Film Editing Jobs

Film editing is one of the most under appreciated careers in the film industry. Editors are given the task of collecting hours upon hours of footage and creating the final product that the audience will witness. An outstanding edited piece will go unnoticed by audience, flowing smoothly from scene to scene without any attention or praise directed towards the editor.

History

Film editing is the art of placing two different shots side by side thus creating a sequence. The hundreds of sequences are then placed together to create a movie. The film editor is responsible for telling the story in a matter that makes sense to the audience. Since film's early existence, the editor has worked closely with the director, creating the final step in the filmmaking process. Like many occupations in Hollywood, editors first started out working in large studio production houses, working along side several other editors who in return would create a mass production of films. As Hollywood separated itself from the large studio making process, so did editors. Editors became individual freelance employees, working on a case-by-case basis. They are usually hired by the producer and referred to by the director. Some directors prefer to work with the same editor on every film, while other directors will edit the film themselves.

Editing Technology

Film editing has evolved from cutting and splicing film to digital editing which has greatly reduced the time constraints.
At first, editors would watch all the footage on a projector. They would stop the film on a specific shot and splice the strip. They would continue rolling the footage until they reached the end destination. After they spliced the film strip again, the editors would have one specific shot or sequence. The process would continue until all the sequences were pasted together, thus creating the final cut. Over the years film editing equipment has expanded to simpler machines and ultimately the creation of digital editing. Digital editing is by far the most convenient form of editing. All the footage is transformed into a digital counterpart, where it is all uploaded to a digital editing interface. On these editing programs, editors can view and edit the footage in any fashion.

Types of Editing

Linear editing is the process of editing the film from the very first sequence to the final sequence. The editor must start editing the first scene, followed by the second scene, in continuous cuts. Old fashioned editing machines would only allow linear editing, making the process much more time bearing and difficult for editors. In the early 1990's, the film industry found a big break with non-linear digital editing systems. These programs would allow editors to upload all the footage digitally to a computer and grant editors the option of editing in a non-linear fashion. This meant that editors could edit any sequence in any order. Once all the sequences were edited, the program would allow the editor to place them in sequential order.

Types of Editors

Every editor has at least one assistant editor. The number of editors varies on the quantity of content and the budget of the project. The assistant editor aids the primary editor and director in the post-production phase of the film. The assistant editor's duties include tracking and recording the film's timecode as well as uploading and transferring footage. Assistant editors are often stepping stones to the first assistant position and ultimately the primary editor. Assistant editors will learn the ropes to the editing process and work closely with the primary editor who more than likely has a lot of experience in the industry.

Editor and Director Relationship

The director and editor relationship in the post-production process is crucial to the success of a film. This is a tedious relationship that will come with some bumps and bruises. Because no two humans think exactly alike, the editor and director will have some arguments over the content of the film. They will constantly debate on what scenes need to be eliminated and what takes to use. The relationship between the two occupations is important and sacred, as the director will spend more time with the editor then any other occupant, including the actors. Some directors choose to edit the films by themselves, eliminating the chance of controversy.

Duties

An average film editor will spend anywhere from ten to sixteen hours a day working on a film. The editing process demands a lot of attention and time from the editor. The editor usually works around a tight deadline. Thanks to digital non-linear editing programs, the amount of time to complete a film has greatly reduced. When all the master footage first arrives to an editor's suite, the assistant editor will transfer all the footage to digital files and upload the footage onto the program. The editor will then view all the master footage and organize the shots. Once all the footage is organized, the editor will begin editing sequences.
Creative differences between the director and editor, produces the "Director's Cut" of a film, which usually contains more footage then the original feature.

Landing a Job

Film editors usually attend film school and earn a degree in film editing. However, with the accessibility of digital editing programs, a lot of aspiring editors are skipping school and instead learning on their own from home. Aspiring editors usually intern with assistant editors when first starting out. Most people will start out as assistant editors before being promoted to the primary editor. Editing like most filmmaking occupations is really based on networking and recommendations. Filmmakers will want to work with editors again if they are pleased with a project they did beforehand. Landing jobs in an ultra competitive market is usually based on who you know or your reputation. The pay for editors varies greatly from project to project and amount of experience. Well-known Hollywood editors can make as much as $3,500 a week, while low-budget or amateur film editors can struggle to bring in $250 a week.