top of page
Search
  • Writer's pictureJordan Prisby

How To Make the Cut

Ever wonder how you favorite movie can make you jump out of your seat in terror? Or turn your stomach in anticipation? Or how about fall in love with an on-screen romance? While there are many elements needed to make an award-winning movie, the one of the key factors in a movie success is the editing.


Now, maybe you're wondering how this is possible. We barely even notice the editing when watching the film. The screenwriting, cinematography, and acting are much more flashy and eye-catching. But the editing is like the secret sauce of a movie. When done right, editing can make us feel however the editor wants. They have the power to manipulate emotions, change the pace and storyline, and leave us with an overall opinion about life derived from the film we just watched....powerful stuff.


About this time, the question of "Well, how do I do this?" always comes up, and that could be 25 blog posts in itself. But I give you some of my top three tips and trick that I've learned over my 10 years of acting experience as well as during my time studying Media Arts at Wayne State.


  • Show, don't tell.

For any type of video production, it is ALWAYS more interesting to show someone doing something that explaining it with words or in text. Just imagine if you were in the audience of a film and, instead of being toured around the Marvel universe by wide shots of the landscape and dialogue from characters, you had to read a screen full of text explaining the backstory of what happened to Thor....Boring!!! It will always be better to show someone doing an action than forcing your audience work to read it themselves. Remember, the audience is there to enjoy the film (and maybe learn a thing or two), but they are not there to work.

  • If you can't show it, you can't say it.

This more goes for interviews and documentaries films, but if you have a subject talking about a specific action, job, or item and you don't have any visuals to back it up, then you can't use the clip in the film! The audience needs to know and see what you're talking about. Again, we don't want to make the audience struggle to work to understand what's happening. In the context of a narrative film, this is less prevalent, but take the example of the movie UP. In this film, we know Carl was married before, but his wife had passed away, making him bitter. Yet, Disney showed up through a montage Carl and Ellie's relationship, leading to one of the most beautiful and powerful parts of the film. We were able to relate to Carl more because we understood him better - all because Disney had shown us the relationship and not just said it. Tricky concept, but is this making sense?

  • But don't show everything...leave room for the audience's imagination.

And if the tricks aren't complicated enough, here's this one to throw it all off. While the past two rules were about showing the audience what is happening, you don't want to show the audience too much where it takes all the imagination and fun out of the film. If you give the audience enough information for the storyline to make sense, but leave the rest up for them to figure out themselves...this is the perfect recipe for success! This is the key to building suspense, anticipation, and character drive into a film.


Well I hope you now know some helpful tips and trick in how to editing your videos in the best way possible, but please know: there is no one single right way to edit a film. You have the creative license to do whatever you want! That's why film is called an art.


"Everything you can imagine is real"

- Pablo Picasso

0 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All
bottom of page