Whats the editing process like for you

[Menthol_spirits]

Do you guys already have an idea of what the edits gonna look like in your head or do you figure it out along the way. Do you edit to the song. Do you already know where b roll is gonna be in it. A slam before the land, slo-mos, speed ups, using 2 angles. Do you ever have to scrap the whole thing and start over?

[suckmadeck]

Do you guys already have an idea of what the edits gonna look like in your head or do you figure it out along the way. Do you edit to the song. Do you already know where b roll is gonna be in it. A slam before the land, slo-mos, speed ups, using 2 angles. Do you ever have to scrap the whole thing and start over?

It's always best to have an idea of what the edit should look like before hand. Even if you haven't got a song in mind or anything like that. Never mind thinking like a director, thinking like an editor imo is far more important. Making sure you get enough coverage of the area for b-roll, experimenting with different angles and shit like that. Even when it come to sorting footage on the camera before import. Some people drag the whole card in, I like to go through and see what I have and what I can get rid of. Probably not a great move but it works for me.

I often will let the music dictate how an edit will go. If the song fits, I get to work. If I already have a song in mind I'll have that in the back of my head whilst shooting, thinking what angles and what is happening around me that might add something to the video at a certain point. If it's a planned out edit, knowing what tricks are gonna go down and where they'll be filmed, I'll plan things out. If it's just a small thing with some friends, I'm far more lax and just have fun with it.

[yungthug]

Rough workflow for me is:

1. Get all the clips you think you're going to work with in a rough timeline for the project, as well as the b-roll/artsy shots. They're generally separate and in an 80/20 or 70/30 ratio. All of the skating clips followed by all of the b-roll on one timeline so you have a "bird's-eye" view of what you are working with.

2. You watch all of it a couple of times and aggressively pare down sub-par footage, weak angles, "slow" footage, sketchy stuff, etc that on further reflection doesn't work. You can always put stuff back in if you really think you need to, but the further you get into an edit the less inclined you'll be to take stuff out.

3. You start moving stuff around into an order that makes sense (into montages, sections, parts, etc) and start highlighting certain tricks by slow moing clips, putting in roll-up/ride away shots, second angles, etc. Putting in "openers" and "enders" on the sections.

While you're doing steps 1 through 3 you should be periodically throwing on random songs and watching to get a feel for what direction you want to go in musically. A willingness to experiment goes a long way here I think.  Different genres, time periods, moods, etc. When I'm editing, I'll also listen to music on youtube at night to try and discover new songs or sounds that I think would go with what I'm making.

4. This is where the music comes in. I generally let time requirements/constraints in each "section" dictate the music and not the other way around.

Example: I'm making a 3 and a half minute throwaway montage, so I'll look for songs that are around 3 and a half minutes in length and see what I can use that meets that parameter.

Helps "box you in" to narrow song choices down. But if you are married to a song choice that doesn't work for the time limits of what you're trying to do, you can always fade a song in/out. I try to avoid it though.

5. Then comes the tedious work of editing everything to the beat, nailing transitions, moving things around, trimming or slightly expanding things, adding/removing clips or angles. Edit, edit, edit. Watch it all the way through several times and makes sure there are no errors or mis-timed moments/awkward or slow-feeling moments. Get a second set of eyes on it. Gather limited feedback from people you trust. Use that feedback.

6. Repeat step 5. 

Curious to hear how other people approach the editing process! I'm sure there are many pathways to success.

[ArnoCartable]

Rough workflow for me is:

1. Get all the clips you think you're going to work with in a rough timeline for the project, as well as the b-roll/artsy shots. They're generally separate and in an 80/20 or 70/30 ratio. All of the skating clips followed by all of the b-roll on one timeline so you have a "bird's-eye" view of what you are working with.

2. You watch all of it a couple of times and aggressively pare down sub-par footage, weak angles, "slow" footage, sketchy stuff, etc that on further reflection doesn't work. You can always put stuff back in if you really think you need to, but the further you get into an edit the less inclined you'll be to take stuff out.

3. You start moving stuff around into an order that makes sense (into montages, sections, parts, etc) and start highlighting certain tricks by slow moing clips, putting in roll-up/ride away shots, second angles, etc. Putting in "openers" and "enders" on the sections.

While you're doing steps 1 through 3 you should be periodically throwing on random songs and watching to get a feel for what direction you want to go in musically. A willingness to experiment goes a long way here I think.  Different genres, time periods, moods, etc. When I'm editing, I'll also listen to music on youtube at night to try and discover new songs or sounds that I think would go with what I'm making.

4. This is where the music comes in. I generally let time requirements/constraints in each "section" dictate the music and not the other way around.

Example: I'm making a 3 and a half minute throwaway montage, so I'll look for songs that are around 3 and a half minutes in length and see what I can use that meets that parameter.

Helps "box you in" to narrow song choices down. But if you are married to a song choice that doesn't work for the time limits of what you're trying to do, you can always fade a song in/out. I try to avoid it though.

5. Then comes the tedious work of editing everything to the beat, nailing transitions, moving things around, trimming or slightly expanding things, adding/removing clips or angles. Edit, edit, edit. Watch it all the way through several times and makes sure there are no errors or mis-timed moments/awkward or slow-feeling moments. Get a second set of eyes on it. Gather limited feedback from people you trust. Use that feedback.

6. Repeat step 5. 

Curious to hear how other people approach the editing process! I'm sure there are many pathways to success.

Thank you for your very interesting post.

Usually I'm on the "editing to the music" team but if I want to give a clip more importance than to the others the music become the support of the clip.
And for me have a "vibe" in mind before starting the editing process is quite important. It can help me choose clips/musics/aesthetic ... With that I select a few songs/musics and see wich will fits or not. With these songs creating a loose structure I try to put together sequences that I like with the clips I have and then with the structure song+sequences I edit more precisely. And then it's kind of a try and repeat game in wich I try to edit a part then watch the part I edited before to see if it still please me.
Then as Yungthug said I show what I did to someone I trust and know won't be afraid to tell me if it's shitty.

And don't post it until you are fully satisfied with your work unless you will regret it.
 
(sorry if I made mistakes, English is not my mother tongue)