The qualities that editors must have and the survival guide for novices in the workplace

Many friends often ask me how to cut a decent film. I am puzzled by this question. What is this concept? For some experienced students, it is a question of how to get high marks. According to different specialties, you can collect questions and discuss them together later.

Having said that, let's talk about the basic qualities of editors. No matter whether they are novices or veterans, they all start from the most basic things, so we must cultivate them consciously.

1, independent thinking logic is clear

Well, what we are talking about here is the most basic thing. For newcomers, it may be how to cut a film so that people can understand it.

At school, we all write compositions. In fact, it is very clear that we take the composition method into the fragment and apply it. First of all, you should know the central idea of the whole article, that is, the core that the whole film should convey to the audience; Whether the structure of your article is clear or not depends on whether we have considered the overall structure and rhythm (planned) when editing; Well, now that the framework is finally built, it is necessary to fill it with meat, then repeat the above steps when cutting each paragraph or scene, and finally sublimate the theme or put the topic at the end, echoing from beginning to end (maybe a paragraph, maybe a shot).

See if it's the same way of thinking as when we write a composition. Of course, in this process, you need to have basic lens language, picture perception, mood and rhythm control, and then the basic editing means (software accessibility). Knowing this, you can cut out a movie for beginners who want to enter the industry. What you cut at least has your ideology and expression in it, instead of blindly cutting or simply following the script.

Real editing is a way of thinking. There is no fixed pattern, and everyone is different. When you start editing, you can refer to this method when you don't know how to start.

This can be explained by the clear structure and logic of your film, clear lens expression, moderate rhythm of the whole film, acceptable ending, and no obvious problem of poor connection between the flash frame and the lens, even if it is successful (for the completion of the whole film, this may only reach about 30%, less than the passing line). Novice stage, don't say useless things, listen to cool skills. We are just talking about how to make the transition from a novice, because only when you have finished can you show people what you are still watching, and people can evaluate the whole movie, whether professional or unprofessional. At this time, other people's opinions are very important to us. Don't let people explode in the same place. When you find that every time you make a movie, there are fewer and fewer suggestions, your self-confidence is built invisibly. At this time, you can challenge a little bit of difficulty (don't cross too much, it is easy to get involved in O), and you can grow into a primary clip by successfully passing one challenge after another. At this time, you should be able to separate the two, lose energy to learn more professional knowledge, and thus grow into a qualified editor (note that I use "teacher" here)

2. Dare? careful

The so-called bold, in fact, is to dare to think and do. We often say that if we are not afraid of not being able to do it, we are afraid of not thinking of it. If you have an idea, you can do it. Maybe you can't tell right from wrong at first, so let him go. As I said in the last article, it takes a few more minutes to try, and I don't know if it's appropriate or not if I don't try. If you are not sure, you can listen to others' opinions after trying, and clearly know where each idea is good and where it is not, so that you can know the shortcomings more accurately and make improvements.

We often say caution, and everyone thinks it may be innate, but you can exercise at work, and it is difficult for you to think carefully after editing for a period of time.

When you get a job, you have to go through every shot, whether you have a record or not. Never underestimate the existence of any lens. Finally, you will find that a shot that you think will be abolished can save you.

In the past, when I received a project, I usually started with the assistant sorting out the shooting materials and then went to the next project. When I came back from work, I took the finished material and started editing it (the material was already familiar in the previous shooting). I found that the assistant arranged the material on the basis of live recording, which means he didn't even read the complete material. Sometimes the scene may make up one or two static or close-up shots in an emergency, which may not cause live recording. Sometimes there is no record sheet, that is, there are probably on-site records. When the assistant arranges the material, he will delete some shots that he thinks are bad. Maybe this shot is really not easy to shoot, or maybe this shot is not easy to use only once, which leads me to clearly remember that the photographed material disappeared in the material library when editing, so I have to look through the material again, which is a waste of time.

Courage is to dare to think and do, and prudence is not to let go of any possible lens.

3. Be quiet? And react quickly.

In fact, it is to concentrate, calm down and carefully sort out the analysis materials and analyze the core points that each paragraph of the manuscript wants to express. This is the process of your thinking and your familiarity with the materials. This process should have the overall rhythm of several films, where the rhythm is fast and where the rhythm is slow, it is straightforward. What kind of music is it? Of course, this is only a preliminary impression, and it will be constantly adjusted in the process of cutting. If there is a five-day editing cycle, I may spend three days doing these tasks, then one day editing and one day tuning. This is just an example to illustrate the importance of this thinking process.

The quick response is very powerful. As mentioned in the last article, arrange the materials according to certain logic and find the materials as quickly as possible, because unlike most people, I am a liberal arts student and I am not sensitive to numbers and letters. It is also said that the reaction will be slower when working overtime. Sometimes the material is too bright and dazzling, and the text base is artificially blocked. But I have memorized slippery maps before, so I can remember the location. Based on my own memory method, I have one. So you can also design your own working methods and form a system according to your own characteristics.

In this way, when you are a novice and edit with the director, although you may not have any ideas, you will be quick and save time, and the director will be more willing to cooperate with you when he sees your fine characteristics and efficiency, so that there will be more opportunities for learning.

4. Fully mobilize all senses and fall in love with your camera.

Here not only refers to the perception of a single lens, but also elements such as story, picture, art, color, composition, music and emotion constitute the expressive force of a single lens. When editing, we should also consider the expressive force and emotional connection between the front and back shots, not only moving and moving, static and static, but also the expressive force connection after sublimation inside the shot, including emotion and rhythm.

Therefore, we should fully mobilize these perceptions, and when facing your camera, we should be able to see his unique side and perceive his subtle changes like falling in love. Know when to comfort him, when to be happy with her, when silence is golden, when it is really brewing, where to edit these emotions, how long to keep them, there is no uniform standard, and the feeling when watching the editing.

Sometimes the director may not have thought about this connection when shooting, but after trying it, it may be more suitable than originally thought (not to mention the cut version and the director's cut version here). To achieve these points, in addition to some people who are naturally sensitive and have developed right brains, they need constant practice and training.

5. Keep learning

The editor who tells the truth should be a compound talent. You have to know literature, audio-visual language, music, script analysis, photographic composition, light and shadow expression, art and sound. It is best to know semiotics and psychology, that is, you can be a director in a group and cut films in the computer room.

As the saying goes, editing that doesn't want to be a director is not a good late stage, so you should keep learning. Masters are constantly advancing, and newcomers can't stop catching up and meet new challenges.

Read more professional books and learn to analyze films. You can go to the art gallery to cultivate yourself and set up your own film reference library. You can usually see good videos worth learning and save them for reference. When the type of project you do can find similar reference materials in your library, it provides us with the direction of production.

At the novice stage, you won't be required to know much, but you will need more basic skills, such as editing, color matching, special effects, plane and so on. Of course, we said we would focus on one thing before, but that doesn't mean you can't express your thoughts at all. At least you must be able to do a basic job well. Nowadays, many companies, such as internet companies, have requirements for self-media, advertising and network synthesis (movie editing still has a threshold). Of course, you can't master everything from the beginning, nor can you do all the big projects. At most, you only participate in a part. This means that you need someone who can work, and the lack of people can make up for it. The advantage of doing this is that you can do more work, learn more about the relationship between workflow and various tasks, and lay the foundation for choosing the direction in the future. Finally, you can choose specialization, which is irreplaceable in a field. Others don't need you to do it yourself, but at least you have to understand what is going on, which reflects the professional quality.

There is no shortcut to learning editing. We should do more, practice more, listen more and learn more. Some people learn fast, others learn slowly, and sometimes they even use some of these methods, just use their brains. Find your own learning methods and styles in many practices.

6. Correct attitude, professionalism and reliability

This article is especially important for newcomers. We say that all problems are attitude problems. All abilities are the ability to solve problems.

You must have a correct working attitude. Only by taking your work seriously will your salary be rewarded. We are not afraid of making mistakes, what we are afraid of is not facing them squarely. Newcomers who have just entered the industry have advantages in trial and error, and the cost of trial and error is small.

What you need to understand is that the company hired you to solve problems for the company, not to create problems. No one has an obligation to help you solve the problem. We should think about all the problems ourselves first, and then ask for help if the rest is beyond our ability.

I will talk about how to solve the problem by myself later, and we will talk about the consciousness level here.

Students who don't make small mistakes in big things are basically using basic software, but they can't see the film with flash frames, and the basic principle of transition is not clear. You can make the same mistake twice. Isn't the third time a little too much?

You know, when others make mistakes, it's not none of your business. You can guarantee that you will never meet his mistake. At this time, communication is particularly important.

We attribute this kind of writing to an attitude problem, which is different from those abilities that need to be learned. As long as we eat a little snack, it will not appear. Just entered the editing line from the most basic start, finishing the material, rough cutting, subtitles, generation, proofreading and so on. Don't abandon it. Although the technical difficulty is not great, it requires a high working attitude. This must be completed in good quality and quantity, and there must be no accidents in the broadcast file. This is already the most basic work. In the new stage, this is what we call reliability. Where is the opportunity to do even the most basic things badly?

Therefore, no matter what position you are in, you should establish a professional and reliable work image so that everyone is willing to work with you.

7. Strong psychological and physical qualities.

As a post worker, you need to have a strong psychological quality and anti-pressure ability. Without this, you may not be able to resist in your actual work for a year. Generally, the compressive strength formed by new editors in two to three years is the bottom line of your compressive strength in the next three years, and so on, your compressive strength will continue to rise and the project will become bigger and bigger.

At the beginning of editing, we must adjust our mentality, have a correct understanding of ourselves, and avoid selling ourselves short. This is still terrible, which will not only hurt your hard-won self-confidence, but also bring a lot of trouble to the whole project. I met people who couldn't control the project, didn't say anything, and then threw themselves into the street on the delivery date, and everyone put down what they were doing to make up for it; I have also encountered situations where I have been working overtime because of my lack of ability, and finally my mood collapsed. Others should hurry up and take care of your mood; I've met people who disappear when they can't do it, and they don't explain to find someone to replace them temporarily. In the end, the whole project must be handed in on time and the quality will be reduced. These are terrible for your company and yourself.

Avoid being emotional, don't get into trouble, and focus on solving problems. If one road doesn't work, you can put it down and do other work first, and you may see it later.

The revolution has not yet succeeded, comrades should pay attention to their health! Health is the capital of revolution. Without it, it is useless for you to have lofty ideals and ambitions. Even if you don't have time to exercise, you should force yourself to get up and do some simple relaxation exercises after concentrated work for a period of time, otherwise your cervical vertebrae, lumbar vertebrae and shoulder circumference will give you devastating revenge. Have you seen the Thai movie Ghost? Imagine what it's like to ride a person on your shoulder. Your hands and legs will gradually become disobedient. Do you know that?/You know what? Don't ask me how I know.

There are also some self-defense tips, especially for girls. If you work too late and are afraid to go home in the middle of the night, you can prepare a small quilt at the company. When you can control your work slowly, set limits for yourself and plan your daily workload reasonably according to your own situation. For example, this project cannot exceed 10, 12, 2, etc. At the latest (not every project needs to work overtime).

8. Establish your own material library.

I don't need to elaborate on this. In the process of your work, you can consciously establish your own library of music, sound effects, video materials, effects, pictures and other materials, and organize them regularly, which can improve work efficiency. You can use it directly in case of emergency, because you know your own materials very well. When you see the manuscript, you may know what the film will look like, which can maximize the quality of the film in a limited time.

It's not just editing work, I think all people engaged in the later film and television industry must have at least these qualities to go further.