-
Film editing schools
Should I pay to learn AVID and FCP. Or should I get the sofware and learn it on my own? My goal is tosomeday edit National tv spots and maybe a Feature film. Doesn’t it come down to more of your talent than were you received the skill?
-
16 Replies
-
no one gives a crap where you went to school. get a job, become an intern. Learn anyway you can. Buy your own software, or work cheap, and learn on someone elses system. You become an assistant, and then an editor, and they you get known by clients. This is the path. School is a joke (but great for meeting girls – depends on the school !).
Bob zelin
-
Oh sure Bob, forget about learning about film theory, and what motivates a cut. Forget abour learning why you cut one way for comedy, and another for action. All that theory and book learnin’ is for the BIRDS! All you need is a computer, software and some footage and you too can be a great feature film editor!
Unless you get a job as an assistant on feature films, and get schooled by the editor on the job (ie have them tell you why they are making the cuts they are), you won’t go far.
People who go to film school and learn about filmmaking have a HUGE advantage over those who don’t. It isn’t about the degree, it is about learning about the craft of storytelling, and studying about the history of film, film theory, story structure…all that.
Shane
GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
Oh sure Bob, forget about learning about film theory, and what motivates a cut. Forget abour learning why you cut one way for comedy, and another for action. All that theory and book learnin’ is for the BIRDS! All you need is a computer, software and some footage and you too can be a great feature film editor!
Unless you get a job as an assistant on feature films, and get schooled by the editor on the job (ie have them tell you why they are making the cuts they are), you won’t go far.
People who go to film school and learn about filmmaking have a HUGE advantage over those who don’t. It isn’t about the degree, it is about learning about the craft of storytelling, and studying about the history of film, film theory, story structure…all that.
Shane
GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
In the old days you took a job as a floor sweeper, worked to assistant editor and learned from those you were training under. Nowadays that world is almost completely gone so you have to learn on your own or go to school.
Gotta agree with Shane here. You can learn to use the software almost anywhere, including on your own.
To learn why to make a cut is the art of editing. Like any art, it is a lifelong learning process. A good film school will give you the language of film. Consider it grammar school.If you want a jump start that is equivalent to the first semester of an editing class, check out this DVD:
https://www.amazon.com/Cutting-Edge-Magic-Movie-Editing/dp/B0009PVZEG
Terence Curren
http://www.alphadogs.tv
http://www.digitalservicestation.com
Burbank,Ca -
I’m with Shane and Terry. There is something to learn.
Also, this industry is about networking. This starts in film schools as well.
If you can land a great AE position somewhere, you might be able to get just as far, just as fast. But often it is easier to land those jobs if you have had some education.
Learning the software is the least important part of the equation.
-
Can’t comment on film school – never went, but I’d like to…
In my HUMBLE opinion, the most important part of being an editor is learning to work WITH people. People will hire you because they enjoy working with you. Never stop learning. And treat everyone with respect – even the ones that insist on a 6 frame dissolve instead of a 5 frame dissolve…
Jon
Be curious, not judgmental.
Walt Whitman -
Well Bob is right. School teaches limitations, when it comes to art. This is why no employer cares about certifications or education on this field unless your are an engineer. He’s also right about the chicks. The parties alone were worth the entry fee for me… cuz my Dad paid for college. It was awesome.
If wanting to learn how to edit, get your hands on some apps and get to work. Take whatever job is offered and outgrow it as soon as you can. This is how your career will evolve. If you go to school for 2-4 years first, you’ll be getting hired by dudes your age who went to work instead.
But you will have had babes galore. 😉
Your reel is what gets ya gigs. Make one.
-
[grinner hester] “School teaches limitations, when it comes to art.”
School teaches the BASICS…the building blocks that you use to help you better tell a story. If you don’t know how to tell a story, then who will watch what you do? They teach rules, and you can choose to ignore them if you want. But knowing WHY things work and WHY they don’t is a good thing.
[grinner hester] ” no employer cares about certifications or education on this field unless your are an engineer. “
Right…mostly they don’t. It isn’t the degree or certification that we are talkng about here. It is the education. Learning about how to do things. Getting direction…getting tips, having people give feedback…all good stuff. And stuff to prepare you for the real world of dealing with client and network notes and criticisms.
[grinner hester] “If wanting to learn how to edit, get your hands on some apps and get to work.”
OK…you got the tools, now what? Where do you get the footage? How do you write a script? How do you tell a story? How do you take what you have written and break that up into shooting days and figure out what crew you need and cast needs to be there? How do you deal with locations? ALL of this production stuff on how to do things is taught in school. How to tell a story is taught in school. If you have a computer and a camera…you still need the most important thing…A STORY! Then the FOOTAGE to cut. None of this magically happens. And not everyone is a Robert Rodriguez…who figured out this stuff on his own with no school. He’s one in a million. Everyone else…had education of some sort.
[grinner hester] “If you go to school for 2-4 years first, you’ll be getting hired by dudes your age who went to work instead. “
The dudes that hired me and didn’t go to school aren’t cutting. Every editor I know had some education. Barring one. But he worked up through the Hollywood system and learned on the job, and didn’t cut one frame professionally until 8 years after he started. And he showed me his early stuff. Whoooboy.
OH, another great thing about school…having access to other students as cast and crew…for free! because they are learning too.
Shane
GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
[Jon Zanone] “n my HUMBLE opinion, the most important part of being an editor is learning to work WITH people.”
This is true in almost every job out there. It is also something you all learned in school. From getting along with other kids on the playground to figuring out what the teacher wanted and delivering it. Memorizing some date in history is not the value of school, getting prepared for the social interaction of the real world is.
Unfortunately we are going into the second generation of kids who would rather play video games than interact with others. Sort of a bleak outlook for society. (how was that for a thread hijack?)
Terence Curren
http://www.alphadogs.tv
http://www.digitalservicestation.com
Burbank,Ca -
[Shane Ross] “School teaches the BASICS…the building blocks that you use to help you better tell a story.”
Bingo. How are you going to learn to “answer a question with a cut” without someone giving you that little nugget? I learned that over 20 years ago in an editing class. It has served me well.
[Shane Ross] “OH, another great thing about school…having access to other students as cast and crew…for free! because they are learning too. “
And to add to that, having deadlines to turn in projects. It’s a great motivator for actually getting things done even if they aren’t perfect.
Terence Curren
http://www.alphadogs.tv
http://www.digitalservicestation.com
Burbank,Ca
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up