Published By: Alfaraz Laique

The emerging role of an editor in cinema

The term “movie editor" refers to people cut out coherent sequences from various frames or shots. In the early days of cinema, editing was not considered as an important job but the role of an editor has emerged a lot and it is one of the most prestigious jobs in the cinema.

The role of an editor is to build the raw footage i.e the picture, sound and music in a way that tells a story expeditiously. The editor of the film critically analyses all the individual shots and crafts them together but at the same time has an understanding for how these shots fit into the larger picture. There is a boundless number of ways of editing a film and each editor brings their distinctive style to the table.

Early days

Initially, there were no editors and no cuts. The earlier filmmakers simply photographed what  interested or amused them and used to hold a shot until they got bored or the film ran out. Edison and Lumiere brothers were pessimists about the future of cinema and one of the Lumiere Brothers, AugusteLumiere  said, "Cinema is an invention without any future.”but Edwin Porter proved him wrong by stating that cutting separate shots and weaving them together can create a story and evoke an emotional impact in the audience.

Invention of editing

The invention of editing gave birth to a new cinema language and helped films to take off. One might recognise a film because of its protagonists, directors or even cinematographers, but it is the editor that fines and refines, cuts and paste, omits and recognises every single frame of the film panning out what we refer to as a story. The notion of an editor being a "creative" team player in the process came much later in the film industry. It was after a long period of time, that editors became Director's key collaborators. Editing was even considered on being at the same pedestal as knitting or sewing and a majority of women workforce was found in the then called “cutting rooms”.

Sound & editing

The advent of sound further expanded the role of an editor. Sound is always recorded on a separate recorder and matched with the footage on the Editing table. The coming of sound made the editing more technical. In the initial days the film makers and actors faced issue in adapting to the new technology because it was a major shift from silent era to cinema with dialogues.

The editor has the most objective eye in the creative department. They are responsible for finding the perfect performance from each take and carve the story out of the shots.