Example Career: Film and Video Editors

Career Description

Edit moving images on film, video, or other media. May edit or synchronize soundtracks with images.

What Job Titles Film and Video Editors Might Have

• Editor
• News Editor
• Video Editor
• Videographer

What Film and Video Editors Do

• Organize and string together raw footage into a continuous whole according to scripts or the instructions of directors and producers.
• Review assembled films or edited videotapes on screens or monitors to determine if corrections are necessary.
• Trim film segments to specified lengths and reassemble segments in sequences that present stories with maximum effect.
• Determine the specific audio and visual effects and music necessary to complete films.
• Set up and operate computer editing systems, electronic titling systems, video switching equipment, and digital video effects units to produce a final product.
• Select and combine the most effective shots of each scene to form a logical and smoothly running story.
• Edit films and videotapes to insert music, dialogue, and sound effects, to arrange films into sequences, and to correct errors, using editing equipment.
• Cut shot sequences to different angles at specific points in scenes, making each individual cut as fluid and seamless as possible.
• Mark frames where a particular shot or piece of sound is to begin or end.
• Verify key numbers and time codes on materials.
• Record needed sounds or obtain them from sound effects libraries.
• Review footage sequence by sequence to become familiar with it before assembling it into a final product.
• Confer with producers and directors concerning layout or editing approaches needed to increase dramatic or entertainment value of productions.
• Piece sounds together to develop film soundtracks.
• Supervise and coordinate activities of workers engaged in film editing, assembling, and recording activities.
• Manipulate plot, score, sound, and graphics to make the parts into a continuous whole, working closely with people in audio, visual, music, optical, or special effects departments.
• Program computerized graphic effects.
• Conduct film screenings for directors and members of production staffs.
• Collaborate with music editors to select appropriate passages of music and develop production scores.
• Study scripts to become familiar with production concepts and requirements.
• Develop post-production models for films.
• Estimate how long audiences watching comedies will laugh at each gag line or situation to space scenes appropriately.
• Discuss the sound requirements of pictures with sound effects editors.

What Film and Video Editors Should Be Good At

• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
• Fluency of Ideas - The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
• Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.

What Film and Video Editors Need to Learn

• Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Fine Arts - Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.