Top 10 Editing Tips Before Start Cutting

Editing tips for editor before start actually cutting? Really!!!? Is that even necessary? Well in my opinion yes. Editing is a giant task and these editing tips will help you to get organised and most importantly help you to minimize your mistakes during editing. BTW these are not my editing tips. These are from editor and editing theorist  Roger Crittenden which he calls ten commandments.

Though these editing tips are bit old but you can still use them effectively in present scenario.

• Read the script in advance of cutting.

This is one of the most important editing tips.  I have seen many editors who don’t even bother to read the script before editing.

• Become familiar with the directors previous work.

By understanding director’s previous work you will get familiar with the director’s shooting style and it will help you to understand what exactly director will expect from you as an editor.

• Read the background material relevant to the film

Read whatever you feel is necessary for the film, be it storyboards or shooting scripts or even location reports,…. Just help yourself to get to know the project as much as you can.

• Meet the cameraman, sound recordist, and other major contributors to the film who might affect your own job.

Just like director, know about the other prominent crew members and their styles. After all you have to organize their work to make an end product as well as you have to hide their mistakes during post production.

• Liaise with the continuity or production assistant for documentation.

Act as a link to assist communication with the continuity or production assistant so that you get minimum continuity or production mistakes during post production.

• Make yourself known to the laboratory contact or Digital Image Technician

Knowing DIT will make your work lot easier and you get what you want pretty easily.

• Choose your assistant carefully for both efficiency and tact.

Believe it or not, your assistants are the most important people on whom you can rely on. These are the people who will help you to minimize your work burden. But if you choose wrong assistants you will get a heart attack.

• Find out your directors preferred working hours and eating habits!

Though it sounds bit strange but its very important. There are directors who love to work at night only and eat post midnight. So if they don’t get follow their working and/or eating habits, they get cranky and it will affect your work.

• Ensure that the cutting room is properly set up before cutting starts.

Isn’t that obvious? You must have what you are going to need. It will save lots of time and money.

• Make sure that reliable maintenance for your equipment can be obtained.

Very very very important. I have seen times where workstation or hard drives crashed due to poor maintenance in the middle of the post production and there are times where partial or complete footage has been lost.

I hope you like the post. Please share your editing tips in the below comment section and join the news letter above.

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