We can wax philosophical about how editing is the one art form truly new to cinema (writing, acting, and photography exist in other forms), or that it works in the mind of the viewer via the juxtaposition (or collision!) of images, or that “editor” is actually a misnomer since “editing” is the least important thing we do (should it be assembler? montage-ist?) .

All of that is absolutely true, yet beside the point.

What’s important is that an editor is one of the primary storytellers involved in film and television production. That doesn’t mean we do our work without direction or without taking notes— even a lead actor usually doesn’t do that. But it does mean that the adage is true: there’s the film you write, the film you direct, and the film you edit. The one that is edited is the final one, after the script has become footage and the footage has become scenes— and those scenes made right through re-editing.

Our approach as editors is always story and intention first. Another way to say it is emotion, what should the viewer be feeling? It’s amazing what timing, ordering, take selection, subtraction or addition of dialog, music and sound design, visual and motion effects, and scene ordering and flow can really do to turn a pile of footage into a completed work.