Re: The Art of Editing: Sometimes we worry too much about technical things.

I want to chip in here. It's a great thread.

Technology does not make films, people do, and people should be making films to tell great engaging stories. On my editing induction at the National Film and Television School in the UK I was given fifty still photographs, thrown into a quiet room for ten minutes and told to arrange them into a story. Naturally I thought I had to use them all. After the first ten minutes I was told to go back in and use less photos to tell the same story. I ended up using only six. A very basic exercise about one thing - story telling.

We are talking about craft here and craft is generally learnt over time and understood by working from the story out, not the technology in. In fact I always want technology to disappear from my creative process, it doesn't interest me in the slightest. It's a tool and I learn to use it to serve the story.

I agree that every project has a story. I work on everything from features down to the dirtiest little corporate video and my first question is always the same regardless - "Who is your audience and what are you trying to say?" When I get the answer I bolt it in my brain and it drives every decision I make as an editor.

I think a lot of people are challenged by the notion of story first, because lets be honest it is the toughest part to get right, but when you do it's incredibly rewarding. Editing is filmmaking in reverse, and I believe it's one of the key skills a director, even writer should have a full grasp of. It's the core craft that directs, paces, excites and moves the audience.

Keith