Putting Everything Together

Although the main characters are often given the credit for the quality of a movie or TV show, it's the post-production editing that pulls together everything and defines the story. Without editing, there would be no sound effects, special effects, color changes, or animations inserted in to the production. If we think about all these things many of them are in fact what makes the final product make sense and so entertaining.

When considering the the merits of editing animated movies are a very good example. If you think about all the things that go into editing an animated film or TV show, it is a long and complicated process. Since animated shows don't have human actors you need to create voices for all the characters to go along with their animated bodies. That's beside the fact that with animation you need to create each character, every background, and all the scenes that go into your story because there are no real life backgrounds to use. Additionally, all the sound effects, color changes and graphics must be added to these animated shows and movies. Virtually, every aspect of animation uses post-production editing to create their final product.

Editing helps show what the video camera, actors and director cannot. Before going into the post-production editing stage it's necessary to shoot enough video so that after editing there is enough time in the movie or show left to fill in the allotted or target time. Although, editing tools are generally fairly easy to understand and execute, it takes an experienced editor to not just edit but create a story through the whole process.

In the end, editing can take an average movie and make it great or take fantastic filming and make it terrible. The purpose of good editing is to make the movie flow smoothly as if no one ever interfered. Poor editing is so noticeable because it steals your attention from the movie or show and focuses it on the production quality. That's why editing is possibly the most important part of the entire film production process.  


Daily Questions to Ponder:

1) Is editing more important to some movie genres than others?

2) When does editing start to decrease the overall product of a film or show?