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.
Santana: “I arrived here, jobless, from the Canary Islands in 1994, and wanted to carry on editing.
“I did a very short online course in order to get into low-budget TV. It was great experience and led to me working on National Geographic documentaries.
“You shouldn’t be sniffy about low-budget productions as an editor because it’s fantastic experience. When you’ve got really tight deadlines, it makes you think quicker.”
For scripted projects such as dramas and comedies, an editor will have a script to work to, choosing the best combination of shots to tell the story.
“The script is like a blueprint,” explains The Crown editor Una Ni Dhonghaile,
A documentary is a rather different beast. “You may be faced with 400 hours of footage shot across many years in a sprawling way. The people making the film don't know what's going to happen next,” says editor Ben Stark whose credits include Dispatches, Baby P: The Untold Story and 9/11: The Falling Man.
Speakers included:
Rupert Houseman, an editor on cutting-edge documentaries such as Life and Death Row with Yan Miles, a drama editor who has worked on shows such as Game of Thrones and Sherlock.
