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Editor Wanted

J

jer446

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Dec 28, 2004
826
0
Hello,

I am helping a friend who is in need of an editor. He is looking to have his short film edited, which will be approximately 15 minutes long. He filmed on a canon 7d and has already synced up the audio. The film is about 75% shot, and he is realizing that he would be better off hiring a professional editor rather than doing it himself. Can you suggest a better place to search for an editor? Also, what are the rates an editor typically charges?

Thanks
 
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thank you. I had him go there. Do you know of a place I can do some research on how to hire an editor? ie. Questions to ask them, what is a fair rate and pay structure etc.?
 
Check over at DVXuser as well. There are a lot of indie people over there so you might have more luck than at Creative COW (i.e. possibly people willing to work for less). There is always Craigs list as well.

As far as rates go, somewhere between free and $200/hr depending on location, experience, gear, whether or not they really like the project, etc.,.


Lethal
 
You can post to BethsJobList dot com They only accept editors with fairly good resumes.
Also, once you start getting editor's names, be sure to check them out on IMDB dot com (also call their references). Not a bad idea to view a film they have edited (not just scenes).
In your job post, be sure to state your job location, Avid or Final Cut Pro (most people have their own software these days for small projects).
Depending on the project/script you can get a deal on an available editor. But remember you get what you pay for and you want someone really interested.
Lastly, not bad to have an editor that was/is an assistant editor or post super so that all the set-up and any final elements are created properly.
 
LethalWolfe said:
Check over at DVXuser as well. There are a lot of indie people over there so you might have more luck than at Creative COW (i.e. possibly people willing to work for less). There is always Craigs list as well.

As far as rates go, somewhere between free and $200/hr depending on location, experience, gear, whether or not they really like the project, etc.,.


Lethal
Click to expand...

I kind of disagree with this. Most editors that demand $200/hr are in demand and not looking on craigslist for work. I find the caliber people on there are usually free - $60/hr.
 
WRP said:
I kind of disagree with this. Most editors that demand $200/hr are in demand and not looking on craigslist for work. I find the caliber people on there are usually free - $60/hr.
Click to expand...
I didn't mean to imply those types of editors would be on craigslist. The OP asked two separate questions (where and how much) and I gave two separate answers.

If he would've asked how much can I find an editor on craigslist for I would've said between $0-$10/hr. :D



I'll also ad, OP, expect to be able to show some of the footage and to 'sell' the film to the editor. The editor is most likely going to be interviewing you as much as you are interviewing him.


Lethal
 
Thanks everyone. I will also try the other site to search for an editor. Since they would be working remotely, what is a good method for sharing the huge video files back and forth?
 
Sharing huge video files back and forth is not ideal. You should Fedex the editor a drive and he can upload compressed rough cuts to a site like vimeo and password protect it (if they don't have their own site with viewing pages). A 30 minute film will have hours of footage. That's too much to share across the web of 7D footage.

If the editor is working with FCP he will want to transcode it to prores. Since you are paying him hourly you may want to do this first and send him what format he wants to work in. Same goes for Windows but it won't be prores. Just so you see the size of 1-minute of 1080p24 footage in the different prores codecs:

ProRes 4444 (with alpha) - 1.42GB
ProRes 422 (HQ) - 1GB
ProRes 422 - 644.5MB
ProRes 422 (LT) - 437.6MB
ProRes 422 (proxy) 212.1MB

Can't tell you how much I love transcoding someones h264 for days and double dipping with another client in the meantime. ;)
 
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WRP said:
Sharing huge video files back and forth is not ideal. You should Fedex the editor a drive and he can upload compressed rough cuts to a site like vimeo and password protect it (if they don't have their own site with viewing pages).
Click to expand...
Another option, if the editor and director have the same editing software, is to ship a drive w/footage to the editor and then just email project files back and fourth.

Since you are paying him hourly you may want to do this first and send him what format he wants to work in.
Click to expand...
I doubt the editor is going to getting paid hourly. This seems more like a 'Hey, I've got a short film and $150. Do want to edit it for me?" type deal.


Lethal
 
Hopefully we can figure out what to do with the files. What is the best way to pay whoever we wind up hiring? 25% in the beginning and 75% upon completion, paying with paypal?
 
I'm editing an independent film shot on 5D right now. It's feature length (about two hours) and the original footage is about 500GB, so they gave me a 1TB Western Digital My Passport USB 3.0 drive with all the raw footage and poly wav sound files. You can get those at Costco for under $100. I was paid 50% when I started working on it, and get the last 50% when it's done.
 
Not sure how I would do it in this situation. I work for reputable companies so I do the work and invoice them upon completion or by the week. They have net30 to pay me.

For this, since it will probably be drawn out and since it will be a "this is what you are getting paid for the project type deal", I would make him sign something so he doesn't take your money and bail and pay him half up front.

If you do paypal remember that you should be eating the fees and not him.
 
I would agree with WRP there. Don't do like my buddies are doing with me... I've not signed a thing. Fortunately for them, it's not our first project together, and they know I won't bail on them.

I'm just glad they're patient enough to deal with me running my business while I work on their film, but on the other hand, some of their mistakes I'm dealing with are driving me mad, so patience is flowing all around us. :p
 
To save money just reshoot the entire movie.
One take... change film stock (err, hit record) every 12 minutes.

Editors have a higher suicide rate than suicidal people.
Best to remove oneself from any potential liability.
 
You gotta love when you have to cut takes that go from direct sunlight to straight up rain. In some cases, a re-shoot would make a world of difference.

Honestly, why even roll the camera sometimes? :( I know stuff happens, and schedules are tight, but assuming I can fix ANYthing in post is crazy, even if flattering. :p

You've all been there, I know.
 
jer446 said:
Thanks everyone. I will also try the other site to search for an editor. Since they would be working remotely, what is a good method for sharing the huge video files back and forth?
Click to expand...

It's tough....I worked with a New Zealand based band a while back...Express Air mail, good BB speeds and a lot of long distance phone calls, but we got a good product in the end.

Ideally you really do want someone local.
 
wonderspark said:
You gotta love when you have to cut takes that go from direct sunlight to straight up rain. In some cases, a re-shoot would make a world of difference.

Honestly, why even roll the camera sometimes? :( I know stuff happens, and schedules are tight, but assuming I can fix ANYthing in post is crazy, even if flattering. :p

You've all been there, I know.
Click to expand...

Set up for a quick studio interview shoot for a friend a little while back. They wanted a black back drop with some up lights.

Get into post and they decide they dont like the uplights. (they were at the shoots and had a program feed).

Anyways a day of editing and 72 hours of after effects work/rendering later it was fixed.
 
wonderspark said:
You gotta love when you have to cut takes that go from direct sunlight to straight up rain. In some cases, a re-shoot would make a world of difference.

Honestly, why even roll the camera sometimes? :( I know stuff happens, and schedules are tight, but assuming I can fix ANYthing in post is crazy, even if flattering. :p

You've all been there, I know.
Click to expand...

Was doing a game show style series last year.

The host did his script read to the contestants with the cards way off screen. Then he did a read directly to camera pretending to turn his head back and forth to the contestants. I needed the direct to camera a lot as it was the only closeup on the host and usually a better read.

One time it was sunny and he was wearing sunglasses in the wide and didn't have them on in the closeup. Another time his jacket went from buttoned to unbuttoned. And a third episode it started sprinkling and you could see it in the tight but not the wide.

I just threw up my hands and had to ask myself why the hell the director and line producer were getting paid.
 
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