Who is a professional video editor?
Simply put, a professional video editor starts with a vision of what you want to tell a story or project on and is the person who puts together the final video. As a professional editor, you need to take video footage and other creative assets, stitch them together using appropriate software programs, and tell the story. It’s the professional video editor’s job to sort all the footage, sort all the graphics in the video, such as text and simple animations, find the best clips, and start making videos with them. He is also responsible for the spoken language, and the surrounding sounds and music. Your role as a video editor may look very different depending on the project you are working on and who you are working for exactly.
Here are some of the most common types of video editors:
1. Video editor for advertising, marketing, or creative studios
You must attend several preliminary meetings with teams and clients to fully understand the goals of the final video. You must have crisp knowledge about the upgraded editing programs, the latest online video editor, and the technical skills to use them. You must understand:
- The overall message that you need to convey
- The way you want your viewers to feel
- The goals that your customers pursue through the video and many other important considerations.
Your job as a video editor is to select the right clips in the right order, use seamless transitions to tell the story the right way, and manage your customers. Learn how to show them better choices than they had imagined in their heads. You need to:
Step 1. Organize your footage like creative elements (photos, logos, etc.) and organize them into one cohesive folder.
Step 2. Initial editing on clips, audio files, and music plus graphics creating a rough draft and submitting it to the internal team for review.
Step 3. Rough draft and review process – After the approval, you must start working on the sophisticated editing of rough cuts using a professional online video editor. Repeat the internal review several times until you are ready to present the first draft to the client.
Step 4. Final draft to the customer for review – The client after previewing the video edit may give feedback or suggest changes. Once these are completed, the final draft is created.
2. Independent Contractor / Freelance Video Editor
It is all about organizing and editing footage. The biggest task is to lure new clients by flaunting your impeccable video editing skills and to market your talent and skills lucratively. Being your boss sounds attractive, but keep in mind that sometimes it can be more stressful, and you are primarily responsible for always working to make money. A common way to create a new video piece is to search for the desired job through online marketing, word of mouth, and online posting. Most importantly, when you get a new job, do whatever it takes to make your customers and clients happy to make them come back to you. This is the best way to maintain employment and get the additional employment security of being a freelancer.
3. TV and movie video editors
To become a video editor for television and movies, you may have to put in years of effort, time, and dedication to move ranks. You would need to start as assistant editors or trainee management editors for production studios and broadcasters. The more experience you have, the more you can work to become a senior editor. As a film editor, you’re probably working on a feature film and making sure the film follows the director’s creative vision. The color and graphics choices and gamut can change depending on whether you’re working on a scripted show, reality show, feature film, or news show. The strengths and weaknesses of each of these positions can be very specific.
Career Path for Video Editors
Let’s discuss some of the most common professions for video editors:
- Movie editor – This type of editor supports full-length video production and ensures that the film adheres to the director’s creative vision. He is responsible for putting the clips in the correct order, editing the shots, and creating the storyline.
- TV Studio Editor – Most work in a television studio revolves around real-time events. The editor’s job is to juggle with graphics, cameras, and other elements to provide an immersive experience for viewers watching the show.
- Event editor – Events like seminars, weddings require professional editing, so becoming an event editor can be a good start to this career.
- Web video editor – These experts work on videos on social media and other video platforms on the Internet. This is a very lucrative career path for today’s video editors, as they are likely to find endless opportunities in different niches and clients.
- Colorist – This professional deals with color perfection and visual adjustments giving the video a sophisticated and professional look.
- Animator – This expert is responsible for manipulating motion graphics and making modifications to the finished video. They are familiar with special online video editors and software apart from the usual techniques of video editing software.
You can easily choose a specific role from the ones mentioned above or you can take up the role of a generalist to complete the video. Highly specialized work is only available for large companies that can hire multiple editorial professionals for their projects.
How to become a video editor
The first step is to ask yourself what kind of editing work is attractive, such as commercials, movies, documentaries, wedding videos, and TV shows. Let us understand how you can walk on the right track if you have chosen video editing as your profession:
1. Career path to commercial video editing
You don’t need a degree or a certificate to begin your freelance video editorial career. Courses and free videos available on the internet are designed to help you learn how to edit videos. Combine and integrate this knowledge and focus on the genre you are most interested in. You will require a bachelor’s degree and some video editing experience if you want to work for a digital marketing agency. You would also need to demonstrate good communication skills to start as an editorial assistant and further move on to managing editors.
2. Career path to movie and TV video editing
This area is very large and offers a variety of opportunities. You can get positions like:
- Postproduction Assistant
- Apprentice Editor
- Assistant Editor
- Lead Editor
Many people choose to be employed as assistant editors and make good money. You can work on small projects as a freelance editor and gather enough experience to join the Editors Guild.
3. Work as a generalist video editor
This is a great opportunity to gain experience and develop skills across genres. Your diverse experiences will give you an edge over others and help you embark on your dream job. There are plenty of opportunities to hone your skills and to promote businesses, content creators, and brands across genres. Some of the best video editors have begun to spend time working across disciplines and roles. The ideal career path for video editing should rotate between the positions of different production and marketing companies. You must first experiment with various disciplines and roles to see what’s most appealing before you decide on your area of expertise.
Conclusion
Video editing is a great and lucrative profession, but the hardest part is just getting started. So, don’t be afraid to start anywhere you can. Video editing is the process of removing unwanted clips, choosing the best footage for your video, and stitching together the rest of the elements to create the final product you want. Professional video editors start with story ideas and use video editing tools to assemble video footage to best convey their message. The above-mentioned tips aim to help you understand the career path that leads to a successful career in video editing. As video becomes more popular, the possibilities are endless.
