What does the job involve?
I take all the material the director shoots and figure out how to tell the story in the most compelling and emotionally gripping way. There’s this misunderstanding that an editor’s job is simply to cut out the bad bits; it’s the opposite – you’re actually building something.
What editing software do you use?
I started just after the transition from film and I’ve always used Avid.
Do you regret missing out on film?
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Mark Davey is a camera operator at ITN. Presenting the news camera masterclass, he told the RTS audience that sound journalistic skills, the ability to form good relationships and a keen logistical sense were all essential for his job. Davey, ITN reporter Robert Moore and producer Sophie Alexander were the only news crew to film inside the US Capitol in January 2021, when pro-Trump insurrectionists stormed the building claiming that the presidential election had been stolen from them.
Factual specialist Trace Taylor gives a masterclass in editing as part of the RTS Student Masterclasses 2021.
It was James Graham who reopened the casefiles of the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? scandal, adapting his play for a hit three-part drama, Quiz, that recalled the origins of the ground-breaking quiz show and the scandal involving former major Charles Ingram. Ingram was accused of cheating by listening for coughs on the right answers from his wife, Diana, and fellow contestant Tecwen Whittock.
Editors Matthew Gray and Emma Lysaght discussed how to get into editing, what it's like to work with directors, and shared their tips on how to cut rushes and the importance of time management at the RTS Craft Skills Masterclasses 2019.
Click here to read the session report.
How to get into editing: Emma Lysaght: “I left school at 16. My father was a film editor so I grew up watching my dad cut film. It was something I’d always wanted to do.
“It was quite a male environment, I was very nervous and very shy. I didn’t get into the cutting room until I was 19. My dad knew of one female editor.
“She needed an assistant so I stepped in and became her assistant. Within the first few months I was cutting news for Channel 4, which was very pressurised but you know exactly what you’ve got to do in those three minutes.
Clive Myrie
Journalist and presenter, BBC News
In an era of widespread concern about fake news, trusted and experienced correspondents such as the BBC’s award-winning Clive Myrie are more important than ever.
Pia Di Ciaula, film and TV editor specialising in drama: “On The Crown there is no difference because Stephen Daldry (the director) and I treat every episode like a feature film, but prior to that there was a big difference.
“I moved to the UK (from North America) so I could edit independent films with the best directors and actors in the world.
Like most editors, Matt Meech started out as a runner, working at a post-production house in Soho where he spent his spare time learning how to use editing software Avid.
Matt put together a showreel which impressed his bosses enough for them to give him a job as an assistant editor.
In this masterclass, film editor Johnny Rayner and documentary editor Samuel R Santana speak to Ruth Pitts about what it takes to make it as an editor, and why the role is vital to making great film and TV.
