What if I told you that six figure editors don't waste time practicing flashy effects or transitions?
They practice one boring exercise that no one talks about. I've been cutting broadcast TV commercials for over twenty years,
and this one exercise helped me hit six figures
pretty soon after I started using it. So in this video, I'll show you exactly what it is so you can use it to become a six figure editor faster than I did. First, I'll show you why focusing on flashy techniques is actually keeping you stuck under six figures. Think of editing practice like nutrition. The exciting stuff, new software, new plug ins, fancy transitions,
that's all junk food. It feels productive. It tastes good, but it's not what's going to make you a stronger editor. The protein and vegetables,
the boring stuff that actually builds the skills that the best clients pay for is what no one wants to do. For years, I ate nothing but junk food. I obsessed over software, chased every new plug in, and I even went down a rabbit hole learning color grading,
which hot take is not editing. And it cost me years of working on low paying projects before I figured out the real answer. Then I stumbled on a book by legendary editor Walter Murch called In the Blink of an Eye, and inside was one boring exercise that launched my broadcast editing career. Now I'll show you exactly how it works.
I've placed three shots in my timeline in an order I think they should go in. I haven't trimmed them down yet. These are the full takes
from when the director calls action to when the director calls cut. But before I start, there's one thing I want you to do that makes this exercise work on a completely different level. Ask yourself this question. For this particular group of shots,
what do I want the audience to feel?
Then write that down. The footage I have here is a public service announcement I edited with Matthew McConaughey, and it's for school safety.
What I want the audience to feel in this section is empathy.
Now the work we're about to do has a guide, a north star. So let's start the exercise.
First, we wanna find our endpoint
of the first shot.
So I'm gonna play it from the beginning. I'm gonna watch the whole thing once, then I'm gonna play it again. But this time, I'm gonna press stop or the space bar the moment I feel in my gut that the shot should begin.
Let's watch the full shot all the way through.
Now I'm gonna play it again, but this time I'm going to press the space bar when my gut says we should enter the shot.
We'll see the time code here is 1000119.
Let's try again.
01000118.
I'm still in the ballpark one frame earlier than my initial
selection.
Let's try again.
Alright. Zero one zero zero zero one one
nine. For me, that's the same frame. So I'm gonna set that as the endpoint
because my gut chose the same frame two times in a row. Now to step two. So we're gonna play from our new end point, but this time we press stop when we feel like in our gut the shot should end. Again, we're gonna write down the frame, and then we're gonna go again from the beginning until we start landing on the same exact frame because that signals that there's something going on there that feels right with the cut.
For me, that was 0100O321.
01000320,
so just one frame off.
And then we got 0100O320
again. So I'm gonna make this my out point. And now we continue this process with the next shot starting from the beginning of your timeline, but this time finding the end point of the second shot, then the out, then the in, then the out. And before each cut, remind yourself of the target emotion you're aiming for. Let that guide your instincts. And here's what happens when you practice this every day. Over time, you start to feel when to make an edit, not just technically,
but in your gut. So you start to edit with intention,
especially when you have that target emotion
driving every cut. And that's exactly what high end clients are paying for. Because high end editing jobs, they're not paying for new plug ins or software or effects or even color grading. They're usually hiring a colorist for that. They pay you for your editing intuition
and your ability to make an audience feel something, and that's exactly what this exercise builds. And if you wanna practice this on high end editing projects that you can add straight to your own showreel,
click the link in the description to check out my editing program. But there's another way to practice this exercise that will help you build your new editorial instincts 10 times faster.
If you've ever played a musical instrument, you probably started by learning songs you loved, copying the greats note for note. And that's exactly how you internalize
the vocabulary of a craft. And when you're just starting out, it's really key. So we're going to use the same exercise,
but this time on a scene
cut by one of the greats. So grab a scene from one of your favorite films and place it in your editing timeline.
Here, I have a scene from Christopher Nolan's Interstellar,
which was edited by one of my favorite editors, Lee Smith.
Now we can't find the in and out points of the rock cliffs because it's already been edited. So instead, I want you to press stop when you feel like there should be a cut. Let me start with the first shot.
I hear your meeting at the school didn't go so well.
For me, it was here at 07:08.
Now I want you to start again, but this time simply watch to see where the editor cut and compare yours to theirs. Were you close? Were you far off? It's just something to take note of. Then I want you to start again, but this time try to stop the playhead on the exact frame that the editor cut and keep going until you nail it.
I hear your meeting at the school didn't go so well.
You heard? Then repeat the process with the next cut until you make it through the entire scene. By doing this exercise, you're internalizing
what great editing feels like. And just like with a musical instrument,
soon you'll be playing your own original music,
making your own original edits instead of just learning the solos from the greats note for note. If you wanna build your editing instincts on high end projects with direct feedback from me, click the link in the description to check out my editing program. This exercise is the boring work that most editors skip, and it's exactly why most editors stay stuck below six figures. But even if you work on this exercise, there's still a major hurdle that can keep you overworked and underpaid. So watch this video next to learn what it is and how to fix it. Happy editing.