Back to School Pep Talk

Courtesy DigitalVideoEditing.com

It’s that time of year when many of you are heading back to school, saying goodbye to the laid-back rhythms of summer and returning to academic pursuits. It reminds me of the time when I first headed off to college, and with my nose pressed against the glass of the airplane window (yes, they did have aircraft back then — circa 1974), I wondered if this pursuit was even worth it. I wondered what would become of me. At the time, I wished there was some way I could receive a message from myself decades in my future, packed with helpful hints that would steer me in the right direction. What would I need to do to prepare myself to be a better video editor, and a better video production person in general? Since there is indeed no way to receive such a letter from the future, dear reader, the next best thing is for me to offer a few tips for you budding digital video editors now, noses pressed up against airplane (or bus, car or train) windows, wondering what will become of you. So if you’re venturing forth into the world of digital content creation, here are a few helpful hints.

First of all, there are two big editing packages that have found themselves in the enviable position of being the industry standard, and you must learn them as soon as you can. They are Final Cut Pro and any flavor of the Avid interface. These are the two most widely-used nonlinear editing products, and if you learn these inside and out (and have talent as an editor) you’ll have a much better chance of getting a job somewhere. Working in your favor is the fact that the two companies making these programs, Apple (Final Cut Pro) and Avid (Media Composer, Xpress DV, Symphony, etc.) are practically giving them away in crippled, but still usable and learnable versions. In fact, Avid is set to release its free version of its famed user interface any day now, maybe even by the time you read this. Check the Avid site for details. By the way, I really like the Final Cut Pro user interface, better than the Avid one. But if you have to choose between the two, pick the one that’s most heavily used in production facilities, newsrooms and film editing houses around the world: Avid. It’s really not the best user interface, in my opinion, but it’s the number one editing software, so you need to know everything there is to know about it if you plan to work in the top echelons of this business for real money. Now that’s not to say you can’t venture out on your own with any old software — you can. Heck, you can cut an Oscar-winning motion picture on iMovie if you have the talent, writing, footage, schmoozing powers and distribution infrastructure in place. As an aside, you also might want to take a long look at the upcoming Adobe Premiere Pro, which I think has the best learning-curve-to-power ratio you can get. That is, it’s not too hard to learn and it’s packed with great and powerful features. And, don’t forget the excellent Vegas 4, available as a free demo, which is bit more difficult to learn than Premiere Pro but every bit as powerful. Overall, to me it’s a toss-up between Vegas, Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro for top dog status in the NLE (nonlinear editing) field. See which one you like best, but be sure to have Final Cut Pro and Avid skills under your belt regardless.

Another thing to know: To make it in the TV or movie biz, you’re going to have to be good not only at your chosen discipline, but you must be a super-salesman/woman, too — and your biggest product will be yourself. Become an expert at updating your resume, telling prospective employers about all your unique talents without sounding too stuck-up, and put all your heart and soul into the most important production you’ll ever edit: Your resume reel. This will be an ongoing process. Early in my career, when someone would ask me if I was looking for a job, I would reply that I was always looking for a job. And I was. And keep in mind, all it takes is one job, and then you’re in. Don’t give up. Never, never give up.

Here’s another skill you might not have thought was crucial, but I’ve found it valuable: Knowledge of typography. You’d be surprised at how important this is, especially in the video field. As I made my way into the comfort zone in my first TV gig, I was surprised at how the whole shooting match at the TV station revolved around the character generator (CG). I learned everything I could about that old Chyron. At first I doubted how important that now-ancient character generator was, but then one day the thing crashed and I suddenly realized how hard it was to edit a car commercial without a CG. I also saw how silly weather and sports reports were without any text or numbers. As the years passed, personal computers began to insinuate themselves into the festivities, and I spent a lot of time learning about typefaces, which ones were which, which ones looked good on TV and which ones didn’t, and so forth. That was time well-spent.

Another skill that is well worth your time to learn is how to create 2D graphics (over-the-shoulder boxes), because the ability to fill up a frame with easy-to-read, colorful and interesting imagery is a skill that blends in well with many other disciplines. Whether you’re working on the Web, at a TV station, or even creating family videos, your final results will be tremendously improved if your graphics are well-composed, easy to read and professional.

While we’re on the subject of computers, it’s important to be able to keep your machine in good running order. Think of yourself as a soldier entering boot camp, where one of the first things they teach you is how to take care of your gun — how to disassemble and assemble it quickly, how to clean it and above all, how to shoot it. Well, your computer is your gun on this battlefield, soldier, so learn how to keep it policed. Whether your weapon of choice is a Mac or a PC, if you know how to keep your drives de-fragged, keep your registry clean and know how to make moderately advanced hardware changes, you’ll be a much more valuable member of any production team. There’s not always an engineer waiting around for your computer to break, so knowing a thing or two about the innards of that compu-box might just turn you into a hero someday.

Speaking of another kind of shooting, learn how to frame up shots, even if you picture yourself as a pure editor. Part of your job in that edit bay is to evaluate shots, and how will you do that if you don’t even know what a good shot is or what it takes to get that shot out in the field? If you can get out there and get comfortable with the field production process, you’ll have a much better feel for the shooter’s plight — to get great shots in less-than-great conditions. You’ll get a keen sense of framing, too, if you actually shoot some footage yourself and then bring it back to your edit suite, seeing what you might have done here and there to improve that framing. Observe your own framing and that of the masters, too, in major motion pictures and in TV shows you admire. Give yourself some basis from which to evaluate shots and sequences.

While you’re watching that framing, take special note of the editing, too. Get a feel for how long the editor stayed on a particular shot instead of cutting to the next one, listen to the way the audio comes in before the video, and get into the rhythm and overall pacing of the segment, too. You might want to even take notes as you go, writing down what you like and don’t like and compile a “personal favorites” list. Save up that list for your most important production, and you might come up with a winner that expresses your very essence as an editor.

Open your ears, too. I’ve always thought that a lame production is always given away by its low-quality audio. Don’t forget the audio, and remember to pay special attention to the music, too. Today, with all the excellent music creation software that’s available and the stock music libraries on the market, there’s a wealth of choices out there for the discriminating producer. Try out a variety of music cuts dropped into various parts of your production, and sometimes you’ll be surprised at how perfectly the music will fit. Other times, it’ll be terribly out of place. It’s difficult to predict, but with NLE software it’s a simple matter to drag-and-drop an audio file on a track and try it out.

Finally, become aware of the physical world around you, and you’ll become a better content creator. Look at how objects move in space, how light plays off water, how reflections look in glass, how people move. Then re-create that in your work. Determine what catches your eye, and remember what that is, so you can bring it to the screen and catch the eyes of your viewers. Live this business, internalize it, and you’ll find a niche in it. The competition is fierce, and the plum spots will go to those whose second nature is bringing compelling imagery in front of the eyes of the people, on time and under budget. Now get out there, do your best work, and have a great school year!