Film editing has long been referred to as ‘the invisible art’ by those in the industry who over the last hundred years have come together to appreciate the utmost responsibility that editors possess. Without the editor, there is no final product, perhaps making a film’s editor the most crucial part of the overall filmmaking process on a day to day basis.
What a lot of people may not realise is how much of an active part an editor will play before the cameras even begin to roll. The editor will liaise with the director as well as the script editor to construct the narrative flow and pacing of the piece beforehand so when the dailies start to arrive, the editor can have prior knowledge of what is expected of them in their work.
Editing continues throughout a shoot as scenes are shot (more often than not) non-sequentially. The editor must have a broad knowledge of the story and screenplay to be able to construct coherency regardless of the order (chronological or otherwise) in which footage is delivered to them. Once shooting has wrapped, the editor will be expected to deliver an ‘assembly edit’. This is then refined with the supervision of the director into a second ‘director’s cut’. Finally, the film’s producer will oversee any final revisions until the film’s ‘fine cut’ is complete and ready for submission.
The history of film editing goes all the way back to the earliest part of the 20th century when Edwin S. Porter took charge of Thomas Alva Edison’s New York film studios. While filmmakers like George Melies and James Williamson had been splicing footage for a few years, Porter was revolutionary in the way that he created dissolves and transitions between the shots in his films. Porter’s 1903 film ‘Life of an American Fireman’ was widely considered to be the earliest example of cross-cutting in existence, though it has been revealed that the film’s final scene was reedited to include these cross-cuts sometime in the 30s or 40s. Charles Musser of Yale University Film Studies confirmed this in his book ‘Before the Nickelodeon: Edwin S. Porter and the Edison Manufacturing Company’ stating:
“It is only in the last few years that careful examination and methodology have established the authenticity of the paper-print version at the Library of Congress. In 1978, the Museum of Modern Art itself showed the paper-print version at the International Federation of Film Archives conference on early cinema…”,
the MoMA that he refers to having previously had on display a version of the film that showcases the use of cross-cutting between interior and exterior shots as a mother and child are rescued from a house. The ‘paper-print’ version that is referenced differs in the way that the interior and exterior rescue scenes are shown back to back offering multi-angle repetition in the narrative rather than the pioneering editing techniques for which is was previously praised.
Controversy aside, Porter expanded on his previous work in his follow up, ‘The Great Train Robbery’ which is to this day is regarded by many to be the most groundbreaking film in the history of film editing. It used as many as ten interior and exterior settings using cross-cutting and double exposure composite editing to show simultaneous action in different locations. A 12-minute filmmaking milestone, the film cost $150 to make.
While Porter revolutionised an form of narrative structuring that would be practiced meticulously in a literal hands-on fashion for decades, today’s editors have been using non-linear digital editing software in one form or another since as far back as the early 1970s when the CMX-600 was developed by CBS and Memorex. Today, editing is primarily done on software programs Avid, Adobe Premiere and Final Cut, respectively. The accessibility of these programs means that first time trainee editors (ie. NUCA FMIP undergrads) are able to work in the same digital environments as editors like Roderick Jaynes (The Coen Brothers) who famously constructed their Best Picture winning film ‘No Country For Old Men’ entirely on Final Cut Pro. This makes the route for career progression intensely competitive, but undeniably direct. An individual’s progression will be based on their level of skill, ability to deliver under pressure, overall competency and experience of the post-production process.
This individual progression can be contextually tracked in the form of Luke Dabbs, a UEA Film Studies graduate who began his career as an editor in London in 2008 where was a runner for Clearcut Pictures surviving on a mere £11.5k salary. While this role consisted mainly of transporting documents and equipment (and making coffee), it was a foot in the door at a reputable studio who proceeded to reward him for his efforts.
After just seven months on the job, he was promoted to the role of junior editing assistant which saw his salary rise to £14k initially, reaching £18k by the end of his first year. Whilst in this role, Dabbs worked on familiar programmes such as ‘Watchdog’, ‘The Secret Millioniare’ and ‘Big Brother’ in an 18 month period that again saw him promoted, this time to the role of editing assistant/vtr operator.
In 2010, Dabbs transferred to ITV to be an editing assistant on programmes as popular as ‘Come Dine With Me’, this time for a salary of £20k per year. While working as an editor, he expanded his responsibilities to include the role of asset encoder for the ‘ITV Player’ on-demand service. In 2011 though, he was on the move again, this time to independent production house Halo (again as an editing assistant) where he worked on programmes such as ‘Coach Trip’ and ‘Dinner Date’ where he earned £21.5k per year.
After less than a year, Dabbs finally settled into his current home at TVC Soho where he earns £24k per year and gets paid for any overtime he puts in. His most recent project was ‘Noel Fielding’s Luxury Comedy’ and he is currently working on his first feature film, a documentary of British runner Steve Cram that is being directed by the BAFTA award-winning director of ‘Senna’, Asif Kapadia.
Now in his fourth year, Dabbs’ whirlwind career in editing hasn’t stopped for a second. He has earned numerous promotions, and is earning over double what he was earning when he entered the industry in 2008. The projects are only getting bigger, and this is a career that is still in it’s early blossoming stages. A user of multiple editing platforms (predominantly Avid Media Composer which he swears is 100% essential if you want a chance to work in the editing sector), Dabbs is proof that a career in editing is (as mentioned earlier) as achievable as it is direct should you be willing to pay your dues and work hard at your craft.
In a conversation on 24th February 2012 L. Dabbs confirmed all of the personal facts relating to his career that are referenced in this essay.
Dalrymple, Jim. (2008). Final Cut Pro and the making of 'No Country For Old Men'. Available: http://www.macworld.com/article/132277/2008/02/coen.html. Last accessed 20th Feb 2012.
Musser, Charles. (1991). 7: A Close Look at Life of an American Fireman: 1902-1903. In: Before The Nickelodeon: Edwin S. Porter and the Edison Manufacturing Company. USA: University of California Press. p212-234.
Musser, Charles. (1991). 8: Story Films Become The Dominant Product. In: Before The Nickelodeon: Edwin S. Porter and the Edison Manufacturing Company. USA: University of California Press. p254-260.
Simmons, Dan - Acting Head of Film. (2012). Film Job Profiles > Editing and Post Productions > Editor. Available: http://www.skillset.org/film/jobs/post/article_4732_1.asp. Last accessed 25 Feb 2012.
Wallace, Heather. (unknown). History on Digital Nonlinear Editing. Available: http://www.sundialmedia.com/sait/articles/found_a/heat_f.htm. Last accessed 24th Feb 2012.
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