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Do editors need to be on-set?

DeJager

DeJager

Hello!!


We've started production on my sci-fi flick, The Legend of Cooley Moon, and I'm very happy/excited about the footage we're getting. I could edit the movie myself but I think it would be a dis-service to all of the hard work everybody has put into it so I've decided that I want to have someone else edit the movie. Will this be a problem since I've not had an editor on the set??

Furthermore, I'm looking to hire someone to edit the movie and color grade it. (Paid Position)


Thanks for any comments, suggestions, and/or referrals!!
 
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It depends - the most dreaded answer on any messageboard.

As brianluce said, the person handling all the visual efx should be
on set. The editor does not need to be. On most low budget movies
the director is also doing the editing and color grading and vefx and...

Since you are asking about the editor I would say the editor does
not need to be on the set. A good scripty keeping excellent notes and
a running editors log is all that is needed on set.
 
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Personally, I prefer if the editor is NOT on set. It's better they deal solely with the footage, untainted by relationships on set and more importantly having their perspective affected by being there.
 
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Good points! We keep an extensive and comprehensive log of each take and scene so when it comes to editing we'll be sitting okay. Since I don't have any editors in mind or hired yet and they are sparse in my area, I don't think it's possible to get one on set for the rest of production.
 
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As an editor, I like being on set. It helps to get a better idea of what's going on, what footage you have, etc.. Especially working with other's footage. It's hard, I never feel like I have the whole vision if I just meet with the director/producers after the fact. And almost always the footage is organized terribly so you really have to dig more than you would if you were there.

As a director, if someone else was editing my footage it would be nice to have him/her on set for the same reason. They can be the data tech and log footage and organize it, etc as it goes on. Then you REALLY know what you have and don't have.

Sonnyboo has some good points too.
 
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sonnyboo said:
There is no right or wrong, but I'd like to know why you prefer an editor on set.
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Me too.

The editor I use doesn't like to be on set. When I cut I don't like being on set.
PaulGriffith said:
I never feel like I have the whole vision if I just meet with the director/producers after the fact. And almost always the footage is organized terribly so you really have to dig more than you would if you were there.
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In that case the production didn't use a good scripty - I've been there; editing
a poorly organized show is a nightmare.

PaulGriffith said:
As a director, if someone else was editing my footage it would be nice to have him/her on set for the same reason. They can be the data tech and log footage and organize it, etc as it goes on. Then you REALLY know what you have and don't have.
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As an editor I would not want to log footage and organize it - that's the scripty's job.
I would be terrible at it. But I can understand your POV. If you - as the editor - are
good at logging and organizing the shooting day then it makes sense. Or if you - as
the director - hire an editor who is good at logging and organizing the shooting day
I get it. I wonder how many editors are good at (and comfortable with) doing that.

As the editor I prefer to spend the shooting day logging and organizing the footage
in the editing room rather than being on set.
 
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I recall reading an interview with Werner Herzog, where he talked about Beate Mainka-Jellinghaus, his editor of choice, constantly complaining about the awful, terrible footage that she tried to salvage into a slightly less crap movie. So he invited her to come with them as they shot Stroszek. That didn't work out any better, and caused all sorts of production problems and delays. The conclusion: they could work together and do great things, just not at the same place and the same time.

And looking up Stroszek on wikipedia, I just learned that Bruno S. passed away on 8.11.10 at the age of 78. The two films he did (the Enigma of Kaspar Hauser, also with Herzog) are two of my all time favorites. I wish he had done more, but 78 is not a bad life.
http://bruno-s.no-art.info/obituary.html
That site also has some artwork and music from Bruno, for those who are interested.
 
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That's an excellent story. The jobs are so different that I can
see the director and editor clashing. clashing slows down the
shooting day.

I was fortunate to become friends with the great Verna Fields
in the last years of her life. She said she hated the chaos of the
set. preferring the more controlled chaos of the editing room.

But, as always, to each his own. As a director I could stand having
an editor on my set thinking like an editor. I know how those guys
think...
 
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"As a director I could stand having an editor on my set thinking like an editor. I know how those guys
think... "

That's kind of my answer Sonny. It's just a failsafe/security blanket for me as director. He has the ability to pull me aside and say "You know Nathan, that last scene will be a lot easier to speed up, if we decide that's what we want to do, if you get a cutaway of the cigarette burning in the ashtray"

I have limited experience, I've only shot three films, and I've never edited one. He's kind there to stop me from screwing both of us by not getting something I should.
 
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My typo is being used against me!!!!

And I'm so dyslexic that I read your response three times thinking
to myself, "What is he talking about? I mean exactly the opposite."

I meant "As a director I could't stand having an editor on my
set thinking like an editor. I know how those guys think..." The last
I want is an editor pulling me aside telling me what shots he wants.
I know how they think - they want more and more to cut with. And
I want my movie on the screen.
 
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directorik said:
My typo is being used against me!!!!

And I'm so dyslexic that I read your response three times thinking
to myself, "What is he talking about? I mean exactly the opposite."

I meant "As a director I could't stand having an editor on my
set thinking like an editor. I know how those guys think..." The last
I want is an editor pulling me aside telling me what shots he wants.
I know how they think - they want more and more to cut with. And
I want my movie on the screen.
Click to expand...

Hahahaha!
Now THAT is funny.
 
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directorik said:
As an editor I would not want to log footage and organize it - that's the scripty's job.
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Or an ASSISTANT EDITOR's job. That's what an assistant or 2nd assistant is supposed to be doing - organizing footage for the editor. Creating bins, synching sound, setting up sequences - that's all for the assistant editors.

I go to local high schools with media classes and especially colleges and get assistant editors as free interns. They learn a lot, I show them what to do, and then eventually they can cut some too.


This is purely preferential, as in there is no absolute right or wrong. I just want an editor to come to the table with ideas that relate to the footage that is shot. The director was on set and can see things that aren't necessarily captured on camera, as in both in performance and simple spatial relations of where people, places, or things were when it was shot. The editor is supposed to look at the footage and determine without that bias if they can edit the footage together with performances and create the visual geography from the images without the hindrance of what they saw at the time.

Aside from the advantage of someone suggest additional shots, which an editor can still do remotely, I do not see the benefit from them being on set. Perhaps cutting something really quick? Even so, have them near the set but not on it.

This is the kind of decision that splits 50/50 and I really want to understand the opposing point of view because it is valid, but I don't get it.
 
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sonnyboo said:
Or an ASSISTANT EDITOR's job. That's what and assistant or 2nd assistant is supposed to be doing - organizing footage for the editor. Creating bins, synching sound, setting up sequences - that's all for the assistant editors.
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True.

I meant it's the scripty's job on the set. I am having one heck of a day here.
 
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