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film or video editor???
Hello everybody
i have a question and its kind of silly but im gonna try anyway
so if we are editors, work on non linear systems, avid , fcp .. and dont really know much about the film (35mm…) editing meaning manually cutting
do we call ourselves video editors or film editors
silly ha? But just wanna make sure for once coz we keep trying to figure that out . Can i put in my business card -
28 Replies
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Good day Rap,
I think there is still a difference between the two, eventhough with todays technology that line is blurring. I have been a video editor for 17 years and I consider myself a video editor or just editor. I have worked on everything from :30 commercials to hour long documentaries, the final output for all of them have been video tape. If you work strictly on docs then you would be a doc editor. So, if you work with film for much of what you do, you would be a film editor.
Also, don’t forget that between the two, you’re dealing with frame rates, resolution quality and a whole host of other differences. But, like I said at the beginning it’s all starting to blur together.
So, long story short, if you cut commercials, then you would be a spot editor, if docs then a doc editor, news then a news editor.
John
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I have been a video editor for over 25 years. I worked in linear video and then non-linear video. Film was film. But now, “films” are being shot and edited on video, even if they sometimes finish on film. If you edit a feature “film” like this, are you a “film” editor? Film meaning a feature? Or are you a feature editor, but still not a film editor?
Chaz S.
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great thanks a lot guys for answering my silly question 🙂
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film editors are feature editors in my eyes. there are a ton of do it yourself ‘features’ being done these days, so it is a tough subject. many of these i would call a hobbyist editor (though i don’t think they consider this their title), but there are those who know what they are doing (maybe they went to film school for starters). it’s obvious that hollywood type films are cut by film editors, it’s tough after that.
nearly everything i cut is on film, but i call myself a spot editor.
this would be a good question to the A.C.E.
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This is not a difficult question and I’m surprised that the answers are so vague. There shouldn’t be any confusion. A “Film Editor” cuts film. Someone who cuts a movie on an NLE, even if it was shot on film and ends up on film in a theatre, is not a Film Editor.
I wouldn’t put Film Editor on your business card unless it something that you do.
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this is crazy talk. many films are cut on NLE by many great film editors. if i’m a photographer, and start using a digital camera, does this mean i am no longer a photographer?
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Interesting thread.
I tend to look at all forms of editing as relatively the same gigantic process throughout, and in conversation often build an analogy to driving a car. The difference between film and video is the medium it’s shot/delivered on, and is analogus to the road the car is driven on. Although most of us can drive a car, we can’t claim ourselves as “racecar drivers” or “tracter-trailer drivers”.
The “film industry” has changed monumentally since the turn of the century, and now (with mixed emotions) includes a great deal more novices than when it first started. Personally, I enjoy the fact that the industry once described by Eisenstein as “the highest form of art and expression” has opened up to the general public. When Lemmy from Motorhead was asked if he minded when bands copy his work. He said he didn’t care – that it just means there’s more bands out there for him to copy off of as well.
During the progression of the industry, the term “a film” has become clouded… not corrupted, just a little more all-inclusive. Students say they shoot “films” on DV, much like they say a small Toyota with an enlarged exhaust pipe and a neon green flamejob is a racecar. In the mindset of that whole heavily-marketed culture, I guess they feel it’s justified. I still try to look at it from a more basic point of view: if you get a paycheck for your skills and your execution as a racecar driver, you can claim the title of one.
In one breath I say nothing beats the Avid interface. The next day, you’ll find me with a hot splicer, three armslengths of 16 draped around my neck, and the grin of a 7-year-old at the carnival. The processes are different, and the titles may base themselves more on the skills in these processes, but I prefer “Editor” as the title in any case. When it’s all done, it’s not a Mac, a PC or a Steenbeck, but an audience and a screen. If they can’t tell, then the job was done right.
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\`(=)`/…Pixel Monkey
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[person] “many films are cut on NLE by many great film editors.”
But they’re not cutting film. You’re confusing the definition of film as a technology and the more vague definition of film as in movie. You don’t want to do that on your business card. You should be specific because if someone assumes you know how to cut film and you don’t it could become an awkward first impression situation.
If all you’re interested in is using the term “Film Editor” because you think it makes you sound more prestigious, then I don’t know what to say other than, it doesn’t. It only impresses people who don’t know what they are talking about. If you want to impress people show them your reel.
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[Eric Susch] “using the term “Film Editor” because you think it makes you sound more prestigious”
Actually, that’s probably where a lot of the confusion comes from. The term is often used to by producers of video-based movies to beef-up sales pitches to potential funders. Recently, I’ve been hearing more video editors say “I edit movies” or “I edit shorts” than “I edit films”. Hopefully, it’s an industry-wide trend.
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\`(=)`/…Pixel Monkey
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“You should be specific because if someone assumes you know how to cut film and you don’t it could become an awkward first impression situation.”
this is just weird to me. i wouldn’t give my card out to people that don’t understand the difference between a film editor, spot editor, negative cutter, etc. what we are talking about is a title, not the specific duties involved (i.e. editing with the actual film print). if i’m a lead guitar player in a band, does the title shift when i change over from an electric to an acoustic? the physical aspects of the artisan’s tools involved are irrelevant. film editor = movie editor. you don’t have to actually switch the ‘film’ to ‘movie’ to end the confusion. it’s okay.
the nature of everyone’s job in the world is quickly changing, and you’re saying the titles should change with it as well. smiley face here.
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