Programming Vs Editing

sfoster

sfoster

Staff Member
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Editing is the part of the process that most feels like work to me.
I think perhaps because of the similarities it has with writing computer code


A) If you tell 1,000 different people to edit the same film, you'll get 1,000 variations. Same with software and diagrams

B) You must resist opportunities to take shortcuts at every corner

C) It is never finished. Seems like you could keep editing the same footage/code forever

D) A lot of software these days is taking 3rd party APIs, and then merging them together to make sure they all work as a whole. Same with scenes and an overall film

But the one positive difference.. At least with editing film I don't get any compiler errors :)
 
I do both and see it differently. The biggest difference is that if the output is correct your code works; you may continue to optimize it for performance reasons but in the end it either works or it doesn't. With editing there may be a dozen different ways to edit a scene and they all may work but each in its own way, or each for a different audience. You just have to make a call on which one you think is best, and even the you can continue tweaking it endlessly.

In short - you can't write unit tests for scenes.
 
Except that each new focus group will probably give you a different response. And you can write strong code starting with unit tests and working backwards; do the same with focus groups and you end up with watered down Mainstream Hollywood crap.
 
ItDonnedOnMe said:
Except that each new focus group will probably give you a different response. And you can write strong code starting with unit tests and working backwards; do the same with focus groups and you end up with watered down Mainstream Hollywood crap.
Click to expand...

not all code is deterministic… but if I were to continue that line of thinking i'd just be playing devils advocate.

I can't seriously argue that they're the same thing :)
These are merely some semblances I found amusing
 
sfoster said:
A) If you tell 1,000 different people to edit the same film, you'll get 1,000 variations

B) You must resist opportunities to take shortcuts at every corner

C) It is never finished
Click to expand...

I'm not a programmer, but I think these points apply to all aspects of filmmaking, not just editing
 
My sentiments exactly. Having done both, there are some overlaps, but editing is closer in nature to software design that you do in a team. You may compare the director's role to that of a lead/senior engineer or product owner: having a vision, and a fairly good idea how to execute it. Yet, it's the editor (programmer) who knows the codebase inside-out, and has valuable feedback and control. The conversations are somewhat similar, but more personal when it's a film director.
 
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