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film editing techniques

Teaching film editing techniques for professional editors

Film editing techniques will help you as a professional film editor to do the editing best. Your expertise, knowledge, experience, and creativity will turn raw footage into a compelling film. For this conversion, you need techniques to make effective video changes.

These techniques remove the unevenness of the film editing process and put the film on the right track. After editing, you will produce a flawless film, and the film’s appeal will also increase tremendously. In fact, with the help of these techniques, professional video editing is possible. The result of this film editing will be the production of an attractive film that can be presented and shared.

What exactly does a film editor do?

A film editor is a person who uses video editing techniques to make videos that can be presented to the audience. The recorded raw footage is like a shapeless dough that gets an attractive shape in the hands of the editor with video editing techniques.

In other words, it can be said that the editor gives the film a real identity. In addition, it makes the film’s message fully and powerfully conveyed to the audience. Accordingly, the film editor must have special characteristics to do the work related to video editing.

Video editor features

When the editor can use professional film editing techniques for the quality of a part of the film that has at least the following characteristics:

Familiarity with production matters

These matters include things like directing, filming, and sound recording. Being familiar with these things will make you edit the film with full mastery. For this reason, you use the best film editing techniques in the best possible place. This excellent performance is because you have a good understanding of mistakes and shortcomings and the ability to find ways to correct them.

Being careful in editing the film

The accuracy of the editor’s work is very important; Because the slightest neglect, for example, of the story sequence of the film makes the film incomprehensible. The film editor carefully uses the following film editing techniques to make the film attractive:

  • Features of the story of the film
  • Type (genre) of the screenplay
  • How to design the video maker

Having visual aesthetics

Without creating visual beauty in the film, it is impossible to create attractive scenes that attract the audience’s attention and keep them with the film. For this reason, the film editor must have a strong sense of aesthetics to use film editing techniques beautifully in the film.

Having creativity

If you are not creative, you can copy the works of successful editors. This is not how a professional film editor works. For all the moments of the film, you must have ideas for editing the film to produce unique works. You should only use the works of professional editors for getting ideas, not copying.

Film editor works

The video editor helps the director with editing techniques and completes the film. All the work of the film editor is to adjust and finally complete the recorded film. As an editor, you do whatever it takes to process the footage. The main tasks that the editor must do include the following:

  • Selection of different views of the movie
  • Timing of different shots of the movie
  • Setting the order of shots in the movie

Teaching professional film editing techniques

6 examples of film editing techniques are:

Standard cut in film editing

The standard cut is also known as the hard cut. This type of film editing technique conveys no specific feeling or concept. This is how the film editor connects the last frame to the beginning of the next frame of a scene.

Flashback

With this editing technique, you take the viewer back to the past to give him the necessary information.

Invisible Cut

It is one of the film editing techniques by which the viewer considers the whole scene as the result of one impression. Being creative in this type of technique is very important.

Smash Cut

The film editor uses this cut when it is necessary to transition from a busy scene to a quiet scene or vice versa.

Establishing shot in film editing

It is one of the film editing techniques generally used at the beginning of the scene and shows a view in the distance. With this technique, it is clear to the viewer what should be shown in the next larger shots.

Cutting close to the action (Cutting on Action)

Using this film editing technique example, you can stimulate the viewer’s curiosity. The film editor uses this cut when the film character is doing an action. This cut is applied the moment close to the operation. It means the viewer waits to see a scene, but the editor postpones it using this cut.

Rule 321 in video editing

Rule 321 for film editing can be considered one of the film editing techniques. Of course, as its name suggests, it is better to consider it as a rule in film editing. By following this rule, you will avoid repeating boring tasks.

This law advises the film editor to save three copies of the video he is making. This saving should be in such a way that it considers at least two different places for storage. Additionally, one of these two locations should be somewhere separate from the computer or laptop it works with.

The idea of filming and editing a creative and attractive video

In order for your videos to stand out from the videos of others, you must choose the best and most suitable idea for video editing. Knowing some ideas for creative and attractive video editing will help you make quality videos by applying them. Some of the different types of video editing ideas are related to the type and model of your video, and some include technical issues of the video. These are the following examples:

Ideas for editing the film in terms of technical issues

Three different types of ideas for film editing in terms of technical issues include the following:

Get rid of shadows

The first idea for video editing is related to proper lighting—different shadows in the video lower the quality of your work. The wrong camera placement or lighting kit can cause this problem for you. Three main light sources, i.e., key, fill, and background light, should form the letter A together. This combination will help you get rid of shadows.

Smooth video motion

The second idea for video editing is to pay attention to the movement of your video to make sure it is smooth. This means that the number of video frames per second should be such that it gives a smooth and appropriate movement to your video. If you set the frame rate of your video to 30 frames per second (EPS30) or higher, you will have the desired amount of motion. Videos with fewer frames per second are not smooth.

Balanced use of visual elements in video editing

One of the most important points related to film editing is the balanced use of visual elements. Too many icons, symbols, shapes, effects, transitions, and things like these will distract the audience.

This editing method makes your video content lose clarity, and the audience misses your message. To avoid this wrong path, be sure to use the most key visual elements. For example, downloading effects for video editing allows you to save the most suitable effects for yourself and avoid overdoing them.

The idea for editing the movie in terms of the type and model of the movie

Among the examples of ideas for film editing in terms of the type and model of the film, the following can be mentioned:

  • Expressing your opinions and opinion regarding a specific topic in the form of a short video
  • Interviewing about the topic that the audience likes with experts or people of your choice
  • Making a documentary film
  • Making a hidden camera clip

The last word about film editing techniques

Film editing techniques help the editor apply what he intends to improve the film. These techniques allow the editor to reach the desired goals to convey the message to the audience. This is why film editing techniques are considered one of the most important and original techniques in filmmaking.

You must be familiar with these techniques to work as a film editor. Mastering these techniques will guarantee success in the various tests for hiring video editors.

Some collections perform all stages of the recruitment test for free. This way, if you know film editing techniques, you can easily earn great money in this series. Especially since you choose the projects and doing the work is extremely easy.