Editor
In consultation with the director, the editor brings his or her own vision to piecing together rushes and crafting the film into one cohesive piece.
The editor’s role is extremely important. He or she creates the rhythm and movement of the film, builds the scenes into a complete story and generally makes the most out of the footage that has been shot.
The editor gives the film its final organization in a way that provides conceptual shape and emotional impact.
Putting It All Together
Editing involves arranging the images that you shot – well, some of the images that you shot – into a coherent film. Every film involves shooting more material than you need. You have to decide what stays in, what gets cut and which shots go where. Sometimes it can be very hard to cut something you’re proud of, but you have to keep the best interests of the film in mind.
The editor arranges the raw material shot during production into a finished film that fulfills the director’s initial purpose and vision. Here’s an overview of how the process works.
First, the editor and the director look at the rushes — the individual shots — taking notes and discussing their potential. Then the footage is logged with descriptions and locations on the film or tape rolls. If you don’t accurately log, you won’t know what you have!
You should also do a transcript of all the dialogue and use it as the basis for a paper edit (a list of edits you plan to make, written on paper). After this preparation, the editor creates a rough cut, which the director may show to others for feedback. Through repeated editing, the two refine the rough into a fine cut. Then the sound editor comes in to edit in the soundtrack for the finished film.
Sound Editor
Often, an additional editor handles the soundtrack, synchronizing it with the action, adding sound effects where necessary, and laying in music and narration. The sound editor may pass the work onto a sound mixer to combine and smooth all of those tracks into one cohesive master that is well blended and balanced.
Composer
Music can have a major impact on the emotional quality of a film, and it can set the tone and pace.
You can create original music (or hire someone to create it). It is so easy to download tunes that you may be tempted to just set your film to someone else’s soundtrack. Be careful! You don’t want to find yourself slapped with a lawsuit because you included music in your film that you didn’t have the right to use.