As a video editor, I would describe myself as creative, detail-oriented, and passionate about storytelling. Video editing allows me to use my technical skills while also exercising my creativity to shape compelling narratives. I love the entire process – from reviewing raw footage to putting the finishing touches on an edited video.
What got you interested in video editing?
I’ve always been fascinated by the power of visual media to connect with people on an emotional level. Even as a kid, I loved making little home movies with my friends and family. In high school and college, I took film studies classes and realized I had a knack for piecing scenes together in a way that shaped the story. Once I started actively editing videos, I was hooked on the creative challenge.
What do you enjoy most about video editing?
I love the storytelling aspect of video editing. Being able to take raw footage and craft it into a narrative with purpose and emotion is extremely gratifying. I enjoy reviewing footage and seeing the potential stories and arcs start to emerge. There’s something magical about witnessing dull footage transformed into something engaging through the editing process.
I also enjoy the technical, problem-solving nature of video editing. There are always challenges that come up, whether it’s lacking coverage for a scene, poor audio quality, or shaky camera work. I like figuring out creative workarounds and solutions to produce polished videos regardless of limitations with the footage.
What editing skills are you most proud of?
I’m particularly proud of my skills when it comes to pacing and rhythm within videos. Understanding how long to stay on a shot before cutting away, when to use quick cuts to build excitement, or when to let a scene breathe is so important for the overall flow of a video. I’ve worked hard to hone those instincts over the years.
I’m also proud of my ability to match colors, audio levels, and tone across different shots and scenes. Making all the clips feel cohesive even if they are from different sources or filmed on different days is a key skill as an editor.
What do you find most challenging about video editing?
The most challenging part of video editing is taking a large amount of raw footage and piecing together the best possible story from it. Often you’ll have several hours of footage that needs to be distilled down to a concise 3-5 minute video. Deciding what stays and what goes is difficult. I want to ensure the video tells a compelling story efficiently while also using the most high quality clips available to me.
It’s also challenging when you don’t have ideal footage to work with. Poorly lit, grainy, or shaky clips can be difficult to edit into a polished video. I don’t have as much flexibility when the raw footage itself has issues. But it pushes me creatively to problem solve around less than ideal clips.
What types of videos do you most enjoy editing?
I love editing documentary-style videos the most. Being able to dig through interviews and b-roll footage to construct a compelling true story is highly rewarding. I also enjoy editing shorter brand videos that require condensing a company’s mission and personality into a 1-2 minute piece. Those rapid fire brand videos keep my editing skills sharp.
I also quite enjoy editing longer form narrative videos. Being able to establish characters and settings through editing choices provides a different creative opportunity compared to documentary editing. In general, I’m open to editing a wide variety of video genres as it keeps me expanding my editing skills across the board.
What’s your video editing process like?
Here are the key steps in my standard video editing workflow:
Review Raw Footage
The first step is watching through all the raw, unedited footage and pulling out the best clips that will tell the story. I look for things like shot framing, lighting, focus, camera movement, and audio quality.
assemble rough cut
Next, I build a rough skeleton edit of the video by laying in all the selected clips in order. The goal here is to start defining the arc of the story. I focus on content first, not bothering with transitions, color correction etc.
Refine Editing
After I have a rough cut, I start refining the edit. This involves tweaking the order of clips, trimming them down, adding b-roll for coverage, and beginning to add basic transitions. I also start color correcting and audio level balancing in this phase.
Add Effects and Graphics
Here is where I add any necessary visual effects, text overlays, animations, graphics and titles. These elements take the video to the next level visually.
Fine-Tune Edit
In the final polish phase, I smooth out any rough transitions, match color tones, improve pacing and rhythm, and ensure audio levels are perfect. Lots of small adjustments take place here to get the edit ready to export and deliver.
Export and Deliver
The final step is exporting the video out of my editing software and delivering it to the client in the requested formats and codecs. I always double check for any errors before calling an edit complete.
What’s your favorite editing software and why?
My favorite video editing software is Adobe Premiere Pro. I find the interface intuitive and it has all the tools I need for professional video editing. I like the timeline workflow and all the integrated capabilities like color correction, audio mixing, graphics generation, and integration with After Effects.
Premiere Pro gives me a lot of flexibility with my edits. I can work with a wide range of file formats and frame rates, stack multiple video and audio tracks, and easily manipulate clips on the timeline. I’m also a big fan of the Lumetri color tools built right into Premiere. Overall, it offers the perfect blend of creative editing tools and technical capabilities for my needs.
What goals do you have as a video editor?
I hope to continue growing and expanding my video editing skills in the years to come. Some goals I have set for myself include:
– Learning new genres – I want to continue diversifying the types of videos I can expertly edit, whether it’s documentaries, narratives, product demos, news packages or anything else.
– Developing workflow efficiencies – I aim to keep refining and speeding up my editing workflow through better organization, keyboard shortcuts, preset effects, and other processes.
– Improving motion graphics skills – I’d like to level up my motion graphics abilities within After Effects to create more engaging 2D and 3D animations.
– Keeping up with trends – Video technology and styles are constantly evolving so I make it a priority to stay on top of the latest editing trends and innovations.
– Building my network – Making connections with other video professionals allows me to continue learning and creating opportunities for collaboration.
– Winning awards – Entering my work into festivals and competitions pushes me creatively and getting recognition would be an honor.
Most importantly, I want my edits to move people. By pursuing my video editing goals, I hope to craft stories and videos that positively impact audiences.
Conclusion
As a video editor, technical skills are crucial but I also thrive on the creative storytelling aspects of the role. I’m constantly motivated to hone my editing craft across documentary, narrative, promotional and other types of videos. My organized yet adaptable workflow allows me to deliver polished videos on time regardless of limitations with the raw footage. I’m always looking to improve as an editor to shape videos that connect with audiences in a lasting way. Video editing is the perfect outlet to blend my artistic and analytical sides into compelling visual narratives.