Every time I write something for the site, I worry that it sounds like I’m being too prescriptive. Do this, do that, don’t do this. It’s never intended that way though, because there isn’t just one way to make a film, nor is there just one type of film. And there is certainly not just one type of Editor.
Different people approach things in different ways, and everyone has their own way of looking at the world. Very little on this site should be taken as gospel. As Editors, we’re constantly making decisions and exercising our judgement. Putting into practice what you read here or anywhere else should be no different.
Different Perspectives
When I was at film school, we did exercises where all of the editing students would get the same material and the same brief, and go away to cut our own version of the scene or the exercise. What became clear when we all screened our cuts was how different the outcomes can be, even from the same limited footage. Other editors would do things that hadn’t even occurred to you, or that you tried but decided not to pursue.
One particular exercise early on involved cutting a small selection of documentary footage with no brief. One of the other editors chose to focus on the same character I did, but using material that seemed to be 80-90% different to what I had selected.
It’s easy to say, “you should do this” while giving out pointers and advice, but the truth is that the full sentence should read “you should do this, unless you find a better way to do it”. There really are no rules in filmmaking, even the boring stuff like the 180-degree rule can be broken if it works for the moment.
The same applies not just to outcome, but process too. Just because someone does it one way doesn’t mean you have to. Part of the challenge and the fun of filmmaking is in experimenting with what does and doesn’t work. And if something doesn’t work for you or the film, then look for something else that does.
There are no rules in filmmaking. Only sins. And the cardinal sin is dullness
Frank Capra
Learning to edit
A lot of Editors talk about editing being “instinctual’. That it’s not about knowledge, but about feeling. I think they’re right to some extent, but I also think that oversimplifies things. If it was just “instinct”, and natural talent, then there wouldn’t be much about editing for us to learn. Clearly, there is a learning process to a career as an Editor, not just in terms of the technical aspects, but in terms of your craft. And I do believe editing is a craft.
Editing of course requires some natural ability and a temperament suited to sitting in front of a computer moving coloured rectangles around the screen for weeks on end. But your ability to do that “well”, develops over time as you learn skills, and hone those instincts that tell you “hmm, this isn’t working”. Skills development also comes through learning how to be better at spotting problems and finding solutions. I know that I can look at a film or a scene now and identify and fix problems in a way I couldn’t 10 years ago.
I think back to student films I made, and the day I spent as an undergraduate watching 50 not particularly good first-year short films back-to-back. I’m sure a lack of natural filmmaking talent was to blame for some of those, but I also think it’s unlikely that learning some fundamental concepts wouldn’t have improved a lot of them.
Challenging Ourselves
Developing your skills as an editor is rarely a linear process. You discover things, and learn things as you go, which alters what you do and how you work. One of the challenges of editing is to not just accept what is there in front of you. Whether that’s dialogue that was scripted, or the way a scene is structured, or the beats you’ve used to build the scene, everything should be open to change.
Part of our job is to challenge the director not to just accept what’s there, but to improve and refine and strengthen. But we should also look to challenge ourselves, both in and out of the cutting room. Watch the kind of films and TV shows you wouldn’t normally watch. Read something you wouldn’t normally read. Study a bit of psychology, or visual design, try writing a short story. Your goal should be to grow and develop over time, both as an Editor, and as a person.
Storytellers and consumers of stories have a natural empathy because we are used to placing ourselves in others’ shoes and viewing the world through their eyes. We should be looking to develop our own processes, and our own way of looking at the world. But this shouldn’t stop us from being open to influences and ideas from elsewhere.
The Craft of Editing
Although editing has gone digital and we no longer work with physical film, it is still a craft where you shape material with your hands. Be it woodworking, painting, black-smithing or editing, it takes time to learn how to work with your chosen material.
Sculptors talk about finding the sculpture in the material, and editing often feels the same. We can impose our own ideas as editors, directors, and writers, but often, we need to listen to what the material is telling us. Like a sculptor, part of our job is to help the organic story within the material emerge.
As an Editor, you’re a Filmmaker, and Filmmakers, like other creators and artists, synthesise human experience to show us something about the world and about ourselves. Except when they don’t, and do something completely different instead.
Be Bold
Deciding whether to go familiar or new is a challenge too. Familiar brings relatable, and accessible, but new excites and surprises. It sometimes feels like the world, and this industry, is looking for things that are new, but not too new. Telling a familiar story in an unfamiliar way. Looking at something well-known from a different point of view. The people choosing where money gets spent in the film industry can get scared away by something that’s too different and unexpected, but they also get bored by something that’s too familiar and common.
It’s broadly the same for audiences too, and I think this is an important lesson for editors, learn “the rules”, learn what works and has worked, then try something different, something bold, something unexpected. Audiences love to be surprised by something, so surprise them. As Picasso famously said, “learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist”.
For more articles on process and how to approach the challenges of editing, check out the site’s Concepts category.