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.

 

Sources of information, e.g. Sector Skills Councils, trade unions, careers services;

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.

 

Record of employment history and skills, e.g. CV, references, portfolio, show reel, blog, personal website

 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:

http://courses.creativeskillset.org/

http://id.bbc.co.uk/careers/trainee-schemes/pts

http://www.bbc.co.uk/careers/trainee-schemes/jts

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