When I cut my first documentary feature, I realised that as difficult as editing a feature-length fiction film might be, editing a documentary is ten times harder. With a fiction film, building your assembly involves sitting down every day, loading up the project, opening up the script, and constructing the next scene on your list….
How Long Does it Take to Edit a Feature Film?
As an Editor of low-budget feature films, you will have a lot of conversations with Producers about their upcoming projects. They will usually turn the subject pretty quickly to schedules, with the intention of discussing how long you (and they) think it might take to edit the film. So what should you say? A Common…
How Do You Edit a Show Like Welcome to Wrexham?
I was offered the opportunity to chat with two members of the Welcome to Wrexham Season 1 editing team in the run-up to voting closing on this year’s Emmy Awards. Amongst the show’s six nominations, the finale was up for Outstanding Picture Editing For An Unstructured Reality Program. Editors Curtis McConnell and Mohamed El Manasterly…
Can You Learn to Edit?
When I was at film school, a tutor said that I had “a natural talent for editing”. Many years later and I’m still undecided on whether he was right or not. At the time I felt that I’d simply spent years (this was an MA course) learning about filmmaking and the craft of editing, and…
The Importance of Understanding the Director’s Vision
As well as being a film nerd, I’m a sports nerd too. As a long-time fan of the NFL and the other sport also known as football, I’m fascinated by what makes a good team good, and a bad team not good. I don’t mean just the players, but the organisation as a whole. It’s…
What Advice would Top Film & TV Editors give to other Editors?
Editing is the kind of job where you’re always learning, always looking to develop and improve your skills, and always aiming to absorb information from those around you. That’s what this site is here to help you with, passing on what I’ve learned, and what I’ve learned from others. This got me wondering what advice…
How to Organize Your Edit Projects
There aren’t many more awkward moments in an edit than when you’re sat next to a Director, searching for a clip that you’re pretty sure you’ve seen somewhere, but really can’t find anywhere in your project, wondering if they think you’re an idiot. Although it can be tedious, making sure your projects are well organized…
How To Work With Producers
While an Editor’s key working relationship is with their Director, the Producer-Editor relationship can be complicated, and working with different producers can present a whole set of unique challenges on a project. Ultimately, the Producers are the people who hired you, or at least approved your hiring, but they are rarely in the cutting room,…
How to Edit a Film Trailer
There are different ways to edit a film trailer, depending on the film and the material you have available. Doing something distinctive and interesting is always to be encouraged, but here’s how I approach putting together a “conventional” trailer. Who Cuts Trailers? Trailers are generally not edited by those who are working directly on the…
Money Management for Freelancers
One of the challenges of being freelance is that your earnings can be unpredictable. Maybe you’re on a long project with regular invoicing, maybe you’re jumping from one short project to another, or maybe you’re in a spell with very little work. Your earnings from one month to the next can fluctuate wildly, creating stressful…