New Editing Systems

"New editing systems are moving into prominence and will be added as one of the many editing tools. Experienced editors should do well with these systems, but I'm not sure about how the emphasis is placed. The name of this game is editing. The computers will not edit for you, you must do that. The emphasis should be on the creative editing process. It takes many years to develop into a competent editor, capable of making a contribution, but it takes only three or four weeks for an editor to learn which buttons to push in order to make cuts and overlaps and things like that. Whether your editing decisions are fast or slow, those editors who have sufficient experience will creatively support their directors with suggestions and ideas and not just be pushing buttons. So prepare yourself. Not only on the mechanics of these devices, but more importantly prepare yourself with the techniques and aesthetics of film editing. When I learn the Lightworks and the Avid, which I'm in the process of doing, I'll be able to bring my experience into that arena. It is just another scissor. If I did 'Schindler' on a Lightworks it would look just like it looks now. But the Lightworks won't edit for me. I must do that. Audiences don't know what you work on. But I'd love to see more discussions and more talk about aesthetics and creative editing than about mechanics. What I bring to it is a lifetime of experience. Now the young editors that want to grow, you can learn to push the buttons, but you better learn how to edit as well. Learn what makes pictures work. That's the important thing.