VIDEO EDITING SOFTWARE vs. VIDEO EDITING Aspiring filmmakers go through a similar learning curve and make many of the same mistakes. One of the goals of Film School Online is to help you avoid these hard knocks. At the very least we hope to provide you with enough awareness that you can spot the telltale signs of trouble and take corrective action in timely manner. A common mistake is confusing technology with filmmaking. In other words, you get caught up in the process of filmmaking and loose track of telling a great story. It seems foolish to approach a project this way, yet countless filmmakers are obsessed with the latest cameras, lighting, effects, etc. If you doubt that you can fall into this trap, take a look at Hollywood. How many potentially great movies have been compromised because of overly zealous special effects? George Lucas was praised for striking the right balance with the first three Star Wars movies, but many fans feel he dropped the ball with The Phantom Menace. If seasoned pros can fall into this trap, students are particularly prone. Because of their inexperience, students don't see the difference between making a movie and transcending the process to tell a story. To them, it's one big ball of wax. Understanding the difference is what separates great filmmakers from mediocre ones. The special effects department is not the only culprit. All craft areas can be guilty of infringing on the story, from cinematographers with their cameras; to gaffers with their lighting; to production designers with their sets, and yes, even editors with their software. Recall Christian Bale's tirade against cinematographer Shane Hurlbut on the set of Terminator: Salvation (sound clip below). Bale certainly handled himself unprofessionally and there is no excuse for the way he addressed Hurlbut, but the point he was trying to make is valid. Hurlbut was so concerned about setting the lights that he was hindering the actors performances, which is, in essence, the telling of the story. Christian Bale And Cinematographer Warning: Graphic While directors and cinematographers have always been subject to criticism for their technological indulgences, editors have managed to fly under the radar. The main reason, perhaps, is that editors seem to manipulate shots the way magicians work card tricks. As long as the finished film resembles the script, no one questions the editing. In truth, however, an editor can bring the film to a greater or lower level, just the way a director or screenwriter can. From a pedagogical point of view, it's easy to see how aspiring editors get caught up in the same obsession with technology. To many of them, the desire to "learn editing" means learning the software (AVID, Final Cut Pro, Pro Tools) along with the computers and storage media that make the software work. It's not the same thing! Film and video editing involves an understanding of the different types of "scene designs" and how they are used to achieve the objectives of a each scene within the overall story. It also involves an understanding of the underlying shots and how they are juxtaposed to create the different scene designs in support of the story. Put another way, video editing is not the mechanics of putting scenes together, which involves editing software, but rather, it is the aesthetics. Too often, students become experts on the computer and go on to edit films based on instinct alone. A truly gifted editor can probably get away with this, but not everyone is born with such ability. Most editors work through a considerable learning curve to become great a what they do. Even if you are a natural born instinctive editor, your creativity and problem solving ability can be stifled by not having a solid base of knowledge from which to pull from. For example, let's say you are instinctively using the technique of action compression. Wouldn't it be nice to know how and why this technique works? Wouldn't such knowledge help you apply it in better and perhaps unexpected ways? Understanding the principles and conventions of editing (or any art form, for that matter) not only provides you with a foundation from which to practice your skills, but also allows you to unleash the creative potential associated with those skills.