Skills and Personality Traits
- I am a patient person- This skill will work well when enduring look shoots or editing for a long time without getting frustrated.
- I have very vivid visons and ideas how I would like my production set out and how I want it to look- This helps me to be very creative in everything that I produce and have a set structure to everything. - I am a perfectionist- This will help to produce work to the top standard and make me work hard. - I am a very creative person- I have different niche ideas which will allow me to stand out and create personalised work. - I am outgoing person- I am full of energy and love to be outside doing stuff, this makes me very spontaneous and adventurous. - Yet sometimes lack in confidence of my ability- I don't believe in myself as much as I should which is defiantly a crucial skill for the industry. - I am a risk taker- Due to being very spontaneous I will make decisions quickly that could change the situation for the good and the bad. - I prefer working by myself yet I do enjoy working in a team that communicates and works effectively- This is due to in the past I have had team mates which didn't pull their weight which left me to carry them through the work. By working on my own I am in more control of the situation at hand. - I am self motivated- I am determined to do my best with each project/task I do and can use time effectively to achieve these goals. - I am passionate- I have a love of film making and love each aspects of it, this passion allows me to work hard whilst enjoying myself. - I am shy in a sense that I wouldn't turn and tell people in my group off if they don't pull their weight. - I don't like conflict, as I don't want to upset people in my group, especially if they are my friends, as it is a team effort. This could be benefit me with roles where I am working on my own and are more in control of the situation. |
These traits will help me in the film industry as I am a determined person and always strive to do my best. However, because I am a perfectionist I get frustrated when my work isn't my best, this pushes me on to make things better. I am a very visual person and always have visionary ideas on how I want things to look, this helps me in making creative niche ideas which stand out. I think my being shy against members of my group will be good for me in the industry by doing separate projects on my own.
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Editing
The skill I have chosen to specialise in is editing due to being a patient person, this will help me as sometimes you have to edit for long periods of time. I am creative which allows me to illustrate my ideas by showing different techniques and constructing the piece in a specific way. I work well in a team yet I think due to not being able to stand up for myself and my ideas, by editing I have the power to construct the piece how I want it without putting myself into that situation. I am self motivated which means I will push myself to get the work done to its best standard and get it done in time for the deadline. I am passionate about everything I do which will allow me to put in the effort and go the extra mile for my work and editing to be the best it could possibly be.
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What is editing?
It is said that editing consists of chronologically putting shots together in order to create a piece of work which makes sense. But editing involves not nearly a theoretical consideration of the effect of one shot to the other, or in a linear way following a script, or a mechanical measurement of frames. It's about rhythm, instinct, emotion, psychology and art. The editor is control of the look and feel of the whole production, this can make or break a production.
Harvard Reference N/A. (2017). Responsibilities and Skills in Film Editing . Available: http://www.filmmakers.com/features/editing/. Last accessed 31st October 2017 |
Qualification of an editor |
Skills of an editor |
- Key to show commitment and determination
- Demonstrate skills. A HND or degree may be good for developing these skills, they could be subjects such as:
- You need to understand different editing software's such as Avid or Final cut pro. To be versatile for any job. - Experience on the latest technology helps to reduce the competition, so this is an important skill to have. - Qualifications for editors tend to be more about skills you have and show. Harvard Reference Gemma Halder . (2016). Film/ Video editor job profile . Available: https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/film-video-editor. Last accessed 31st October 2017 |
Key skills in which are needed in the role of an editor
- critical mind and eye for detail - You need to be creative and passionate about the film industry - You need to be patient to be able to spend long hours at a time editing - You need to be a crucial listener - Self motivational and dedication in order to apply yourself to each job - Organisation and time management which is appropriate - Communication skills - Ability to work well under pressure and to meet deadlines Harvard Reference Gemma Halder . (2016). Film/ Video editor job profile . Available: https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/film-video-editor. Last accessed 31st October 2017 |
Work Ethic |
How an individual became an editor |
You need to be adaptable in this profession and able to work hard on tasks which you wouldn't be passionate about. You need to be willing to apply yourself to basic tasks. Doing work experience, in other areas of media production, will help to show that this is the precision and intensity of the work is to you. You need to show evidence through a portfolio of types to illustrate the work you have done, this will help you later to branch out into different types of media productions such as films.
Harvard Reference Gemma Halder . (2016). Film/ Video editor job profile . Available: https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/film-video-editor. Last accessed 31st October 2017 |
A editor called Austin Flack decided to share his story on how he became a film editor. He started editing clips together from a young age in High school and then decided to go to film school in USC. He got his first paid job doing work for a company called 'The invisible Children', he got the job because he went o school with tow of the founders of the company. Next, he got a job working for a reality show in which he was the assistant editor, this kind of job was not the type of projects he wanted to work on, yet he did it mostly for the experience and to add to his portfolio. He got the job because he knew the post coordinator and lied about how much experience he had, also because he knew how to use Avid editing software. He continue to take on more assistant editor roles through out the years when he finally got the low-rent Nickelodeon game show as the editor, He has continued to edit different shows such as master chef, top chef and even the new season of Catfish. Overall, this work helps him to make a high pay each year, with about $120,000- 150,000 a year. Which is a high amount of money.
Harvard Reference Austin Flack. (N/A ). How to be a video editor. Available: http://www.wtfshouldidowithmylife.com/be-a-video-editor/. Last accessed 31st October 2017. |
Media Industries |
Importance of Editing |
Different types of media industries use video editing in order to put their videos or films together and make them work effectively. For example freelance editors could make wedding videos and promotional videos for companies This is usually the type of role you do when starting out in the industry, as many aspire to work alongside films. Their is editing for theatre such as different montages in the background. Editing is used in most media industries and is very versatile depending on what department you would wan to get into. Here are some examples:
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The post-production process mainly involves the editing of a video, and with the right editing skills, one can transform a rough cut video into a polished quality video. Editing ties the whole of the films together by adding in music, transitions and putting the clips together. Without editing, there will be no impact from the audience when watching the piece.
Cutting or the "dicing and slicing" of a movie. A good movie will change every few seconds of it, this is why editing is a very crucial part. The cut of a frame can either make the film amazing or not. This is why it is so important. An experienced editor can play with the audiences emotions and manipulate them to feel a certain way, for example in the Alfred Hitchcock phenomenon 'Psycho' there we complaints from the audience of the knife going into the women in the shower. Yet, Hitchcock was enable to manipulate that sequence to appear chaotic with its short duration shots in order to hint at the stabbing. The editor should use different techniques such as montage to illustrate different emotions and make the audience align with the character, have an emotional connection or believe the realism within the film. Saj Adibs . (2017 ). Importance of editing . Available: http://newslatefilms.com/featured/importance-editing/. Last accessed 31st October 2017. Frederick Von Seidl. (N/A). Film making 101: The importance of Editing . Available: https://film-production.knoji.com/filmmaking-101-the-importance-of-editing/. Last accessed 31st October 2017. |
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The Professionals
Alex Rollings
Rollings is a freelance professional director, videographer and editor who is based in London. He has been working in the media industry now for seven years and has worked on many different things from documentaries to TV and feature films, to web-based commercials and social media for the internet. I am emailing him about editing, due to him having a lot of experience on the topic and he has a very successful business. This has gained him a lot of experience. I want to ask him questions on my specialism, editing, the question will vary from how he became a professional editor to the different skills and equipment he uses.
[email protected] |
Nick Flegg
Nick Flegg is a professional freelance professional producer and editor. He is a highly creative person who is passionate about technology, He owns his own business which allows him to go on shoots and write articles for various clients. I decided to contact Flegg due to him having a lot f experience on editing, I thought his knowledge and expertise in editing will help me to gain an understanding of the subject and improve my skills to be more fitted.
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Charlie McConville
McConville is the founder of the company 'Interflow communications', which is a creatively driven multimedia specialist based in London with a passion for working with digital media. He specialises in audio, video and graphical video making. I decided to contact him due to his passion for the industry and his insight into the topic as whole, I wanted to gain an rounded view on editing as a whole and I think through contacting him I can.
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Daniel Hatton
Daniel Hatton is a professional freelance filmmaker, editor and photographer who is very passionate about his job. He always brings a new unique view on each project he does in order for it to be the best it could possibly be. When he was younger he worked for his parents production company, he mainly managed projects and worked as a video editor. From there he has continued to branch himself by doing freelance work. I decided to contact Daniel Hatton due to him having lots of experience about editing and having a successful company which will give me an insight on how to be a successful editor.
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Daniel Hattons response:
Hi Zara,
Thanks for getting in touch! Ok, here goes...
1) To be honest, I don't have any qualifications to do the job other than a GNVQ in Media which I got almost 20 years ago. However, I am self employed so my clients are only interested in the quality of my work as opposed to qualifications. Pretty much everything I've learned has either been on the job or from YouTube tutorials.
2) Skills... tough one. I think it helps to always be open to feedback. When you're working on an edit for so long it becomes easy to miss little things and sometimes a fresh pair of eyes can help to make a project better. I think patience is key as well, especially if you're working on corporate videos. A lot of clients won't actually know what they want until they see it and will always make changes and then decide they want it changed back again which can get frustrating at times. Other than that I would just suggest practising and trying things out in your spare time.
3) I'd always been interested in filmmaking but it wasn't as accessible when I was growing up. I think it was back in 2011/2012, I bought a couple of camcorders with the intention of making some short films. It was then that a friend of mine who is a film critic got in touch and asked if I would be interested in helping him produce some video content for a film magazine (New Empress). After a while, we were approached by another entertainment website who liked what we were doing and asked us to do some stuff for them so we jumped at the chance (they had over 100k YouTube subscribers at the time). That was the pivotal moment that I realised I could make money doing this. After that I applied for projects on various freelancing websites, gained experience and expanded my show reel and went from there really.
4) Oooh good question! The one that really stands out for me is a series of short docs I made for a charity called The Giving Machine. I spent a day with the founder and we went out to some of the charities they help and interviewed various people. It was really inspiring to talk to these people, hear their stories and how they each help the community.
5) I love the freedom that my job gives me as well as getting to travel occasionally for projects. I don't think I could ever go back to working for someone else again.
Hope this helps. Please feel free to let me know if you want me to elaborate on anything anymore or if you have any additional questions.
Have a good weekend!
Dan
Hi Zara,
Thanks for getting in touch! Ok, here goes...
1) To be honest, I don't have any qualifications to do the job other than a GNVQ in Media which I got almost 20 years ago. However, I am self employed so my clients are only interested in the quality of my work as opposed to qualifications. Pretty much everything I've learned has either been on the job or from YouTube tutorials.
2) Skills... tough one. I think it helps to always be open to feedback. When you're working on an edit for so long it becomes easy to miss little things and sometimes a fresh pair of eyes can help to make a project better. I think patience is key as well, especially if you're working on corporate videos. A lot of clients won't actually know what they want until they see it and will always make changes and then decide they want it changed back again which can get frustrating at times. Other than that I would just suggest practising and trying things out in your spare time.
3) I'd always been interested in filmmaking but it wasn't as accessible when I was growing up. I think it was back in 2011/2012, I bought a couple of camcorders with the intention of making some short films. It was then that a friend of mine who is a film critic got in touch and asked if I would be interested in helping him produce some video content for a film magazine (New Empress). After a while, we were approached by another entertainment website who liked what we were doing and asked us to do some stuff for them so we jumped at the chance (they had over 100k YouTube subscribers at the time). That was the pivotal moment that I realised I could make money doing this. After that I applied for projects on various freelancing websites, gained experience and expanded my show reel and went from there really.
4) Oooh good question! The one that really stands out for me is a series of short docs I made for a charity called The Giving Machine. I spent a day with the founder and we went out to some of the charities they help and interviewed various people. It was really inspiring to talk to these people, hear their stories and how they each help the community.
5) I love the freedom that my job gives me as well as getting to travel occasionally for projects. I don't think I could ever go back to working for someone else again.
Hope this helps. Please feel free to let me know if you want me to elaborate on anything anymore or if you have any additional questions.
Have a good weekend!
Dan
Sourcing Videos
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In this interview Hitchcock explains the use of the editor in order to 'assemble' together a piece of film. In particular 'Psycho' he explain the editor purposely edited together with 'little bits of film' and there were seventy bits of film pieced together in order to achieve a fragmented and chaotic scene. This is achieve with quick pace fearful editing. A successful editor is adaptable yet has their own style. For a director like Hitchcock he uses editing to create suspense and fear. It is a powerful tool. Hitchcock, runs us through on the creation of some scenes from his film. He talks about 'Pure cinematics' which is the assembly of a film. From this video I have learnt about how to format and assemble a film in order to create meaning.
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Within this interview editor Lee Smith, who is famous for editing films such as Batman Begins, Inception and X-men first class discuss' the process in which an editor goes through in order to assemble a film. He began his editing career at entry level at a post production facility. He explained to start with he assembled each sequence to when its shot- even if it isn't fully complete and he puts him special effects by typing them up on title screen and placing them when he thinks they will be placed. Next, is the post period section, this is assembly the film when it's being photographed. Six months into the creation of the film he and the director, Christopher Nolan, polish the film together by going through it start to finish. Lee smith said as a editor he is always learning due to it being a very complex job, he said to those aspiring to be an editor the best way into the industry is through post production facilities, work from the bottom to the top to gain experience and finally work hard. From this interview I have learnt the process of editing and how a film in the industry is put together effectively.
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Editor Pietro Scalia spoke in his interview about how he got into the industry and the experience he had. From an young age, thirteen, Scalia wanted to be a director and go to film school, he moved away from Sweden and went to UCLA for four years to get a BA. However, this wasn't enough and he decided to extend his education to graduate school, during this time he fell in love with editing. He returned back to American and started classes on editing. Scalia spoke about key qualities which are needed in order to be an successful editor, you have to be passionate about films and filmmaking and enjoy the process thoroughly, you have to have an imaginative mind and finally you have to be a good problem solver. The best advice he has learnt over the years is not to be boring and experiment when he edits in order to get the film to its full potential. From this interview with Scalia I have learnt one way in getting to become a editor and also some of the qualities which will be needed to work well and effectively and to enjoy your craft more.
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In this interview with Walter Murch he discusses how to be a good editor and the advice he will give to those who want to become an editor. He spoke about how to be a good editor it hard teach as it is a very complicated process, they need to be excellent at story telling and able to present the story in a format which is going to be enjoyable to the audience. He also said that you need good rhythm to be successful, he said 'editing is seventy percent rhythm, what you are doing and the rate at which you show it'. He also said to those aspiring to be an editor the best advice he could give was to edit, this allows you to practice and gain experience and knowledge on what work and what doesn't. I found this interview helpful as Murch explains how rhythm is key to editing and can make or break a film, I personally didn't know this factor was very important. But, like he said the rhythm of the film can make or break it.
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