The Editor: Crash Course Film Production with Lily Gladstone #12

The Editor is yet another unsung hero in the filmmaking process. For a century of film history, Editors have taken raw footage and worked to transform it into a cohesive whole. Basically making one thing from many. But, how do they do it? In this episode of Crash Course Film Production, Lily Gladstone walks us through the editor's process and talks about some of the guidelines different editors use to make movies great!

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[mattsilfen]

I’ve been a professional editor for about 12 years, working mostly in TV, and I have to say that this is a really great and well explained video about what this kind of work is like. It’s a fun job, and I consider myself very lucky!

Something worth adding is that when I tell people about what I do, people are often surprised about how much an editor also does the sound design, sound mixing, and chooses music (if the music isn’t being scored, the editor often cuts with temp music). Not to mention basic graphic design, color correction, and working with and understanding visual effects workflows.


Another thing worth adding is that even though the director is a major creative force during the edit, the editor also has to deal with lots of other cooks in the kitchen. This includes producers and execs who work for the studio or network (or whoever is paying for the production). These notes can often work against a lot of the creative choices that have already been carried out in the rough/fine cut stages. It can be a very frustrating process. So another major task for an editor is to find creative ways to carry out network/studio notes while maintaining the integrity of the film/show.

[manifestgtr]

I’ve never understood why these people don’t get more credit, publicly. I’m sure they get a lot of respect and admiration in the industry but they’re practically unknown to the outside world. The only editor i know by name is thelma schoonmaker.

A good musical analogy is the mix engineer of an album. He takes all the stuff that the producers, artist and engineers laid down and with absolute mountains of musical knowledge and experience, turns it into the product you hear. Yet how many listeners know the name chris lord alge, bob clearmountain or brendan obrien? These men are geniuses through and through. There’s no other word for it...but no one knows who they are. It’s quite a career.

[butrosnayan]

This is so well done. You guys are one of the only youtubers that’ve maintained their content quality. Thank you

[stripp]

I do this 5 days a week in my mass media class for our news show. No matter how much I get taken for granted, I love editing!! It's more work than outsiders think, but you do what you enjoy.

[Krustenkaese]

FYI: "In the early years of film, editing was considered a technical job; editors were expected to "cut out the bad bits" and string the film together. Indeed, when the Motion Picture Editors Guild was formed, they chose to be "below the line", that is, not a creative guild, but a technical one. This was very helpful to women. Women were not usually able to break into the "creative" positions; directors, cinematographers, producers, and executives were almost always men. Editing afforded creative women a place to assert their mark on the film making process." — Wikipedia

[danfr]

Good work, to the editor who edited this video.

[btterman]

I've been an editor for decades. Started on Flatbed and was the first gen Avid User back in '93. This is a great job of explaining the critical role of editing. You should add something about the very critical sound editing process bc THAT is so overlooked by the public but so significant. Also the role of editor in documentary films is more like a director/writer as well. but great job.

[TaraDobbs]

Writing novels works the same way, but the author is the editor through most of the first draft and the next few drafts before it is sent to a professional editor for publication. I enjoy the editing process very much. It's nice to see how this process is done for movies. Thank you.

[moatazmattar]

I just saw killer of the flower moon. Grat work lily ❤️

[MarcusFlor]

Fantastic video. You managed to cover all the key editing concepts in a short amount of time, without making it seem like an overload of info.

[JavMT]

I wonder if the editors of this video ever realized they had a 103% pie chart...

[benjaminnewton]

This is what I aspire to be! Thanks for this series. It's been very useful, and I've used it to show other people at my level what the job they're wanting to do entails. I look forward to the marketing installment!

[fazemiffy]

Ahhh!! How did I miss this episode? I've been waiting for it for sooo long. I want to become an editor some day 💙 Thank you so much CrashCourse! I've learned so much throughout this whole course

[RMoribayashi]

Even after all this time I am in sheer wonder watching the classic Warner Brothers cartoons of the 40's and 50's. Because of the limitations of time and money nearly all the editing was done before a single cell was drawn.

[armanke]

Thank you Crash Course video editors.. you're the magicians..

[sumeetaher]

For vloggers though being the editor and the director of your movie its a fun collaboration to make it exciting at all times!

[silentshadow]

I love editing. Thank you for this video. It's so informative and well edited.

[AlvaroJaramilloJr]

The last time I was this early, editors still used razors and tape.

[darmus]

To me, editing is an omnipresent task that an artist have to perform be it anything from editing a research paper to editing a big budget film. In terms of filmmaking, editing sounds more like the name of a monster because how over the course of history, great pieces of art were edit out just because they were a little to sharp. After this video, I found how important an editor is. I came to know their value as what they can do to enhance the film. For example, the editor, Dylan Tichenor, Paul Thomar Anderson and co. would drink Vodka and eat Steak to edit. Their objective was to get into the mind of Daniel Plainview. A thing I found about editing is that how the studio heads have an army of their own when the filmmaker's army cross the boss. Usually, people are unaware of the editors and then there are some puppets who would destroy everything. Take alien 3. It's the best when it comes to neutering a great movie. All I would say, is, appreciate them.

[vicenteortegarubilar]

Good shoutout to the soviet montage video, man!! I miss those times...like..early this year.

I still like this new videos