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…
Category: Advice
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 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,…
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…
Keeping Yourself Fresh in the Edit
During an edit, you will watch scenes over and over as you cut, and you will likely view the whole film from start to finish a dozen times or more. Keeping yourself fresh, and not becoming over-familiar with the material is a difficult, but essential skill for an Editor. The Importance of Objectivity A big…
Mental Health Challenges for Freelancers
Film & TV can be a tough business. It’s certainly not the only one, but long hours, the precarious nature of contract work, competition for jobs, and the sacrifices required in order to develop your skills and your network, can all challenge the mental health of even the most dedicated and determined of people. Just…
Find Your Own Process
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…
Which Editing Software Should You Use?
Truth be told, you can use any software you want for editing. There are plenty of free or relatively cheap pieces of video editing software which are perfectly capable and easy to learn. However, if you intend to work in a professional environment where you’re not always able to choose what you edit on, there’s…
Do You Need To Go To Film School?
The short answer is no, you don’t need to go to film school. Film and TV isn’t like medicine, or law, or engineering where you need professional training and qualifications to even enter the industry. However, if your circumstances are right and you’re able to make it work financially, going to film school can be…