MFJF map · UK
The role of the editor: the film made for the third time
An editor takes everything that was shot and makes the film out of it: not the film in the script, nor the one the director had in their head on set, but the one that is possible from the footage. A film is made three times: once when it is written, once when it is shot, and once when it is cut. The editor is the director's confidant, sounding board and problem solver. The software is the least of it.
Before a frame is shotPre-production
On a feature or a drama the editor is hired in pre-production, and the first thing they do is read the script the way nobody else does.
The shoot: the rushesCutting while the crew still shoots
Every day of the shoot produces rushes. The editor is the film's first audience, and the assembly is the part of the job almost nobody outside the cutting room understands.
The director's cutWeeks on an episode, months on a feature
When the shoot wraps the director comes into the room and the two of you go through the film scene by scene. Usually a tightening; sometimes a complete restructuring.
Producers, executives, screeningsThe notes
On most films the director's cut is not the final cut. Diplomacy, tact, no ego, and the ability to defend an opinion when you think it will help the film.
Picture lock, and after itThe rest of post spends money against fixed timings
Picture lock is the moment everyone agrees the picture will not change again. In practice locks slip, and the assistant manages the changes.
How editors get madeIn the cutting room, over years
You can learn the software in months. You cannot learn the judgement in months: which take, which frame to cut on, how long to hold a look, what to remove so the audience never notices it is gone.
