JOB
TITLE: Editor (Film)
Section
1: Description of TV and Film Sector
What does an editor do?
They are paid £30- 40 per hour. They can make from £18,000 to £70,000
a year depending on what type of film or production you are on. The hours are
very long depending on how big the project is, you will not be working normal
hours.
You can work as a part time, Full time or Freelance in this job.
It can be competitive as they is lots of editor who may be able to
do a better job and is more expensive then you might be, also they may work in
big companies and film sets, then small production. In editing is best that you
have a higher education therefore you learn how to work on the software and
have a degree, to get the best possible job. You have to work fast and always
be on time in this profession. You will
normally work from a location than home because you have all the software at
the location. Companies like when you should have experience from, editing
student or community film productions and to be able to edit with equipment
hired from companies creating, you may have been editing films for organisations,
had work experience as a runner in an editing facilities company. Therefore
they will want someone with experience in the business.
There is about 58,900 jobs in this sector. We watch film on the
television, laptop and phones.
Major
organisations are the BBC, many are freelance and work from home, and some
companies that are in London are Ecosse FIlm production, fifty fifty Post Production,
these are post production companies, most are in London but some are outside.
Products, some of
the film the BBC had made are The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, The Falling,
Great Expectations and Mr Holmes. They are all type of film editor can edit
like short or long films. Ecosse Films Production did Becoming Jane, Black
Death Wuthering Heights.
Employment
opportunities you can have small opportunities to big opportunities depend on
how much experience you have. First you
may be a runner to train to be a second assistant, then first assistant and
then you may become an editor. The thing that people look for in an editor is
experience, so the more experience you have the better chance of getting a big
well paid job. If you work on the latest software like adobe premiere pro CC
2015, but also know how to use older software like final cut pro or final cut X
more employers will mostly like you more than someone who doesn’t know a
certain software. If you are a experience editor you will most likely be doing
jobs for big companies films, but if you not then you mostly be likely to get a
job in a small companies.
Section
2: What are they looking for? And why?
• Reliability – you need to be reliable
because if you are not here then they may not be able to start any editing. As
you work closely with the director you will need to be on set every day,
because you are one of the main people to put the film together and if you not
there then you will delay the deadline and work will not get done.
• Attendance and punctuality
It is very important for an editor to have punctuality and great
attendance as after everything is film they are the main people to put the film
together, plus you may be working long hours because you will have a deadline
to get all the editing done and then the final editing done too.
• Commitment
You have to have full commitment for the film as you are editing,
you are one of the main parts of the film which needs to get done to complete
the whole film. Therefore you need to concentrate on the process on which you
have to do in editing.
• Efficiency
As an editor you need efficiency so that all the work is done on
time and that everything is edited correctly therefore you can do a final edit.
Efficiency is the main part of the job as the end product of the film is mainly
up to you and if you don’t do your job right then it will look badly on you.
• Self-presentation
As a editor you don’t have to dress in a suit you can wear your
normal clothes as most of the time you will be sitting in a chair working on
the computer.
• Communication skills
You need great communication skill so that you know what the
director wants you to edit, and if you need to change anything you did, then
because of your communication skill everything will get done easier, and
quicker than if you didn’t have good communication skill than you might edit
the wrong section or miss the deadline or an important part of the film you
might of not edited correctly.
• Contribution to team projects
You need good team skills as you may be talking to people like the
special effect people, on which parts need special effect and how you are going
to edit certain section. Working in a team you will need to know what each
person is doing and when they have to get it done by. Therefore as an editor
you will need to know everybody roles and find out what you need to do as well.
• Time management
As an editor you need to have great time management as you need to
hit all the deadlines on time and also what editing you are going to do on each
day, so that you don’t fall behind.
• Personal responsibility
You have to make sure that everything is done, you have to take
responsibility for your own work, because you will be editing a certain amount
of work and you have to complete parts at a certain time.
Section
3: Getting Started
Education and
training, e.g. full-time, part-time, Level 2, Level 3, graduate
Having education and training, is very important in this field in
work because the more experience the better jobs you will have. But in this job
you don’t need any specific qualification but they would prefer you to have a
higher education, therefore going to university. This will improve on your CV
and make you more employable because you would have more experience than
someone who didn’t go to university. This job is always full time, as an editor
you will not be working normal times, like 9am-5pm, you may be working from 3
in the morning to 11 o’clock at night. For training you may be going through
the stages from being a Runner to a Trainee, Second Assistant, First Assistant
and eventually to become an Editor. They also would prefer you to have 2 years
of experience in a film production, low budget. The strengths going into the
business with higher education qualification is that more companies will want
you because of your experience, which means that bigger production companies
will want you, that not to say if you don’t have higher education that you will
not get good pay and will not go into big companies it may just take you longer
to get there.
Work experience
opportunities
Having work experience is very important in this business because
you need to know how everything is run and be able to understand how the work
place actually works. They is a lot of work experience you can have in this,
you can work for a low budget film which means that you see more than just the
editing studio and you will on set learning new things. First you being as a Runner
to a Trainee, Second Assistant, First Assistant and eventually to become an
Editor, to get the best amount of experience.
You can join trade union which means that you have right as an
employer, therefore they help get paid the right amount of money and they offer
jobs and it tells you how to get up the ladder as a editor, also creative skillset
website help you understand your type of job and where you can find help to get
the best opportunities. Also look at indeed jobs and The Guardian for jobs.
Having a CV with work experiences, that you
have done this is make you be mo0re employable because of the experiences you
have done, getting a reference from your employer will help the person going to
employ you, show how you are, and if you are well behaved and helpful. You will
need to have a portfolio to present your work, this will show the employer what
you have done and what type of project you have already put your mind to. Making
a blog will also show of your talent on the computer and to other students. Having
a show reel of your talent will make you more employable and if you have a
personal blog it shows that you are independent, and a hard worker.
Career
development, e.g. training on the job, continuing professional development,
self-
training - click on
apprenticeships and search for using the drop down search boxes for an
apprenticeship that suits you:
It’s important to look at different section of your work which you can do to reach your top goal to be an editor, they are lots of different courses you can do, you can start of being a runner and then work your up to become an editor, you can do a apprenticeship which than gives you grades therefore you will collect more skills in your field. You can train yourself on the editor software and make your own film and self-publish your work, and if you get spotted this will help boost your career.
Getting Work
National and trade press
Newspapers, media newspapers like broadcast which publishes media,
this is helpful as it shows you what’s new and what job are coming up that you
may be able to help in. Also these newspaper are on the internet so you can subscribe
to them and get them digital and also get them as actual newspaper which is
handy. This is important because they are always new things coming up and you
need to stay connected with it.
Internet
By searching your field you will be able to find a lot of company
who will need a runner or someone helping out or being an extra on the field this
will give you experience on the project and show you how working in your field
would be like. The advantage are that you have a good view on everything
happening and lots of opportunities on the internet but the disadvantage is
that not all jobs will be on the internet and smaller jobs that may suit you
better may be hard to find.
Word of mouth
Word of month in not really good in this type of field as first you
will need to know people who are in this field, therefore you will need to get all
there contact detail but it can be good if you can because it’s very important
to get some training for the job, so that being a runner would be good as you
can go and ask people if they have any jobs. Towards this field sometime word
of mouth is good, but most of the time it’s not.
Personal contacts
and networking
This would help a lot for become an editor as if they have any jobs
for you they will contact you and also if you have work you have done than you
can put it up on the internet and people may be interested in it. Networking will
help a lot as you will get to know lots of people and this will more interest. Therefore
this will be a good way to get jobs for being an editor.
Trade fairs
Trade fair are very important as you see new job and opportunities that
you can get for your job and get different contacts, and ask question about how
they got into their field, also meeting new people, which means that more people
will know you and maybe be interested in your work and help you out.
These are jobs that I could currently apply
for with my current level of skills and experience
Job Advertisement 1:
Job Advertisement
2:
Job
Advertisement 3:
Cover Letter
Dear ,
I am writing in
response to your from the indeed website requesting applicants for a Post
production Runner Apprentice / Trainee Editor Apprentice. As a recent college
student, I have good knowledge of Digital camera, and editing software adobe
Pro and also I understand the health and safety of using lighting. Also I know how to set up the audio recording
and shooting and lightening set up.
You will see
from my enclosed CV that I have gained a wide variety of both transferable and
specific skills, which relate to working in media:
·
Television experience: my work
experience have been going to see film in a festival and taking to directors
and actor and production helper to understand more about the business and what
they do to help the process go in a flow.
·
Interest in the Media: My enjoyment and interest
in the media (television, film, music, and new media) which I hope to be able
to expand throughout new experiences.
·
Computer skills: During College expanded
my knowledge and confidence of Microsoft programs such as Internet Explorer,
Chrome, Word, Access, PowerPoint and Outlook Express. I actively enjoy
researching on the Internet, and have a basic understanding of copyright. Also I
have experience using an editing software called Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2015.
·
Writing/research skills: My College has
proven my ability to express opinions within a sustained argument. A median level
of research and reading to reach this standard. I have experiences of writing
articles, making blog and creating videos and adapting a play have increased my
confidence in these skills.
I am available to start work immediately and I am
forward to hearing from you in the near future.
Yours sincerely
Rebecca Barnes
