The aim of this site is to build the kind of resource I would have loved to have stumbled across in the early years of my career. A resource where I could learn about editing all the way from the basics and fundamentals up to what separates excellent work from simply good work.
Editing is a complex discipline involving a range of creative, technical, and people skills. Getting very good at it usually takes years, if not decades. Some things are instinctual or best learned by practice, but editing is a craft, and I believe that understanding how other craftspeople approach the same challenges you face can only help with your own work.
What is offered here is mostly a range of advice and information. The website contains a growing number of posts focusing on particular areas of an editor’s work. Our courses take an in-depth look at developing a particular area of your editing skills. The Twitter account provides guidance and advice in a bite-sized format, and our monthly newsletter curates what others are thinking and talking about currently in editing, post-production, and filmmaking.
I’ve learned a lot of things about editing and filmmaking over time, I’ve had triumphs and successes, and made my fair share of mistakes and wrong decisions too. Hopefully, my process of distilling on this site what I’ve learned, and documenting my continuing quest to learn and improve further, will provide some answers to help your own work when you next sit down to edit.
Who Am I?
I’m a Film & TV Editor living and working in London, UK. A graduate of the UK’s National Film and Television School (NFTS), I primarily cut fiction and documentary features, and factual TV. During my career, I’ve also worked on everything from music videos and training films to promos and live-action video games. Between edit projects, I teach editing and currently work as a part-time Senior Lecturer in Post-Production at the University for the Creative Arts.
Neil
Content on the Site
The Cutting Room will grow and evolve over time as I add new content, but everything will be broadly divided into one of four categories:
Concepts – These posts look at what the editor does in order to shape a film. They will help answer the question “How do I make good decisions?”
Advice – What happens outside of the edit software, focusing on building working relationships and developing your career.
Workflow – Not so much technical posts, this category covers the steps a film goes through during an edit, and what is expected of the editor in order to deliver the film.
Resources – There are of course many more editing and filmmaking resources than this site, so this category collects other useful resources I’ve come across, other articles, tweets, videos, YouTube channels, interviews, podcasts, books, training courses, and whatever else I think may be useful for other editors.
Where to Start
Obviously, this depends on where you’re at with your own skills or career, but if you’re newer to editing, I’d recommend the posts on What an Editor Actually Does and What an Assistant Editor Does, plus the series on the Fives Stages of the Edit.
If you’re a more experienced editor, check out the Concepts category for info on the nitty-gritty of developing your processes and approaches to the edit, or subscribe to our monthly email newsletter and receive a free download looking at 6 Key Concepts That Will Make You a Better Editor.
Get in Touch
If you have any questions, queries, or requests, please get in touch using the form below.
Some of the links on this site are affiliate links, meaning that if you purchase anything after clicking, then – at no cost to yourself – a small percentage of the payment will go to the site.