Skip to main content

The Role of an Editor

The role of an editor is one of the most important roles in the creation of a piece of film, as this is the point which can make or break the quality of the final product. A good editor can turn mediocre footage into a masterpiece, whereas a bad editor can create a mess out of some of the best footage ever shot for film or television. Therefore, when undertaking the role of an editor, you need to have a very clear idea of what you are doing.


Despite what people may think, being an editor doesn't mean that you are only part of the project after all of the footage has been shot. The Editor works closely with the director before shooting begins, deciding how to maximise the potential of the screenplay. This is in order to create a mutual image of what the film is going to look like. There would be no point in shooting with the intention of making a comedy if the editor creates a love film from the footage. Editors check the technical standards, as well as the emerging sense of story, and the actor's performances. All of this is useful for an editor to visualise the final product

In order to help me to understand what it means to be an editor, I researched several websites to see what the qualities and skills required were. One website that helped me understand what it means to be an editor was 
http://creativeskillset.org/job_roles/2940_editor

This helped me to better understand my role as it listed numerous roles that an editor has to undertake, some of which I did not know, such as editors usually working in a supervisory role during the subsequent music and track laying, and sound mix. I had previously thought that the editor had some opinion in the choices of these components, but were not in charge of them

Another website, https://www.mediacollege.com/employment/television/editor.html listed a few ways that an editor's role may be different, depending on what job they are in:

The Editor's job description depends on the situation, the editor's skills and other factors
- The Editor is required to perform specific edits as instructed by the director or producer
- The Editor is allowed to make their own editing decisions, perhaps using a particular style or their signature technique

This was quite helpful, as it tells me that the editor can have some freedom when editing, however it may only be a small piece of freedom, as the director or producer is the one who ultimately has the final say in the matter.

I have found these pieces of research very helpful, and feel like they have given me more confidence in my role as an editor on this project.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Documentary unit: Script first draft

Documentary unit: Interview questions

 Kirsty interview Jackie interview

Documentary unit: Choosing idea

When our group started thinking about what the main focus of our documentary would be, we went through several areas, but ultimately decided to go down the technology and science route, with a technology detox. We felt that this idea was a strong one, as it is usually people who are older that decide to go through a tech detox, so ours seemed unique as we were going to have a teenager as the main focus of the documentary. When we were researching the science behind the affects of technology in our daily lives, we were finding lots of useful information, along with some possible case studies and locations to shoot. However, some complications arose, with colliding ideas and people not getting back to us for possible interviews, so we decided to end this idea and change it into just the general effects of technology in life, and the advantages and disadvantages of it. again, we felt like this was a strong idea due to it being from the perspective of a teenager, as they are the right ag...