Editing - Actors Forum is the Community to Talk, Learn and Study Acting.

Stephy · 06-10-2007, 02:43 AM

Hope i'am writing in the good section!

In the future I would like to study to become and editor. The problem is that I can't find information about editing. Has any one got some got information on the subject, and perhaps a good training programm!?

SWK78 · 07-10-2007, 10:15 AM

You might try asking at filmmaker.com or visit wikipedia and look up the career. Might have something....

I've often thought about editing, too, but I think acting, writing, and directing is enough of an aspiration right now for me. Later, and I hope this helps.!

Billy1970 · 07-17-2007, 03:33 PM

Hi and welcome to the boards.

Having been an editor for many years, I can tell you that the quickest, easiest way to become an editor is to start doing it as often as you can. Get a version of the more popular software (Avid or Final Cut Pro) and start learning how to use it. Try shooting some of your own footage to edit with and start trolling around the user forums for those software platforms.

After you get pretty comfortable doing your own projects and can navigate the software environment pretty well, start taking no-pay jobs for editing. Try craigslist.com or mandy.com as a good place to start. There will be a pretty big learning curve initially and understanding file naming and maintenance will be the biggest part of that curve.

You will also need to get at least some rudimentary experience with professional tape decks and if you live in a city that has a decent post production infrastructure, you can probably find a post house that will let you come in and give you a brief tour of how the machines work. If you tell them that you're a working editor and allude to the notion that they might get duplication work from you, they are usually pretty helpful folk.

Other stuff you might consider is learning the various associated software platforms that most editors are expected to know, like Adobe Photoshop and After Effects. If you can afford it, there are many great classes on both of those platforms available at many community colleges and trade schools.

After you get a few projects under your belt, you should be able to transition into a paid gig somewhere, just keep looking, there's no shortage of people who need editors!

Hope this helps and best of luck out there.