Post-production: Editing: An Open Learning Guide

Editing is the process of choosing which picture and sounds will go into the finished film. Initially this includes picking what is good and what is bad, removing the poor material and putting it into script order. Later it also includes the creation and control of moments that may or may not have been intended during the shoot (see below). This page deals primarily with picture editing, and the Sound Design module may be found here.

Watch and listen to all the material. In a notebook make a log of your reactions to them and any ideas that pop into your head. Use timecode to link your thoughts to specific shots and do not be fooled into thinking you will remember these thoughts later.

For a long project the first edit will be a simple version consisting of all the wide shots strung together. This assembly will contain the fewest number of edits required to tell the story. The assembly edit allows you to get a sense of the project as a whole before you begin to focus on the specifics.

Now the rough cut begins. Taking one scene at a time begin to work through all the takes so as to find the best, most consistent material. The scenes may be cut in any order and the point is to let each scene work on its own. When you have a good working version of a scene swap it into the assembly so the cut gradually builds in complexity. Be sure to save versions of your edit several times a day so as to keep a record of all choices made.

Throughout the rough cut be careful to keep the sync sound together with its picture. Do begin to mute or delete unneeded audio, but don’t bother putting in any additional sounds yet. The first rough cut is completed when each scene has been looked at individually, and placed into the edit.

Take the opportunity for a break, overnight if possible, and view the cut without stopping. Afterward take your notebook and begin to re-view the film, stopping to make notes of changes you’d like to try. For a feature film this process can take many hours.

Now the process of approaching a fine cut begins. Scenes will have individual problems, and now that they are all part of one film, issues will become clear that are inter-dependent between scenes. This stage of the edit can be difficult as some problems can seem unsolvable. Be sure to keep moving.

Key sound effects and music may be introduced at this stage, and the complexity will grow. Be sure to try out lots of ideas, secure in the knowledge that each version is safely saved and may be returned to if necessary. The stage when a rough cut becomes a fine cut is not exact, but is often when the editor feels each idea has been fully explored.

Bring in others to watch your fine cut. Merely sitting next to someone new while watching your film can bring out problems in the edit you have previously missed. Pay careful attention to any questions they ask. Even apparently casual queries can reveal holes in the storytelling that you and your team have missed or unsuccessfully tried to solve.

You haven’t finished cutting until several new viewers have seen the edit and you’ve worked with the problems raised. If there are major issues that are never quite dealt with then now is the time that you must be bravest with the material and experiment boldly. It can mean going back to rough cut stage with a scene or two.

Source and licence

Text adapted from Movie Making Manual/Post-production/Editing by Wikibooks contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0. Paragraphs have been selected and abridged, and formatting adjusted. This adapted text is shared under the same licence. Contributor history.