written for AVID
Editing is often misconstrued as something that only happens
during post production. In fact, content creation increasingly relies on
editors' skills in shaping story throughout the process—before, during, and
after principal photography. Video editors are among the core group of
filmmakers that directors bring on board to share feedback in production.
Whether or not
they join production on set is usually a matter of directorial preference or
budget—and in many cases over the last year, COVID-19 safety and travel
restrictions meant it wasn't possible at all. In either case, advances in
remote editing tools have removed communication barriers and allow editorial
input from any location.
But what exactly
is the objective of a modern video editor during film production?
WHAT IS THE VIDEO EDITOR'S ROLE IN
2021?
One of an
editor's key roles during a shoot is to present assembly cuts. These allow the
director and other creative heads or producers to see what is—or isn't—working,
so they can plan the next day's schedule. While doing this in person isn't
essential, it is often preferable to having these conversations at a distance.
"If I'm
near to set, I can have informal chats with the director after each day of
shooting," says editor Tony Kearns (Black
Mirror: Bandersnatch). "I get a better idea of how the shoot
is going—I can act in an advisory capacity to help the director with a tricky
scene or two, and I also gain personal insights into the people who are working
on set, which helps me to relate to their contribution to the project."
Directors may
also like to have their editor on hand to shape VFX-heavy stories. Chris Lebenzon, ACE, relocated to London for 18 months
during the making of Dumbo, a live-action film built
around a CG main character. This included five months of principal photography
at Pinewood and editorial near director Tim Burton, who lives in the city.
Maintaining Objectivity
Still, many
editors value the objective distance that comes from not being on set, where
they can be distracted by the paraphernalia of filmmaking.
"I think
it's really important for an editor to maintain an objectivity to the material
that allows them to be the 'audience'," says editor Jake Roberts, ACE, (Hell or High Water, Devs).
"Whenever I have strayed onto set in the past, I find that, inevitably, my
response to the dailies is influenced by what I experienced, be it the mood on
set, the response to a certain take by the crew, or simply witnessing the scale
of the effort required to achieve a particular shot. None of these things have
any bearing on whether something should appear in the film, and yet they can't
help but cloud one's judgement."
Troubleshooting
The video
editor's role on or close to set also includes troubleshooting problems that
may arise in post. A great example of this is editor Paul Machliss on the movie Baby
Driver. He began cutting on set in order to ensure the complex
choreography of the action scenes lined up with the soundtrack, a key element
of the film.
"In order
to make it work, I had to be there at the moment of creation," explains Machliss. "I was there every day, at the
moment of every take—we had to make sure we got it right. At that moment, the
art of post production actually becomes intertwined with the moment of
production—making the cut was just as important as making the take work."
Pre-Visualization
Director Wes Anderson builds his unique vision for pictures such
as Moonrise Kingdom and Isle of Dogs with regular collaborators in
production design, cinematography and editorial. This begins with extensive
pre-visualization.
"During the shoot, I'm more often than not on set to discuss
anything that we feel needs to change or any issues that are coming up,"
says Andrew
Weisblum, ACE, who went on location in France for The French Dispatch. "On location, we look at
dailies together—and if Wes is concerned about something and wants to reshoot
it, I can cut together a version to figure out if we're in the clear or we need
another angle. This way, we'll get something that improves [the scene] by 10
percent."
Rapid Editorial
Sometimes, the editor gets a request to attend the shooting of specific
scenes. Both Elliot
Graham, ACE, and Tom Cross, ACE, accepted director Cary
Fukunaga's invitation to a hilltop town in Italy—the location of a major action
sequence for No Time To Die. Their directive was
to rapidly assemble an edit from multiple units to ensure the footage matched
up and that no time was lost.
HOW REMOTE EDITING CHANGES THE CALCULATION
There are immense creative benefits to letting editors and other
filmmakers put their heads together throughout the production process. Advances
in remote editing tools, many of which leverage the cloud, mean filmmakers can
get those same benefits no matter where they collaborate from.
The technology isn't new. However, it has been driven to the foreground
by COVID-19 production protocols as directors connect with editors and editors
connect with assistants and VFX departments. Virtual collaboration is seeing
widespread use throughout shooting, editorial, and the later stages of review
and approval.
After spending the entire shoot of News of the World on
location in Texas, William Goldenberg, ACE, performed editorial remotely from
his home in Santa Monica with director Paul Greengrass, who was in London.
"For the first time in my career, it was almost more important to
be on location during production as it was to be with the director in post
every day," Goldenberg told IBC. "We were able to work online
remarkably easily . . . I feel like I had another layer of knowledge about the
story because of how much time I spent with him."
Videoconferencing and real-time sharing of sessions directly from the
NLE also enables productions to keep more of their team remote during
photography. Tony Kearns, for example, cut a four-part BBC TV drama in late
2020 while he was in Dublin and the shoot was taking place in Manchester.
"We [would] download the previous day's rushes each morning and
have all the scenes cut that day," he explains. "Assemblies were sent
back via secure portals."
COLLABORATION, NO MATTER WHERE YOUR TEAM IS
Even as the pandemic fades, remote, cloud-based production
techniques are set to remain integral to the industry. Whether on or off set,
the reality is that filmmakers—including video editors—require flexibility for
a slew of reasons: cost savings, geographically distributed teams, to foster
creativity and/or objectivity, to enhance work-life balance, and more. Teams
need to be able to work collaboratively, even when they aren't in the same
place. Technology offers this freedom.
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