Editing: Making that Perfect Cut

If we had no editing, probably a good majority movies we love would be absolutely terrible. Probably. But, say we're making our own movie. Say we're wrapping up production and now just need to spend time with the computer boys cutting up the tape to get that exact runtime and rating we're aiming for. While still maintaining the story and atmosphere.

-Know the film before you make it. Plan the scenes. When are they gonna happen? Will there be enough time? Can they exist while preserving the other important parts of the movie? These are all questions you'll need to ask in an editing room. If you can't time that explosion right so the climactic kiss will happen exactly 3.8 seconds after to where a voice-over will give the final exposition before the credits roll, well pal, you're out of a job. But we're not in an editing room, we're in a bedroom with time on our hands! So take time to plan. Be strategic! If you can do it ahead of time, you save everyone a lot of trouble.

-First isn't last. If your first draft is the best, you might be brilliant. Problem is, so is Stephen Spielberg, but even he rewrites his work. Like above, you're gonna need to make sure you've got all the contents right where they need to be, but you gotta pass it through the filter if you want it done. Give it another write and compare.

-This isn't about winning. You're putting on a show first and foremost. We're in entertainment, remember? So you're gonna have to make sure your boss is on board and you don't lose your cool. It's easy to do that too, so be careful. If there's an edit your boss says needs to be made, don't be stupid. Listen to him. Your word isn't the only voice of reason. And if you stay in the game without issue, you'll have a result you'll still be happy with along with a good majority of everyone else. I can't guarantee everyone though.

I think editing is quite underrated if you ask me, and it's why a good number of films couldn't perform what they tried to. You're getting these ideas to hit a prime. There's no other way to do that but to get tearing down and rebuilding.

It's a huge issue with ego too. You gotta learn to accept that it won't be perfect no matter what you do and people will tell you what to improve. Take the criticism. It does help usually.

So here's a bit of an open ended question. What movies would benefit the most from better editing? I'll actually try and come back with an answer for that.