Art of the Cut

Chapter 2Approach to a Scene

Even for experienced editors, one of the most difficult aspects of the edit is simply starting a new scene. The process has to start by watching dailies, but many editors even have different approaches for doing that. Experienced editors approach something that seems so simple and basic with a number of techniques that are designed for either maximizing the “harvest” of good moments, for speeding the process when time is of the essence or for simply handling a monumental amount of footage without becoming overwhelmed and paralyzed by choices.

After screening dailies—or sometimes intertwined with it—the methods for starting the edit are almost as numerous as the editors who discussed the issue. Some have learned techniques ...