Why an Editor Needs to Be Organized
Image courtesy of @chuklanov via Unsplash.
Anyone who has worked with me knows how much I enjoy organizing a project. It’s important to me as an editor that, A) I can find every asset I need quickly, and B) another editor can open the project at any time and know exactly where everything is. I always enjoy talking with other editors to find out exactly how they set up their projects and organize all of their media. Those conversations really help me to fine tune my approach to editing.
On this blog I’ve written about my basic workflow for non-narrative editing and also how I organize all of my project folders, so for this post I want to look specifically at methods for organizing interview and b-roll footage.
When it comes to selecting sound bites for a video, some editors will lay the entire interview down into a new sequence and then move selected sound bites up to a higher video track so they be seen easier. I personally find it difficult to work this way, because it still requires me to scrub through the entire sequence to find the sound bite I need.
In contrast, I load the entire interview into my Source monitor and start playing it through from the beginning. When I come to a sound bite I think I might use in the video, I set an In and Out point and then create a Sub Clip, storing it in my Interview bin. Then, in the Comments (or Description) field I transcribe the sound bite. Subclipping and transcribing each sound bite allows me to easily locate exactly what I need, because I can simply read the transcription as I scroll down the list of subclips in my bin.
For longer interviews that cover a wide range of subjects, I create separate bins for each topic and then move subclips into the corresponding bin. So, for example, any sound bite having to do with the College Years, would be organized into a College Years bin. That way, when I’m editing specific scenes, I can go directly to the bin that contains all the sound bites I need for the topic at hand.
If I come across a sound bite I really like, but don’t yet know where I will use it, I color code it with a yellow label. It’s a visual reminder to include sound bites I think are particularly relevant and/powerful.
My method for organizing b-roll is very similar. I start by grouping all of my b-roll clips into separate bins with labels that reflect the content of the footage. From this point, my process really depends on whether I’m working in Avid or Premiere.
If I’m working in Premiere, I take advantage of the pancake editing feature. I will create a new sequence and add my b-roll selects to the timeline. Then I will stack my master sequence underneath my b-roll selects sequence and quickly drag and drop clips from the selects sequence to the master sequence as needed.
If I’m working in Avid, I will usually add descriptions to each clip in my b-roll bin, giving a general idea of what the shot consists of and what its focal length is. So, I might write something like, “Woman dabs paint onto canvas-brush tip-ECU.”
Obviously you don’t have to match my workflow step for step, but it is important that you find a system that works for you. It will help your edits tremendously, and it will come in handy whenever you find yourself working with a team of editors and you have to pass projects back and forth.
How do you like to work when it comes to the edit? What other suggestions do you have for making post-production more efficient? Leave your thoughts in the Comments section.