shots Awards 2016: Editor of the Year

Having cut some of the most iconic caigns from the last year - including Guinness' Never Alone; Three's Make It Right; and Honda's Stepping - it's easy to see why Trim's Tom Lindsay scooped up Editor of the Year at the shots Awards 2016.

We caught up with Lindsay to find out how he approaches each piece of work, his fave caigns of 2016 and why he enjoys creating a rough cut without audio.

shots Awards 2016: Editor of the Year

Gold winner: Tom Lindsay

Yours is an impressive body of work from the end of 2015 to the end of 2016. Can you feel when a project or a series of projects is really working well?

From the production stage, you can often tell from reading a treatment and seeing who is involved as to whether something will turn out well. I certainly felt that with a lot of the work this year — a series of great directors, agencies & scripts.

Your shortlisted work is quite eclectic, from explosions in space to imagining running like Bolt to a little girl looking at an old man on the moon through a telescope. Does that eclecticism make your job more enjoyable but also more challenging?

I love the variety, it’s brilliant to be able to work within different styles. The challenge comes more in finding the best edit from what is often a lot of material and lot of options.

One of the judges said that you have a “very wide range of editing skills… no showing off, just mastery.” How do you approach each job and what do you strive to achieve? 

I find the selecting process important. If you keep selecting and throwing stuff out, you sort of end up with a rough cut without thinking or worrying too much, then you can save your brain power for the fine cut.

I try and cut mute for as long as possible — it’s quicker building edits without audio and it allows you to imagine the sound you’d like to have rather than the sound you’ve got. Then the audio itself is like a separate edit, which informs the picture.

How important is an editor’s relationship with the director in creating the best work possible? 

It’s great when you can develop a shorthand with a director and you both know where each other is coming from. If you’re seeing eye to eye, the work is normally a lot better for it. 

How does it feel to win Editor of the Year in 2016?

The shots Editor of the Year award is a rare and special one to win because it takes into account a whole year’s work and the competition is fierce — there is always a shortlist of very talented
editors.

Is there a project from last year that you look back on most fondly?

There were a few — Virgin 9.58 (above) and Hennessy V.S. The Piccards for the amazing real life human stories they told, Nike India for the experience of working with such a wonderful international team of people, and TAL for the Aussie banter and laughs in the edit suite.

It’s often said that a commercial – or any film project – is made in the cutting room. Have you ever had the urge to step behind the camera and shoot the frames you’re cutting?

No, I’m happy where I am!