“Timeline Obsessions”
Obviously - videos play from start to the finish in a linear manner. Clips and effects play in sequence according to how they were edited down from the original source media. As a video editor, it takes a relentless process of tinkering, experimenting and learning to arrive at a finished product that you are happy with. I recently realized how much my editing process has evolved and how seriously I have been trying to represent a few specific principles in my process. I’ve picked up these guiding principles from a few different places over the years, and I want to briefly share them with the world. They overlap in many ways, but each produces a slightly different motivation for me to create better work. Without further ado, the guiding principles of a STEEP video edit:
The editing process is never over.
This guideline ties back directly to my Film Production course at Notre Dame where my professor repeatedly harped on this concept: It is actually impossible to finish a video. It can always be better. Keep refining until those improvements become infinitely small. But also, don’t be afraid to step back and totally re-think an entire sequence or major component. Just because your first idea works, doesn’t mean that a completely different idea won’t work even better. But maybe save a copy of your first idea in case you want to come back to it later if your new idea doesn’t work out like you envisioned…
Treat each clip like a work of art, then move on to the next one.
While my first guideline speaks to the editing process overall, this guideline speaks to the importance of making each and every clip a stand-alone masterpiece. This takes commitment, and I certainly can’t claim that I’ve strictly adhered to this principle in all of my video edits to date. In this ideal world, each clip is given the time it deserves to fully review and consider a plethora of different considerations. To name a few… speed up or slow down a clip (for the entirety of the clip of just a part of it to emphasize a certain moment), color adjustments to accentuate a certain palate and to better match the adjacent clips or the project overall, resizing the clip to focus on a certain area of the frame (and doing this statically as a single crop or reshaping dynamic to simulate a camera movement or zoom), overlaying lighting effects as a stylizing choice or as a transition to an adjacent clip, overlaying additional clips or video effects for some creative reason (choosing how they blend together, and if only certain parts are blended or not). The list goes on, and I risk stating the obvious by continuing - that it is a given that video editors do just that - they edit each clip. My point here is that you should avoid just being satisfied with a clip. The goal should be to fine tune each clip so precisely that it has some element to it that is surprising or breathtaking or inspiring to the viewer. If you saw that clip as a stand-alone piece of content would you find it compelling? If you can’t achieve this, then does it even deserve to be included? Make sure the answer is a resounding “Yes!”
Say something.
Pleasing visuals are great, but what am I trying to say? Taking a project to this deeper level is a worthy challenge, and one that I am still exploring. While I am planning to to further refine and push my “narrative” work, I have realized that a big part of my style involves at the very least making sure the viewer is “feeling” something. Even if I am not making a clear statement or telling a defined story, I hope that my work engages and evokes emotion from the audience. I know that my heart usually races when I watch my own work, which is hopefully a good thing.
Practice telling your story without audio first.
I dare you to try not adding any audio track to an edit timeline until you are 100% pleased with how the project conveys the story / feeling / objective with solely the visual element intact. Then work on adding audio to further tell this story. Obviously the video can then be refined to work best with the selected audio, but my point is that you should avoid getting boxed into a corner by selecting an audio source too early on in the project and then editing around that element. Why limit yourself? This practice of focusing on visual first is the best way to ensure that the project makes its point in the clearest and most powerful way possible. The temptation to add audio from the outset is often too alluring and I do at least experiment with audio earlier on in the process than I should. I’m only human. But I try to then subsequently mute the audio while further refining a video sequence before then working on the final audio-video mix once the video element is as powerful as possible. Give it a try. I’m not going to make a separate bullet point to say that audio is important, because that should be obvious. Audio makes a huge impact and can make a good project become great. My goal with this principle is to not rely on a catchy song or an inundation of sound effects to carry the experience for the viewer. If the visual element alone can sustain the viewer’s attention and convey the intended plot and emotion, just imagine how powerful the final product can be once the perfect audio is added to further refine, intrigue, and overwhelm (in a good way) the viewer.
Keep surprising the viewer.
What makes a Hollywood film or premium TV show compelling? The acting, visuals, sets, locations and special effects grab your attention, but the unknown of where the story will turn next is what keeps you engaged. My goal is to scale this concept down to a 1-10 minute long short film project. I try to remember to keep each project moving in a new direction that the viewer won’t guess in order to keep them engaged and excited to continue watching until the end. This can mean a variety of things from shot variety to new scenery to adding an unexpected element or change in look or mood. In my absolute ideal vision, this concept is actually slightly more nuanced - I want the viewer to think things are about to head one way or expect a certain thing to happen next but then actually do something counter to that. This would continue to create more engagement. Your favorite comedy sitcoms, or anything well written, do just this. You are expecting a given statement or situation to produce a corresponding result, and just when it seems that the idea you’ve predicted is bound to come true - something very counter to that occurs. That’s what keeps you engaged and guessing about what will happen next. I certainly can’t say that my current library of work achieves this feat very often, but it is definitely an aspiration of mine.
Is it a bad thing to incessantly re-watch your timeline after every minor edit? It definitely can seem to be a waste of time if I already know a certain sequence by heart, but not if I look for new details during each re-watch and how they could be improved. My real dilemma at times can be a kind of paralysis when the amount of choices or choosing where to pick up a project can be overwhelming. Sometimes I get stuck re-watching portions of the timeline out of fear of making the next big decision. But mostly I just love the early versions so much that I can’t resist watching. Even though I know the final product will be even better.
Editing is definitely where the rubber meets the road when it comes to crafting something truly worth watching. As a one-man-band filmmaker, I need to juggle all of the steps in the process of creating a video. Editing is one step that I am confident can be improved by working to adhere to a set of guiding principles…but then being unapologetically creative within that framework.
