|
NeuroticErotica posted:Being an editor is exceptionally hard right now because with FCP everybody thinks they can do it. It used to be once a week there'd be an Ask/Tell thread where somebody'd say "Y'know, I don't know too much about movies, but I sure think I could edit them!" and then I'd have to school them on how ridiculously complicated and difficult it is. That said, you've actually gone to school for it, you get it, I was just ranting. Would knowing Avid put you a step above the "Hey, I can cut using Final Cut!" people? I've edited quite a bit on FCP, and I have access to Avid, and I was wondering if I should take the plunge. I had a very successful partnership with a friend who directed a student short that kept singing my praises because I edited his movie on a tight deadline (his original editor took off early and as a rough cut left him a low-res mp4 file that he was somehow expected to continue editing for him. Long story short: they were best friends, but since then they haven't even seen each other). I edited it on FCP because our school had (at the time) limited Avid computers so I didn't learn how to do it. I actually ended up editing TWO shorts while the other editors for the fourth-year projects were working on just one each while having at least two weeks to work. quote:My advice - get in somewhere, work your rear end off, know more than anybody. People think that being an editor is a lot of shot a vs shot b, but there's so much more to it. If you can be good at making HD Masters, dealing with edl files, making sure gamma levels don't change on output, Color flows, etc. The real nitty-gritty technical what-are-you-even-talking-about bullshit then you'll be valuable. Get a deliverables list - look at what it takes to deliver a film to Theatrical - both film and digital, to VOD, to Streaming, to iTunes, to Netflix and you'll be in a good place. Be the man that can get them to the money and you'll be eating. I finished with a four-year Honours Communication degree at a Canadian university that also happens to have a production department (not a film school, but we get enough experience on set to know what to do and how to work with people), and in my last year, I got to TA a first-year class. One week, I had to cover for one of the other TAs, and I ended up talking with one of his students. I asked them what their regular TA taught them. Apparently, not much. Just how to start a new project... and that's it (they were supposed to experiment, but I know full well that 95% of the students that think they know FCP really just know how to edit the basics and complain when their file isn't doing what they want it to do, and they almost NEVER use the keyboard). And I thought I was wasting time when I spent an hour on Photoshop basics (when we were teaching it earlier in the semester so they could make a DVD cover). One more question: I'm putting together a demo reel so that I can get a job doing editing in Toronto (I have no money at all to move to the States right now, let alone L.A.), and I was wondering if, considering I have limited professional/serious work, how wrong would it be for me to mention that I do side-projects for fun like most of the ones on my Youtube channel here? I'm not including them in my reel (well, except for that lighting project, since that's a legitimate video that I also did lighting on), but I was wondering if it's sort of a scale, where smaller places will consider it, or if there's a whole "you don't own it, so don't use it" thing? I ask because as an editor, you have limited footage to work with, unlike a cinematographer that can shoot stuff for themselves.
|
#
¿
Nov 22, 2010 02:05
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 26, 2024 15:54 |
|
|
NeuroticErotica posted:Lemme put it to you this way - if you own a ball club and you have the opportunity to hire a pitcher who has a curveball or one that has a curveball AND a slider, you're more likely to hire the guy who has more tools. I like Avid editors a lot and miss working with it - an editor who's trained on an Avid is much more precise and thoughtful - Avid doesn't let you just throw 100 clips into the timeline, poke 'em around and hope that you get a movie out of it. With Avid every edit is a decision. There's a reason why this shot leads to that shot at that time. There's not "Well this just happened this way", which is absolute bullshit and if you edit that way, can you please just stop? Thanks for the honest replies. I'm working on learning Avid (like I said, haven't actually had the chance to edit something concrete), so I've been learning the proper habits on how to edit with it. I've seen a lot of what you mentioned, how people just throw everything on a timeline and see what sticks without considering how it works. I actually had the director's blessing to re-cut one of the movies I did the way I thought it should go from the beginning (since it got meddled with), so I may try editing it on Avid. And yeah, they're not impressive videos other than in a "Hey, I love Community, and seeing it made into a BSG-like is, like, so cool!"-type way. I think they're awesome, but only 'cause I'm a huge nerd, and I'm pretty sure they're not the type of thing that I would depend on (mostly 'cause the editing is aping the original, and I'm just inserting appropriate shots). I only thought I'd mention it is because there are a lot of these types of videos on Youtube, but honestly, most of them suck (a random one I found). Also, as for why I mentioned that I lit it? I honestly have no idea, other than maybe for stroking my own ego.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 23, 2010 06:14
|
|
|
Five Cent Deposit posted:Exciting, isn't it? Yes, this is where all my wildest dreams of working "in the business" are being fulfilled! Erm... well... maybe not. However, it is where I got my first ever 5 figure paycheck, so there is that. You might think that qualifies for the last remaining "G" of the thread title (Greed) but I'd really much rather have a day off than keep going the way I have been. Boohoo, right? Don't feel bad for me - the truth is that I do love my career, I feel incredibly blessed, and I sometimes have to pinch myself. As stressful as this field is, it's also fun and rewarding and I was thrilled even to be an unpaid intern when I started out. The people who tell you that being a "lowly" PA is boring, humiliating, or terrible in any way, do not belong in this industry. So whenever someone like the OP reiterates the whole "Are you willing to work 18 hour days for weeks on end in a thankless role, and then be jobless for weeks on end in fear of never working again" rap... remember to add "and be grateful" to the end of the question. If being a "lowly" PA on a motherfucking movie isn't fun and rewarding to you, then you'll burn out. Filmmaking is such an enormous enterprise that even the directors could claim they are in a thankless position. We all kvetch and gripe, but this is the best goddamned business to be in and that's a loving fact. I remember when I was working on some student productions (being stuck with very little money outside of Toronto sucks). Working with some people that were too serious for a project where over half the people had never been on set before, where a lot of personalities clashed, especially while working as a grip under someone who I wouldn't trust to turn my computer on made me almost say "gently caress it" more than a few times. But I stuck with it. There are days when you say, "Wait, why am I even here?" But after you've had a chance to cool down, and you see the finished product (even if it's not very good, and trust me, some of them weren't), and you just say to yourself, "Oh, that's why." Edit: I should also say that working at that stage makes you realize quickly the type of personalities that are trying to make it, including which ones you want to learn from and which ones to avoid. mojo1701a fucked around with this message at 06:51 on Dec 2, 2010 |
|
#
¿
Dec 2, 2010 06:49
|
|
|
therattle posted:Cinema retains a fixed % of BO, I though I read somewhere (even on these very fora) that the percentage changes depending on the amount of weeks a movie has been in theatres.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 2, 2010 17:10
|
|
|
therattle posted:Holy poo poo! You're an impressive dude. How much input have you got on writer, director and actor selection? "Meaningful consultation" or some kind of qualified approval right? I meant to ask this, but modified: is creative input negotiable in general (eg. saying that you'll take less money in exchange for creative input), or only if you're a relatively-powerful author? I assume that I've already--at least partially--answered my question, but I'd like to know for sure.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 8, 2011 03:27
|
|