Lifetime Employability

[Chris Borjis]

[Martin Sterling] “I guess what I am asking is, “does being just a good editor cut it anymore””

not in my market (pacific nw)

It seems as more time goes by you have to be multi-talented and be able to handle whatever comes your way, related to that.

[Bret Williams]

None of that will gain anyone lifetime employability. Knowing how to use particular tools is just that. Knowing the art of design, color, typography, motion, light, etc. combined with people skills is a broader step toward lifetime employability. It’s learn a new tool if you know what you want it to do and what it’s designed to do.

[Russell Lasson]

[Martin Sterling] “I guess what I am asking is, “does being just a good editor cut it anymore” “

I would say that if anyone ever sits back and says, “I’m good enough not to have to learn anymore,” then they’re on the road to unemployment.

I live in a small market and there aren’t very many people who make a living off of only being an editor. They all, including myself, have expanded they’re skills outside of editing to keep themselves marketable.

In larger markets, I think it’s much more likely to have people who only edit and don’t do much anything else. But even then, if they don’t continually work on being the best editor out there, then people are just going to hire someone else with the same amount of editing skill, but who also knows AE, Motion, etc.

In my mind, the key to never becoming obsolete is to make education a life long process. This is what I strive to do. That is why I have involvement in the Cow.

-Russ

[Martin Sterling]

one of the reasons I put this question out there is because, I know very well FCP. I also know Photoshop, Illustrator and After Effects. I don’t feel I know them on the grandest scale to crank out some of the more exilerating things people are used to as well as I feel I dont have much expertise in design theory. I find it difficult to develop these skills with the majority of my clients wanting basic editing. I make some background plates that I create from already royalty free material that I might blend together with some alhpa channels and couple things here and there, but nothing from scratch. that is difficult for me.

[Walter Biscardi]

[Martin Sterling] “I guess what I am asking is, “does being just a good editor cut it anymore””

Absolutely.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.com
HD Editorial & Animation for Broadcast and independent productions.

All Things Apple Podcast! https://cowcast.creativecow.net/all_things_apple/index.html

Read my blog! https://blogs.creativecow.net/WalterBiscardi

[Charles Michael fulton]

I am just going through a situation where I pitched a show and the client was really excited about it, and they were like, “okay, make us a promo.”
“You mean a pilot.”
“No, you know, a promo with motion graphics and stuff.”
Well, I didn’t know After Effects, and made that clear. I tried my best in the given time period (a week), and came up with something amateurish at best.
After three weeks, I learned enough about AE to come up with something that looks professional, but in that time of getting my skills up and getting it together, the client lost a lot of faith in me and my abilities.
My advice is, as soon as you have time and money, purchase and learn a new program- get 100% on After Effects and then move on to a 3d program.

Keep pushing yourself!

[Todd Reid]

Walter, please elaborate.

Do you mean you CAN make it as just an editor?

I think that there is still some time left for people who want to “specialize”, but that time is drawing to a close. These people however, must be way above average to thrive.
I pride myself on a VERY solid and experienced editing base, but I also have some photoshop, motion, shake skills that fit in quite nicely. But I would probably not take a gig purely based on my talent in anything but editing.

[Walter Biscardi]

[todd reid] “Do you mean you CAN make it as just an editor?”

Absolutely. A good editor is always in demand. Look at movie editors, that’s pretty much all they do and they are in demand. Why? Because they can tell a good story.

Same with me. I’m most in demand because of my strong storytelling skills no matter what the type of project it is. Yes, I can work Photoshop, After Effects, Motion, Color, DVD Studio Pro and Encore, but 90% of my work is due to my editing skills. And having good editing skills means knowing how to use all the tools together to tell a good story. So that means understanding Photoshop, After Effects and some of those other tools. Final Touch, now Color is a very powerful storytelling tool allowing me to influence what the viewer feels as they watch a scene through color grading.

[todd reid] “I think that there is still some time left for people who want to “specialize”, but that time is drawing to a close.”

Being outstanding at what you do will never draw to a close and the only way to be outstanding is to choose what are you are going to specialize in. A LOT of my work comes from clients who tried the one man band, very small shop that does everything. Script, Shoot, Edit, DVD, Web, Sound, you name it, they do it. Usually they do one thing well and everything else so-so or they really don’t do anyone one thing well. So they hire me and what I do is specialize in Post. I hire photographers who specialize in photography. I hire sound designers who specialize in sound design. Specialists are going nowhere. It’s the “one man band” who will have a hard time keeping up folks like me who have surrounded themselves with very good professionals who specialize in giving the client the absolute best product they can have.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.com
HD Editorial & Animation for Broadcast and independent productions.

All Things Apple Podcast! https://cowcast.creativecow.net/all_things_apple/index.html

Read my blog! https://blogs.creativecow.net/WalterBiscardi

[Aaron Neitz]

I’ll add: Yes you can be an editor only, but you really need to surround yourself with specialists in other aspects of Post or you’re done. The boutique edit houses are a dying breed – if all you do is offline edit, be prepared to lose work.

[Sean Oneil]

Editing is storytelling. Like writing. What is expected of writers? New computer programs and cheap color printers have become available – are they expected to provide graphic illustrations/storyboards as well?

Turn on the TV. 99% of what you see are straight cuts without any graphics.

I agree, a boutique shop needs to be able to produce motion graphic content. But I’m not sure expecting everyone who sits in an edit bay to be a jack of all trades is a good thing.