The Edit Center
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The Edit Center
The narrative project

Editing a fiction film is sometimes called “the final rewrite.” Using the script as a guide, the editor works with the director to craft the best possible movie from the material that was actually filmed.

While working on the fiction project, students learn how to create a seamless whole from the fragmentary shots and takes that are captured on set. This means mastering filmmaking fundamentals like screen direction and continuity, but also learning when to break those conventions in service of better storytelling. In the process of editing their own scenes, students will gain experience building believable characters from actors’ uneven performances; shaping the emotional arc of a scene through music and pacing; and finding creative solutions to story problems by cutting, rearranging, and sometimes rerecording dialog.

The documentary project

On documentary films, there is no script. The story is created in the edit room, from hundreds of hours of raw footage. The editor must wade through this ocean of material without drowning in the possibilities.

On the documentary project, we teach a tried and true system for planning and managing a documentary edit. Students learn how to watch raw footage for emotion as well as information and how to intelligently select the best moments; how to efficiently organize these “selects” by character, topic, and theme; how to work with verite material (i.e. fly-on-the-wall footage capturing a real-life scene); how to edit interviews; and how to make strong choices that will lead to a compelling final scene.