let me say this. a good editor is hard to find. i have gone through 2 already and they have not provided me with nothing but heartache.

on top of which, i since have began to edit my short and now am having hard drive problems which has possibly caused me to begin all over.

is this a good thing or a bad omen?

post-production is a slow, arduous, and unjust process, and it feels worse than production.

i feel that everything has been left to me to finish, but if that is how it has to be, than my short will see it through and it will be done, just not as i first foresaw it. that is the pain.

i have to start the post-pro phase from the begginning and it really hurts. only one i can honestly rely on is myself, and that is the sad part.

for any of you who have advice, i would like to hear it. pep talk? would be great. i just want to see it finished.
i just would like to know that i am not alone.

. . . or am i?

yeah, editing sucks balls. I hate it because of what it does to my movie. I see every mistake in the film (I mean, you view the same footage over and over and OVER during editing) Plus by the time you're done you look at the final product I'm like, "I don't think it was worth it" (this could be stress from editing and hoping I'd get a better finalproduct, or it could be from me making bad movies )

When you had an editor, did you edit WITH them? If not, or you did, just tell him EXACTLY what you want. It's your movie, and if they don't like you bossing them around, well then they don't deserve to be an editor.

Dude,
your not alone. Although i love my crew very much, I pretty much do everything for my movies. I think the only good way to get everything the way you want it is to do it yourself. Like my last movie, I was the star, director, writer, editor, producer, and the poster designer. It just kinda looks stupid when your name fills uop the entire opening credits, lol.

Goodwill

It's a test. Some unforseen force exists for the sole purpose of making your life a living hell. I think it happens to all artists of all types of work. Soon you stop caring about the project and are solely driven by the fact that you're not gonna let some punkass unforseen Murphey's law force ruin your hard work. It becomes revenge, and you gotta be Uma Thurman with a Hanzo sword.

Well...I'm an editor when I'm not running this site...or should I say I run this site when I'm not editing.

Editing is not for everyone.

I'm curious what these guys did to mess up so bad.

I say - a good editor can bring something more out of the film than someone who is so close to the footage and the project (the director). Although this is not always true - there are some great directors who edit their own stuff. (Coen bros?)

But as you found out it is hard to find a good editor.

Let me give you this suggestion:

Sit down with them. Show them the script. Tell them about the film and what you would like it to be like. Have them talk to you about their experience and their take on the film. Hear them out...if you don't like what they say or don't click with them then don't hire them.

Mainly what I am saying is don't hire anyone with an editing system. You need to have a good repor (sp?) with them. After all you'll be sitting in a dark room with them for a week or a couple months if it is a feature.

If you don't feel like they understand your vision, keep on looking until you meet an editor who does.

-Chris
Studentfilms.com

amen, Chris.

Editors are great to offer objectivity when the filmmaker is too close to the material. The editor/director relationship can be very different in each instance. Whenever I am fortunate enough to work with an editor, I like them to do first assembly (and first revision) when I'm not there, but after we've discussed the film and each scene.

And, yes, post production in general is a long, tedious, repetitive process. For me, the sound mixing/sweetening is the most laborious aspect if you're a one man band. Hang in there, Alejandro. Take a week off or do something to clear your head. Don't rush the process or feel overwhelmed because people are dropping out. Even if you have to do all the work yourself, be sure to get lots of (objective) feedback from many different people along the way. A major aspect of filmmaking is managing and motivating your team. When there's no consequences at steak (paycheck or reputation), it makes it even harder to keep your team focused.

all the best,

And hey, if your film turns out to be not what you wanted, you can always put "Alan Smithee" under the director's credit!

*The Director's Guild doesn't let directors abandon their films, but if there are extenuating circumstances where the film has been durastically changed because of editing or other reasons, they let you use the pseudonym "Alan Smithee." I mean, just check out all the films "Alan Smithee" has done!

Just a fun little fact for those who weren't aware!

i guess i must be one of the few of this board who actually prefers editing to production...love it. Anyone else? Just curious.


Want a pep talk? Theres nothing more gratifying than seeing a dead section of footage come alive with a few well placed cuts and color correction. Once you get the swing of it your opinion may change! Good luck to ya, and if you get stuck on anything you've got a great group of people here to help you through it. Keep us posted.

i'm with you jeff I love the editing process, and durden they don't use the name alan smithee anymore it was abandoned not to long ago because it was becoming a joke everyone knew about it and it was a whole mess. They know have a panel just for that purpose that sit down with the parties involved to come up with some type of settlement and if one cannot be reached they come up with a random name.

The whole alan smithee situation is quite humerouse. He's accually gotten some good reviews, theres a few documentaries out there on the subject but i forget the names sorry

I myself like the editing process. It combines my two favorite things: Computers and film. I must agree that you gotta find some reliable people who will be on the same page as you. That, to me is the hardest part. Those kind of people are few and far between. I know you're all the way in San Fran, but if you need any help, feel free to ask.

quote:

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Originally posted by mullen:
...and durden they don't use the name alan smithee anymore it was abandoned not to long ago because it was becoming a joke everyone knew about it and it was a whole mess. They know have a panel just for that purpose that sit down with the parties involved to come up with some type of settlement and if one cannot be reached they come up with a random name.

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Yeah, I read that too, at IMDB actually. But I thought mentioning that could have made the post not as funny!

I actually love editing, its one of my favorite aspects of the filmmaking process. It's really cool to see how you can arrange different shots and ideas to form a number of different stories and get points across. Other than narrative film, I love editing my own little montages of cool shots or skateboarding and just making it visually pleasing and entertaining. It is an extremely tedious and difficult procedure, but in the end its worth it. I love it.

I actually enjoy doing most of the more critical parts by myself, the only way to truley get ur vision out is to do it yourself, but thats just my own opinion!