How To... Be an Editor; Splicing the Narrative

A great story can take any form– it can be a joke, a tragedy, real life or a daydream. As an editor for TV, film, and commercials, I have found the trick is letting a story tell itself the way it wants to be told, and not forcing it to be something it isn’t.

I taught myself to edit video at 14 years old, because it was the only way to make my terribly juvenile “short films” watchable. It was then that I began to understand that no matter how raw or amateur a project starts, you can boil it down to its best parts and find a device to let the natural story shine through. That stuck with me as I grew and started my career.

Of course, you always start with an idea, script or an outline. But once you’re in the edit room, you must cut what’s before you, not what was necessarily intended. A few years back, I started work on a no-budget indie film in my spare time called La Voz de los Silenciados (below), based on a true story of modern-day slavery and trafficking of young deaf people from Latin America to NYC. The first-time director brought me a two-and-a-half hour silent rough cut he had done himself.

Large chunks of it were hard to follow. Certain performances were, at best, amateur. But within it, was a beautiful and heart-breaking story about a young girl surviving horrible events.

Together, the director and I discovered that the key to telling this story was to bring some humour and levity to such a difficult subject. It made all the difference (as did cutting it down from 150 to 80 minutes).

That film has gone on to win numerous awards at international festivals and will get a theatrical run this fall. Though it will only ever find a small audience, telling that story the way it wanted to be told is one of my proudest achievements.

In my day-to-day role as an editor for web and TV commercials, I am constantly balancing the priorities of three key players: director, agency, and the brand or client. Their different priorities overlap often, but not always, and it’s my job to help them align. Figuring out this synthesis can be the difference between a forgettable ad and a great moment for a brand. It’s the first thing I look for when I sit down to screen raw footage.

I might achieve this balance by identifying the perfect music or building a unique sound design. Other times it’s bringing out a great performance from an actor or even using motion graphics to create something visually striking. Once you find the special ingredient that’s unique to each campaign, then everyone can feel truly invested in the work. That’s when you know you have something special.

That sense of discovery is crucial to what I do. It’s a part of the process that is never accomplished alone, though. From my first pass, to actualizing the director’s vision, and finally refining that vision with the agency until it’s ready to show the client.

Everyone plays a part until the product is ready to show to the world. But looking honestly at what’s been shot, and then making the most of it, is the best way I’ve found to tell the story that wants to be told for any brand.