Assistant Editor Series: Editor's Cut
Congrats, you survived the rush of Dailies. Take a breath because things will slowdown a bit. However, you must now shift all of your attention into helping your Editor.
The Editor’s Cut needs to make a great first impression.
Yeap, that is exactly what this stage is all about. Making a great first impression. In some cases, if the Director does not like where the cut is going on the first pass, they will fire the Editor and find a new one. Harsh, but it happens pretty often. That’s just the reality of it. There’s too much on the line.
This is why it’s extremely important to help your Editor as much as you can. Whether it’s small tasks like finding music to providing your own critique of the initial assembly - be there for your Editor.
You’re the cheerleader, the therapist, the assistant, the right-hand man/woman to your Editor. Support as much as you can.
If you’re Editor needs to come in extra early to tweak scenes, you better be there earlier than him/her to help prep for the day. Usually, I don’t like to leave the office until after my Editor has left as well. It’s a courteous gesture because things come up all the time and if I’m not there, the stress level immediately rises instantly and that’s a big no-no.
The Editor Cut stage is both parts fun and educational because you are now shadowing your Editor and allowing yourself to get a taste what it feels like to be an Editor. Therefore, let’s get into the specific tasks of this stage…
Responsibilities during Editor’s Cut.
Sound work. Normally, you’ll be in charge of smoothening out the sound, adding sound effects, and sweetening up the ambience of the scene. That’s a lot of work. Making sure that the audio levels are in the appropriate range for every shot is time consuming. Personally, sound work for me is the hardest because it’s very hard to find the right balance between how loud an effect is when mixed in with dialogue. It takes practice. Normally, I keep my dialogue levels at around -6 dB, sound effects at around -12 dB, and music at around -21. That’s a good starting point.
Visual Effects work. You must be able to do character split screens, green screen replacements, and basic motion tracking. This will greatly improve the Editor’s Cut if all of these VFX shots are created. Of course, they are just a “temp” version but if your temp version looks flawless, it helps immensely! There will be a lot of VFX work so try to do your best in getting through everything for the Editor’s Cut. I would suggest visiting www.videocopilot.net for VFX tutorials. Andrew Kramer has done a great job helping novice VFX artists get started. Check them out.
Critiques. If you have a close enough relationship with your Editor. He/She will ask you what you think about the Editor Cut. Give your thoughts in a very encouraging and positive way. Remember, they are comfortable asking you what you think, it means that they are proud of the edit. Think about it, whenever you edit something great and think it’s awesome, you’re willing to share it with someone. This is that exact feeling.
If you have a suggestion, frame the note using the “Oreo Cookie” method. Say a positive note, then share the suggestion, and then say another positive note. For instance, if I don’t like the music in the scene, this is how I would say it:
“I honestly love that car chase scene, it’s cut so well, especially the quick cuts at the beginning. However, I think I’d like to have a more adrenaline-pumping music because it sort of takes me out of it a bit. But the sound effects work extremely well, I love that tire screech at the end there. It works well when it cuts right into the next shot.”
Top layer cookie: “I honestly love that car chase scene, it’s cut so well - it feels like your right in the passenger seat.”
Cream of the cookie: “However, I think I’d like to have a more adrenaline-pumping music because it sort of takes me out of it a bit.”
Bottom later cookie: “But the sound effects work extremely well, I love that tire screech at the end there. It works well when it cuts right into the next shot.”
Your Editor will catch on. They will focus on what the suggestion is when you frame it like that because it stands out. Bottom line is just to be extremely nice when you give notes. The safe thing to do sometimes is to say all of the positive things about it and not even suggest anything that needs to be fixed. It all depends on your relationship with your Editor and how comfortable you are sharing your thoughts.
Exporting. You are in charge of exporting the cut and delivering it to the Director. For films, you are in charge of putting together all of the reels into one big sequence. Normally, Editors work in five to six (20 min. max) reel sequences as to not bog down the Editing System. Therefore, when you deliver the cut, you are in charge of putting the whole movie together. Be careful when you do this task.
I’ve accidentally put a reel twice in the assembly and actually delivered it to the Director. Not a good situation to be in. Got a mouthful from the Director and also got scolded by my Editor. It was a huge learning lesson for me. This is why I now always…
Quality Control. If I have the time, I QC the Editor’s Cut twice. Once in the timeline before exporting it. And then once after I exported it from the Editing Software. Yes, you need to do this if you have the time. For me, I always MAKE the time to have this. I include it in my schedule because I don’t want to be the reason why the Director can’t work creatively. It’s embarrassing. Always QC your work twice.
In conclusion.
All in all, the Editor’s Cut stage is an extremely fun stage to be in because you get to learn so much. At the end of the day, I love being in this stage because you aren’t focused anymore on troubleshooting dailies or organizing them, you’re in the zone of purely editing. It’s my favorite part.
Anyway, thanks so much for visiting my blog. I hope you got something out of this. If you’d like my help personally on this topic or anything about breaking into Hollywood Editing, schedule a 1-on-1 phone session here. I’ll share with you the best way to maximize your potential in being a competitive Assistant Editor and eventually work your way up into being a professional Editor.
Thanks again for visiting and catch you on the next blog.
-Alfonso