✂️ The key to editing for decades

Great editing starts with great process

When you edit for fun, you can do it as inspiration strikes, or try random techniques from YouTube.

As soon as editing becomes a job, you have to deliver every time.

How well you do that, and for how many years, all depends on your processes.

The truth is, you already have a process! Humans are creatures of habit, after all. You probably just don’t know what it is.

In order to be intentional about how we work, we need to clarify what the stages are in editing, and clarify how we do them.

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Stage 1: Project Prep

Stage 1 is all about setting you up to edit a killer video. But most times we gloss over this section because it’s boring! We’d rather be editing.

It helps to think of this stage like a chef: You are arranging your ingredients, choosing the knives and sharpening them, and setting everything in its proper place.

When you do this, now you can respond to every inspiration.

Wonder if that drone shot might be a perfect opener? Boom, you find it in seconds.

The director has an idea about cutting in a soundbite? You know right where it is.

We’re talking about organizing footage here, but Project Prep begins even before that.

How do you talk to clients? When someone wants to hire you, how do you agree to a contract or get paid? What details do you need to know? (Nothing worse than editing a whole video in 16×9 and finding out they need it in 9×16 🤦‍♂️.)

If you’re on staff, who has the final say in the project? What are the deadlines and deliverables? What results does this video need to achieve for the company?

Project Prep is where everything is put in place so that you can be as creative as possible.

Stage 2: Editing

Have you ever stared at a blank timeline and wondering what to do first? Or maybe you’ve started on soundbites, then jumped to b-roll, then maybe color corrected because wow that makes it look cool—and there goes the whole day.

Getting the first draft of a project is often 70% or more of the effort. If you can find ways to get started faster, with more clarity, you’ll save yourself loads of time.

After the first cut, how do you get notes? What order do you address them in? Pro tip: start at the end and work backward.

See that right there? 👆 That’s a process.

That’s a decision you made beforehand. “When this happens, I do this.”

It reduces decision fatigue. It speeds you up. It eliminates frustration.

Stage 3: Delivery

This stage is easy—if you’ve done Stage 1. By having all the details ahead of time, exporting is a piece of cake. Knowing who to send the video to or where to upload is one click.

There is also after delivery to think about. What do you do with project files? How do you archive assets? Do you check in on the project to see how it went?

First I… then I….

Remember, you already have a process, even if you don’t realize it.

We inherit processes from our teachers, co-workers, producers, etc. But they might not all be right—or what works for you.

To document your own processes, fill in these blanks:

When I do ________, first I _________, and then I _______.

Keep going until you fully document your process. Then ask these questions:

• Am I doing this at the right time in the project?

• Is there any other steps that this stage needs?

• Can I reduce any of these steps to one click?

For example, I like to organize my projects with the same bins every time so I created a template project folder on my hard drive. It has all the hard drive bins I need, plus Premiere and After Effects projects prepped with bins as well.

When I start a new project, I copy/paste and rename 3 things. It takes me 20 seconds instead of 10 minutes.

The longevity of your career depends on the strength of your processes

If you want to deliver great results for years to come, you need a process.

If you want to reduce stress and have a more peaceful project, you need a process.

If you want to find great clients and stay booked, you need a process.

That’s why this is the 3rd proclamation in the Editor’s Manifesto:

What is your process for finding work?

The hardest part of being a freelance editor isn’t editing. It’s finding work.

The trouble is, editors are never taught how. We bounce between anxiously watching the bank account and blitzing past clients, hoping someone will feel bad and hire us.

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This system kept me booked after leaving staff to be a freelancer, even during COVID.

It can help you do the same, no matter where you live or what you edit.

Thanks for reading!

What processes have helped you as an editor? I’d love to hear it.

Keep cutting,

– Jesse Koepke