"All-round" post-production abilities necessary?

cheeseandachallenge · Jun 16, 2015

I realise this is hugely dependent on local conditions and markets, what sort of work I want to do, etc. I will seek out more local, specific advice in the future, but just to start my preliminary thinking, I wanted to get some thoughts.

I'm due to graduate at the end of the year. I don't expect an industry job immediately. I do plan to start building toward a career as an editor. This may involve interning somewhere for a bit - I'll be looking into that.

But in order to be marketable as either a freelance editor (preferable) or employable in a post-production house, is it necessary to have all-round skills?

I've consider myself a picture editor solely. I can use very basic sound editing and colour grading tools, but given how huge those areas are, I've never learnt them extensively, and am not effective at utilising them. I don't think that's where my talents lie. For my personal projects, I've outsourced those roles.

Yet, I realise that some clients are going to want an 'all-in-one' package. I see a few acquaintances who do offer sound and picture editing, as well as grading. I've never seen their work, but surely it's not feasible to do all those things proficiently? But would it be limiting myself to become too specialised? I've done a small bit of freelance type work (just for people who know what I do, and have asked - probably because they figure they can get it cheap that way) who always seem surprised that an editor doesn't usually deal with other post-production departments. Whilst in reality, I can offer a better service by specialising, is it necessary to learn these other things to a higher level? I don't want to invest money into a grading set up, and I don't even know how possible it'd be to set up a home audio monitoring studio that didn't completely bankrupt me (I'm sure as hell that other people who edit picture and sound don't have proper audio monitoring resources, so i'm not sure how that works).

Again, I know this will be specific to my local market and so on, but I'm curious as to others thoughts and experiences, both specific and more generic.

Sweetie · Jun 17, 2015

Just realize, you're either going to have to outsource those duties you cannot do, or pass on those jobs that require all service.

I can offer a better service by specialising

You can. You could specialize even further. The question you need to ask: Will there be enough demand for your specific skill set to provide you the lifestyle (money) you require. That becomes a combination of a local knowledge question and a personal level question. Only you can really answer that.

WalterB · Jun 17, 2015

For some projects you can be proficient enough for the client.

On most corporate videos I handle all post myself: for practical and budget reasons.
If it has to be aired I prefer outsourcing at least the audio and often the budget allows that as well for such projects.

So it really depends on the client, budget and project.
Just like any other aspect of filmmaking. Some clients want talking heads shot on RED, others can't afford it or don't see the benefit of it.

gorillaonabike · Jun 19, 2015

You can get a job at an editing house immediately, albeit at a low level. Mate of mine worked his way up from VT-land until he is now editing a mainstream television production. Took him a couple of years but he got there.

cheeseandachallenge · Jun 19, 2015

Thanks for the thoughts guys. I'll have to do some local research.

gorillaonabike said:
You can get a job at an editing house immediately, albeit at a low level. Mate of mine worked his way up from VT-land until he is now editing a mainstream television production. Took him a couple of years but he got there.

Yeah, a guy I was meant to be sharing editing duties with on a webseries recently got a job editing short documentaries. Nice guy, but the dude was the worst editor I've seen, producer ended up asking me to re-cut all his episodes from scratch. So that gives me hope that the job prospects aren't too slim.

AudioPostExpert · Jun 21, 2015

cheeseandachallenge said:
But in order to be marketable as either a freelance editor (preferable) or employable in a post-production house, is it necessary to have all-round skills?

As you stated to start with, it is entirely dependent on the market, the local/national market and the market sector. At the lowest commercial levels, the editor is expected to do all the post, as you move up through the levels then post gets separated into more and more specialisations. Low budget corporate work, some content for local TV and even some content for national level TV (ENG for example) are areas where one person wears many hats. One can make a living in these areas, for example many people make a living from making wedding videos where they are pretty much everything from camera-person to editor/post person. When one gets to say the low/mid budget commercial documentary level, for national and/or international (TV) markets, then the post roles are split; a video editor, colourist, sound editor and sound re-recording mixer is most common. This also applies to most other low to mid budget TV; soaps, reality shows, etc. Moving up to the higher budget soaps, dramas, docu-dramas, etc., then the roles get split even further, until you're at the high budget TV drama and low/mid/high budget theatrical level, where you've got a pic editor, assistant pic editor, colourist and an audio post team of anywhere from about 12 - 70 people in various specialist teams (Foley, ADR, hard SFX, backgrounds, etc.).

cheeseandachallenge said:
I do plan to start building toward a career as an editor. This may involve interning somewhere for a bit - I'll be looking into that.

Unless you're looking at the low/very low budget sector (corporate presentations, local TV, etc.) then interning is the most logical/likely route. The workflows, working practices and quality of work are all different between all the various levels/types of content and you'll need to be knowledgeable, proficient and skilled at the type of content you choose before you're let loose to take the responsibility of the pic/video editor. No university course can prepare you for all the different workflows/expectations and should therefore be regarded as a relatively basic intro, rather than qualifying you to walk straight into a responsible role as an editor.

Good luck!

G

cheeseandachallenge · Jun 23, 2015

Thanks for your reply, APE, incredibly helpful - gives me a better idea of what stuff I need to start looking into (and if I might need to consider moving).

And yeah, my degree has been pretty useless in terms of practical film experience (but i knew that going in, I was interested in the academic world when I began, less so now).

"All-round" post-production abilities necessary?

cheeseandachallenge

Sweetie

WalterB

gorillaonabike

cheeseandachallenge

AudioPostExpert

cheeseandachallenge