OT: A Good Editor??

The definition of being a good editor encompasses so many different qualities, it is so hard to define in just a paragraph.

Every post in this thread is essentially right. How the process works on Feature in Hollywood is not the same in a reality environment or commercials and in corporate/industrials.

Having experienced many different genres, I can tell you there is one thing that is consistent: Being able to work with others. Shane said it best without going into great detail.

If you can't get along, your tenure will be short lived.

Your abilities to tell a story is equally important as how you gel with the producers and directors and other creative people. Your opinion needs to be respected.

I would be curious to know if these Variety/Hollywood Reporter terms came from the old days of the 1940s Hollywood gossip mavens like Walter Winchell, Army Archerd and Hedda Hopper? They seem like a throwback to the era of calling Hollywood "Tinseltown"

B.O. = box office (it can be a coincidence that this term also stinks as body odor)
pics = movies or films

From Wikipedia...
For much of its existence, Variety's writers and columnists have used a jargon called slanguage or varietyese (a form of headlinese) that refers especially to the movie industry, and has largely been adopted and imitated by other writers in the industry. Such terms as "boffo box-office biz", "sitcom", "sex appeal", "payola", and even "striptease" are attributed to the influence of the magazine,[4] although its attempt to popularize "infobahn" as a synonym for "information superhighway" never caught on. Its most-famous headline was from October 1929, when the stock market crashed: "Wall St. Lays An Egg". Another favorite, "Sticks nix hick pix",[5][6] was made popular?although the movie-prop version renders it as "Stix nix hix flix!" in Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), Michael Curtiz's musical-biographical film about George M. Cohen; translated, it means that rural audiences were not attending rural-themed films. Television series are referred to as "skeins", and heads of companies or corporate teams are called "toppers". In addition, more-common English words and phrases are shortened; "audience members" becomes simply "auds", "performance" becomes "perf", and "network" becomes "net", for example.

Ughh...

Dan

Thanks Dan. I have vertigo now...



When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

"M1119,

Passion is a given. None of us would be here if we didn't have a passion for it." Agreed. But please remove that emoticon. How come its not on my emoticon menu?

Add "passion" to the list. We know what that means but that term enables so much bad behavior.

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Please remove that emoticon. How come its not on my emoticon menu?

1. No

2. Because Mike Horton hasn't updated the emoticons on this forum since its inception

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

You make us a spit take emoticon and I will update with your vomit emoticon. Got to brush up my php though.

Michael Horton
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Michael Horton Wrote:
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> You make us a spit take emoticon and I will update
> with your vomit emoticon.

Ok now its just getting nasty.

"Michael Mann, the helmer for this rom-com spoke at the prem Thursday where he revealed that he had no problems whatsoever with lead thesps, Tom Cruise and Jessica Alba. The film, which bows this holiday frame is expected to cume in excess of 50 mil the first weekend. Paramount Prexy could not be reached for comment"

Sure sounds like another language sometimes, doesn't it.

Andy

Wow, that's a huge question. I think it all depends on what you are working on. But regardless of what you are working on, a sense of pacing and structure is important.

If it's a scripted narrative it really is just a good sense of storytelling. Being able to think beyond the script and restructure within scenes in new ways and creating moments in ways that are different then how they actually happened if how they happened was not truly dramatic. Also seeing the forest through the trees; knowing which scenes to drop and which to move and why. Also just simply knowing who to be on in a dialogue scene, sounds simple but knowing who's moment it is is key.

If it's a music video just a very good visceral sense of imagery and what flows well together. Kind of like having the sensibilities of a dancer.

If it's a verite based doc or reality show then being able to go through massive amounts of footage, somehow catalog it all in your head and find the magic pieces that can actually make a cut. Knowing where the emotion and drama is in the midst of allot of crap. Then being able to put it together in a way that has some sense of pace and structure. Also, being able to handle all of the technical issues that occur in non fiction material like, lack of intentional blocking, inconsistent lighting, continuity nightmares, people talking over each other etc ... Often times when cutting verite I toggle back and forth between what I call "in time" and "out of time" cutting. In time meaning that I am cutting it more like a narrative, staying in scene, match cutting, not jumping around in time, usually dry without music. Out of time meaning I usually throw in a track, jump cut all over the place, sometimes forward in time by great leaps, using b roll that is out of scene of other locations to cover a byte. So I think having a good balance of "in time" cutting and "out of time cutting" and knowing how to weave both in and out of each other in an organic way is an important skill.

If it's a clip show from History Channel type stuff or the flash and trash you see on Vh1 and E! then you need heavy effects skills so you can utilize them in a way that looks organic as opposed to just being dropped on. Also, music skills are key in these kinds of shows. Establishing a music edit that works as the structural backbone and editing it in a way where it looks like the music is informing the images what to do as opposed to just "wallpapering" the music cut. Having a tight dialog edit above the music edit is key so the music doesn't feel like it's just "hanging out" ... Also having a strong sense of pacing ie; creating some kind of aesthetic message that states we are leaving one "idea" or "beat" and entering another. It's not enough to just take the stringout of bytes and vo and lay b roll above and music under. It has to be "worked" to make the cut feel like a bit of a ride taking us to a different place with a different mood every few minutes or so.

Those are all the genres I am familiar with and cannot speak to others.

But MOST important is the ability to work well with others. It doesn't matter how good you are, no one will hire you if you have a difficult personality.

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But MOST important is the ability to work well with others. It doesn't matter how good you are, no one will hire you if you have a difficult personality.

It doesn't matter how good you are? Uh...no. That is by no means a RULE. I have worked with some first class a-holes in my time...and not because they were Boy Scouts walking little old ladies across the street. THEY WERE GOOD AND THEY KNEW IT. They SUCKED WITH PEOPLE and fully admitted it. Hard to believe some of the folks I worked with actually had FRIENDS (or pets...or anything SWEET in their lives). These folks had difficult personalities and thought everything they did was right and the best thing ever. Imagine siting in the same room as someone like this for YEARS. There's one in almost every high volume shop.

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

I'm just finishing Sam O'Steen's book, "Cut to the Chase."

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What do you think makes a good editor?

Someone who can tell a joke.

Because...?
The timing is right and he tells just enough.

- Justin Barham -

I think its the story also. If you can tell the same story and get different reactions or if you can get the same reaction with different stories, you are a good editor.

Recognizing the tone and the subliminal ways to send this message. Bad (not horrid) acting SOMETIMES can be overcome by an editor. Bad camera work also. It you capture the message and/or feel with the choices of cuts people will tell you. Thats a sign that you are on the right track.

But it has to be something you a can do at will. Its like as soon as you read the 1st 3 lines of the script or description or see the footage, The images should form in your head with or without effort almost like a day dream.

Snatch the golden mouse from my hand and you will be ready.
Choose the red or blue pill.
Get involved with gateway recreational cerebral expansion materials.


""" What you do with what you have, is more important than what you could do, with what you don't have."

> > > Knowledge + Action = Wisdom - J. Corbett 1992 """"

I've heard this before but never paid much attention to it maybe someone can help explain it to me it was something like snapping your fingers to find a rhythm and cutting to it?