelines and follow the producer’s notes (or ignore them and flip them off when they’re not looking)... Don’t do that, I was kidding... Remember that you will most likely always be on the short end of the stick, Directors want the movie in their head on the screen, you need to do everything she says and if the movie doesn’t do well... you’ll probably be blamed (The idea of good footage + crap editing = bad vs bad footage + miraculous editing = passable is used so much), You’ll be given the worst shot material and be expected to churn out something viewable, you’ll have a film that was apparently lit by a cell phone and you’ll be chastised if you don’t make it shine like the sun... it’s a dog eat dog world, someone will always be there to top you. Keeping your head up and your ear to the ground for news, tips, etc will mostly likely rip your head in two... but it needs to be done... so suck it up and start cutting it up!

Hopefully this helps,
Westcroft AKA Scott

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Thank you so much, that was well worth the read for me, but some additional things I wanted to add, or restate. 

More so than how do BE an editor, you need to learn how best to obtain contacts and work. Being licensed obviously helps for bigger more "official" jobs, but there are a lot of jobs you can obtain to help you start working your way up the ladder. 

Most Television studios offer jobs to students as Interns, they do very simple editing work on the nightly newscasts and you can specifically request to assist the Video Editor. You can understand the importance of getting plenty of coverage, especially during interviews and conversations, and good coverage of the scenary so you have plenty of things to cut away to, helping to keep the shots diverse and interesting, these are just the very basics of editing, but beginning so simply can help you to begin to develop on top of this.

Keeping active in local theater, at Universities and such can help you keep your pulse on the drama programs, and lets you hear about and contact anyone that is possibly working on their own film. You can easily offer to at the very least ASSIST them with the Editing, if you can prove yourself, they will most likely use you again and bring you onto other projects. Also, possibly referring you to friends and associates. 

Also, local Videography agencies rarely just give out the raw footage of an event to their clients, for stuff like Weddings and Conventions that they cover, they edit it, they get plenty of coverage and edit together condensed version of the event so they don't just have 4 hours of occurances. Asking these Companies if you can sit and watch their editing, intern with them, or possibly assist them in some way is always a good place to start, and to start learning the basics. 

This not only helps you learn the basics, but it also helps you develop contacts, and if it blossoms into a working professional relationship, it also provides you access to crew and equipment that might even be willing to help you out and work for free (or at least at discount rates). 

Moreso than learning the basics, it's also important to learn from the masters. Look at some of the famous films you can think of, ubiquitous films that everyone knows about, the classics of every decade, and STUDY them. Don't just WATCH them, actively make mental notes of the shot placement during scenes, COUNT everytime there is an edit, study individual important scenes and STUDY how they are cut together, actively watch them, and think about WHY they were edited together in this way.

Actively study the editing techniques of different genres of film, watch all types of films, classic Comedies, Dramas, Westerns, Sci-Fi, Action, Horror, Documentary, they all have different kinds of editing styles that are utilized in different ways. Watching plenty of films and looking at how they are editing very carefully instead of just absorbing it and watching it passively will help you in many ways to start looking at what works, and what might not work so well, in what circumstances and why. 

Look at the quick frentic edits in some Horror and Action films, especially during chase or fight scenes.  Look at the slow emotional takes of Noir films. Think about the different styles actively, and examinine them and their emotional effects. Once you start understanding how editing works on people, you start understanding the underlying psychology of why the cuts affect people in such a way, and overall this makes you a more capable editor who can think of not only how to express a scene coherantly, but emotionally as well. 

Also, even if you aren't making a horror film, or a comedy, or another genre, understanding their editing style might open up a door for some way you want to express some scene in your film. Even if you aren't making a funny or scary movie, you might have a funny or scary scene that could benefit from "Comedy style" or "Horror Style" edits. 

Looking at how similar films and similar scenes to what you're working on, were edited themselves can also help give you inspiration on your own film, and guide you towards a good way to edit it, but also giving you a nice root to branch off from and try something differently from your inspiration, creating something new and possibly better.

So there you go, remember, actively study films, try to learn from people who are actively doing it, read about editing and filmmaking techniques, and most importantly PRACTICE AND EXPERIMENT! You won't become a good editor unless you're used to cutting film, you have to do it and learn it before you can master your own technique.