What Kind Of Editor Are You?

(From Avid.com/Frank Capra's Blog -- Let's Be Frank)

In my teaching I often compare the role of the editor to that of the orchestra conductor.

We interpret another's vision through pacing and tempo. Instead of cellos and violins, we have had music, sound effects, cuts, and dissolves.

Today's tools go beyond those to include color, transparency, motion, and effects, and our options increase exponentially.

I bring this up because the August 21st edition of NEW YORKER MAGAZINE features a profile on conductor ROBERT SPANO -- colorful and somewhat surly like so many editors.

The piece reinforced my view of editors as conductors.

A horn player summed it up quite well:
Each conductor enters the music through some key technique. Some conductors are happy when we play together and in tune -- precision comes first. Other conductors base their interpretation on the pacing, the tempo, and the energy. Other conductors want a partucular sound. Robert's an energy guy.

It was a kind of eureka moment for me.

We all have our key techniques that define our approaches.

I've looked at the work of several editors I've know for years and that horn player's assessment of the process easily translates to editing.
[Yeah, baby! Horn players ROCK as editors!]

I know some energy editors, some precision editors and some "look" editors.

Delving deeper into this, I wonder if different types of editors are drawn to different tool sets.

To read more, check out FRANK CAPRA's blog at
Let's Be Frank.

[I use my WAACOM pen like a baton and my AVID mouse pad is my podium. When I wear a tux to work, I get the respect I crave but only sometimes deserve. But seriously, if the editor is a conductor and gets final cut because the producer/composer is outside decomposing, how many splices can I make on a SYMPHONY before the audience notices we ruined a classic?
-- by CALVIN R. FUNK]

[I guess us horn players (trumpet here) and musicians DO make good editors. Maybe you guys SHOULD have watched the
DCI FINALS on ESPN2 last night!]