Editor

Editor
Film Editors assemble footage of feature films, television shows, documentaries, and industrials into a seamless end product. They manipulate plot, score, sound, and graphics to refine the overall story into a continuous and enjoyable whole. On some films, the film Editor is chosen before cast members and script doctors; people in Hollywood recognize that the skills of a good film Editor can save a middling film. In the same way directors use certain actors they appreciate over and over again, they also use film Editors they know and are comfortable with. Martin Scorcese, Spike Lee, and Robert Wise are a few of the directors who work with the same Editors over and over again. Such relationships lend stability to a film Editor’s life; otherwise, they must be prepared to submit video resume after video resume, in the struggle to get work.

Editors can express themselves through their unique styles; Spike Lee’s Editor, for example, is well known for his editing style. The hours are long, and the few Editors who had the time to write comments to us tended to abbreviate their thoughts. “Dawn/Dusk. Rush jobs. After test audiences, do it again. Lots of frustration. Lots of control, though,” wrote one.

Just as directors do, film Editors spend a long time perfecting and honing their craft. Like most industries, the film industry has embraced new technology. Assistant Editors must now have strong computer skills to work in the industry. While some Editors stay removed from the project during the filming process so as not to steer the director away from his or her concept of the film, many of them do visit the director on set while production is underway. Nevertheless, the majority of a film Editor’s work is done alone. Despite that solitude, interpersonal skills are just as important as endurance is in an Editor’s career.