#140 - Five Things Editors Should Watch (Not what you think!)

Here are five things every editor should watch.

Watch - All The Footage

Editor Vashi Nedomansky's first commandment to become a better editor is to "watch every frame of raw footage at least twice. Then start."

I think the only way to become comfortable with the footage is to watch it.

I'll sit there for 4 hours watching it real time. None of this 2x shit.

The first time is literally just a visceral experience, just to let it wash over you.

The second time I'll make notes and markers and pay attention more to everything else.

You have to live that footage, before you can start editing. If you just go to circle takes and start building a scene, you're doing a huge disservice, not only to yourself, but to the film, the director, to the actors, to everyone.

In this instalment of This Guy Edits you can discover the rest of Editor Vashi Nedomansky's 7 Commandments To Become a Better Editor.

I have to admit I'm not sure I'm ready to adopt this technique. I do watch everything, but I'm selecting as I go so that I don't have to come back for that (time-intensive) second pass.

I am curious though to discover what the impact would be from watching the footage 'screening room' style, experiencing everything at the pace of the footage and making notes in long hand with a pen and paper.

Maybe all my edits would get better?

Maybe I'd run out of time?

However you do it, you need to know what you have in the footage and you need to make initial selections based on genuinely responding to the material.

FYI - In the beginning of this video Vashi also shares a brief look at how he creates his iconic Vashi Frame lightbox overviews of every edit in the a film.