What you Learn from an Editor

I am always going on about how you need to get out there and produce your own stuff, that you can't just sit around waiting for someone else to write a part for you.  There are lots of benefits to creating your own stuff and more than just the opportunity to do what you love. 

Recently, I spent some time editing a couple of the shorts that I wrote.  Hours upon hours of staring at my computer screen, analyzing and over-analyzing every moment of acting that I did in those shorts.  But besides being hyper-critical of your performance and questioning every choice you made, there is a lot to learn from seeing a film through an editor's eyes.

First, you see why sometimes the clips that get into a movie aren't the ones with your best acting.  When you are on set there is so much that can go wrong from a boom dropping into the shot or the light just isn't right or someone is holding their hand differently from how they held it in the master shot.  That is why you have to be so professional and don't let them get a bad take of you.

Second, you see the importance of matching what you do from take to take to take.  If your drink is in your right hand in the master, it darn well better be in that hand in the close-up or they will never be able to use your close-up.  On major productions you have script supervisors who take notes of all these sorts of things.  On low budget shorts generally you are the one who has to be responsible for this, that is why I always take good notes in my script as to what I was doing.

Third, when acting on camera a little goes a long way.  Every minute facial expression comes across.  After editing my first film, I realized how much less I needed to do to make the moments clear.  Since editing my own films, my acting has certainly improved by making me a more natural person on screen.

I recommend all actors should get an editing program and learn how to use it.  Shoot something and see what you can do with it on it your own.  Besides being able to edit your own stuff will save you so much in the end, even if you just edit your demo reel.