All language subtitles for 02. The Roles And Challenges Of The Creative Editor

As a creative

editor, you're part of a rare
breed of modern artists and craftsman.

You're a storyteller
a music editor and a sound designer.

You could also be expected
to have some level of skill in motion

graphics, visual
effects and color grading.

That's a lot of responsibility
for one person as the editor.

It's important
to have a clear understanding

of where you fit
in the big picture of a film or project.

What roles must you fill
and what challenges must you overcome?

Let's begin by looking at your roles

All right.

So we're going to look at four
incredibly important roles

that almost every creative
editor will need to fill

First, it's your job to remain impartial.

The editor is the first audience member
to watch a new film

as it's pieced together.
One shot at a time.

You'll need to regularly be able
to separate yourself from the mindset

of an editor and instead look at the film
as your viewer would remember.

Good editing is often about empathizing,
not only with the characters

on the screen,
but with how your audience feels.

You need to be inside your viewers.

Head to editorial support the emotions
they'll likely have when watching.

For example, if they might find a moment
funny, you should anticipate that

and reinforce it with a supporting
reaction from a character in the scene.

Then after the

punchline or a highlight of the gag
is fully delivered.

Leave that little pause.

Just a bit of extra air in the cut
so they can laugh and enjoy it.

Any important information
or story development that occurs

while the viewer is reacting
has a very strong chance of being missed,

which will inevitably decrease

through understanding and engagement
as the film moves forward?

Initially, this might be pretty easy.

You've spent a few days putting together
a handful of scenes, and it's exciting

to experience the moments
as they come to life on the screen.

It's all still new however,
as days turned into weeks,

weeks turned into months, and the versions
and revisions really start to pile up,

it's going to get a lot harder to look at.

Something with fresh eyes Below
this video, you'll find

a PDF called Watching Cutts Objectively.

It includes a copy of some tips
we've put together for staying impartial

and objective when watching your cut,
no matter how many times you've seen it.

This, along with the other two PDFs
you see, are from articles

that we've previously shared on the film
editing pro blog.

I wanted to give you quick access to them
here as they directly relate

to the topics that we're discussing.

And they go into a bit more detail.

Even if you've already read them before

I suggest
that you save the copy on your hard drive.

All right.

So your second role as a creative editor
is that of the directors

or clients. Ally

It's up to you to support them,
to align your goals with theirs,

to be honest with them about problems,
but gentle at the same time.

Spend that extra 20 or 30 minutes here
and there to really explore

all the possible solutions to a problem
and to never, ever settle

for just good enough.

Who's ever running the show?

Remember, this is their baby.

They're placing it in your hands
and they're trusting you to stay true

to their vision and to use your expertize
to craft it into something special.

You always need to respect that
and treat it as if it were your own.

That's the mark
of a true professional third

It's your job to act as

a custodian or protector of the actors
and actresses in a film or project.

Everyone has bad takes or even bad days.

But as the editor,
you have the power to cut scenes in a way

that hides an actor's shortcomings
and highlights their strengths.

Sometimes this can be a tough job
and you'll need to call

on all your editorial skills
to save a bad performance.

Other times when you've got an award
winning actor on your hands,

you just need to stay out of the way.

And fourth, you must also fill

the role of a master craftsman

So what exactly does that mean?

Well, for one,
it means not cutting corners.

With most projects, you're
going to be given mountains of footage.

It's tempting to quickly skim it all.

Pick some shots that seem to work
pretty good and move forward.

I can tell you right now
that's incredibly lazy.

And at least in my book, it's more
than enough reason to get rid of an editor

and award the job to somebody

who actually cares about the project
and wants to give it their all.

Take pride in your craft.

Spend the time to review all the footage.

Smooth out your music edits.

Try multiple versions of a cut
until it works perfectly.

Find the right sound effect for a moment.

Not just the first one
you dig up on your drive.

All these attributes are what make
the difference between a professional,

well-respected
and well-paid editor and everyone else.

All right, so those were some of the roles
we need to play as a creative editor.

Now let's dig deeper into the major
challenges that make that difficult

to start.

Every craftsman has the obvious challenge

of working with their chosen tool

In our case, that's our software.

It really doesn't matter
what program you're using.

Avid Premiere,
Final Cut, Da Vinci resolved.

They'll all do what you need. Them to do.

Just remember that before
you can become a great editor,

you need to be comfortable enough
with your chosen software so that it fades

into the background and allows you
to focus on the task at hand.

Being creative and telling a great story

I tip for anyone just starting out.

Don't get too bogged down

with learning all the crazy features
that your program has to offer right away.

Most of them,
you're probably never going to use

At the end of the day, 95% of your editing
can simply be accomplished.

If you know how to cut footage
and audio on to the timeline,

move it around

Adjust levels

and drop in the occasional filter
or effect

Our second big challenge

as editors is how to deal with problems
with your source materials,

depending on the caliber of project
you're cutting on.

Your biggest footage problem

might just be deciding which amazing
shot to use where, if that's it.

Lucky you.

It's far more common
to realize in the editing room

that you're missing
coverage of that insert shot

where we clearly see a character
reading something important.

Or maybe the left mike in an actor's
shirt is full of distortion

and cloth rustling,
ruining the audio on a key dialog bite.

Or maybe the footage lacks
any strong shots to use

for opening the scene
or for transitioning out of it.

These are the types of challenges you're
going to face every day as an editor.

Challenge number three

dealing with notes and opinions.

Filmmaking
is a very collaborative process.

You've got a huge number of people
all working toward the same goal

editing on the other hand,
can feel a bit more like a solo endeavor.

After all, you're locked in a dark room,
usually by yourself,

with the entire project
seemingly under your control.

Well, don't be misled.

The editing process is still a team sport.

You've got the director,
the producers, clients, actors,

and focus groups,
all with opinions and suggestions

on how to make the final product
the best it can be.

You need to be open to the possibility
that maybe, just maybe,

the editor is an always right now
version one.

Usually that's yours.

Take your knowledge of story,
the director's vision,

the goal of the project, and confidently
cut something to the best of your ability.

Trust your gut, hear, have an opinion,
and offer your unique perspective

as you carefully piece everything together
after version one though.

Be prepared for feedback.

It's arrogant

to think that you're hitting home runs
every single time on version one,

so there's a decent chance that notes
are actually going to improve the cut.

One of the hardest parts

about dealing with notes
isn't the actual execution of the changes.

It's continuing to care about them
when you're on version 25

35, or even 45.

I can tell you from experience, though,

that one of the marks of a true
professional is that you approach

your cut with the same passion, care
and craftsmanship.

Yep. On version
45 as you did on version one.

Below this video, you'll see another PDF
called Director and Client Notes.

In it, we dove deeper into suggestions
on how to handle director and client notes

professionally and how to make sure
you don't end up misinterpreting them

and chasing your tail for 2 hours.

Make sure you give it a read and save a
copy on your harddrive for reference.

All right.

Challenge for

dealing with tight deadlines and pressure

editing is hard enough as it is.

Editing under pressure
is infinitely harder

when you find yourself loaded

with a mountain of work
in a short amount of time to do it.

Most people will probably do
one of two things.

Either they'll start working faster
or they'll panic and freeze.

Panicking is obviously a massive problem.

And you'll just need to get past that.

That much is obvious.

But believe it or not, working
faster can be just as much of a curse.

Every client or director
wants to work with a fast editor,

but what exactly does fast mean?

Well, it could mean that you're quick
on the keyboard or the mouse.

You've mastered your software

and you know how to manipulate your
footage and audio at a rapid fire pace.

That's all great

as long as you're simultaneously
making the right editorial decisions.

Which brings us
to the second type of fast, the best fast.

This editors might not be a hot shot
on the keyboard, but

at the end of the day, they're cut it
successfully completed on or ahead of time

because they have the experience
and the foresight to make smart editorial

choices and get most things right
the first time, or at least a second.

All the frantic lightning fast decisions

and haphazard edits don't mean a thing

when you realize it doesn't work
and you have to hit undo 97 times

Blow.

This video is another PDF.

This one is called Deadlines and Pressure.

In it,
we lay out some specific tips for dealing

with tight deadlines
and how to stay focused under pressure.

Like when you've got four people sitting
behind you and watching over your shoulder

while you work

In this lesson,
we discuss the various roles

you must play and challenges
you'll need to face

if you want to be a successful
creative editor.

Some of the roles we talked about included
that of being an impartial viewer,

staying objective, and watching your cut
through the eyes of your audience.

Next, we reviewed how and why
you need to be your director or clients

ally and support their vision
with your skill and knowledge.

Then we explored your role as actor,

custodian, molding
and shaping their performance

to protect their integrity
and cast them in the best light possible.

And we discussed the editor
as a master craftsman, and we talked a bit

about how that will affect your workflow
and decisions as you're cutting.

And finally,

we also reviewed

some of the toughest challenges
you will face as a creative editor.

Not all of them technical,
including dealing with software problems

with sources, receiving notes
and facing high pressure

situations and deadlines
coming up in the next lesson.

We're going to start digging
into the nitty gritty details

of being a creative editor by showing you
how to design the perfect timeline setup.

All right. I'll see you in a bit.