Note From Tongal: “Wanna Be a Great Editor? Become a YouTuber!” is part of a series of Tongal Community-written blog posts that were originally sourced in the Tongal Blog Open Call Project. Read more Tongal Community-written posts here and then Pitch us a topic you'd like to write about for the Tongal Blog!
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So, you want to become a great editor? Before you can do that, you must become a good editor, and before that, you must become an okay editor. And even before that, you must be a “bad” editor. In terms of the “Hollywood Standard,” a typical YouTube video is that: a bad edit. Filled to the brim with the faux pas of stringing together frames to tell a coherent story, vlogs (video blogs, if you didn’t know) are infamous for their disjunctive editing style (also called "visible editing," see video below). So, if one wants be a great editor, it can be helpful to learn the ways and mistakes of the “YouTube Editing Style.”
How A YouTube Video Flows
Editing is that magical step in post-production that really sets the tone for whatever story one is trying to tell. Sure the lights can be made to radiate red, but if a video is edited properly, the mood can be changed into a love story or even a comedy. There’s even an entire YouTube channel dedicated to the power of editing! So, what gives a vlog that specific feeling/tone/mood/proclivity (and other words I had to look up in the thesaurus)? The specific editing techniques used within the content. Which is a nice way of saying, “People upload vlogs, other people watch those vlogs and like the style, those people copy the style, and it becomes the standard.” The standard editing techniques used in most vlogs are as follows: quick cuts (or jump cuts), inserts, match on action, overlapping dialogue, and sound bridges.
Quick Cuts (Jump Cuts)
Quick cuts are exactly what they sound like; it’s when the editor cuts two separate clips together with absolutely no transition between the two shots. This creates a very noticeable change -- lighting might be different, position of the subject could be off, or any other number of inconsistencies between the two frames. In Hollywood, quick cuts are the bane of the industry and could mean an immediate firing of an editor. Luckily though, the rules are different on the internet. Jump cuts aren’t deemed undesirable by vloggers of any kind, and in fact can be found in most videos online. They keep the visuals interesting as the story is being told by one person without the need for a jarring transition (try to imagine watching a storytime video with 10 fade outs). Another reason the jump cut is so handy for a vlog style video is due to the ability to remove any filler words such as “um,” “like,” or “uhh.” This enables smoother storytelling throughout the video.
Inserts
An insert is defined as a brief shot filmed separately from a scene and inserted during editing (see below for an example). Usually it points out details significant to the action. In other words, it’s the shot the editor will jump to in between the subject telling a story. These shots are necessary for a vlogger to keep the visuals interesting enough to retain the audience’s attention. As an editor, learning the right time to include inserts will give you the advantage of knowing when to embellish a story, and when to let frames be still (a.k.a. not cutting away from the subject and allowing for dead space).
Match on Action
This one is probably the most useful (and satisfying) trick of the trade. Match on action is when a cut happens between two shots featuring a similar visual action. For example, if the character opens a door, the next shot depicts that character from inside the door frame. If one is hoping to make a career out of editing, this is definitely important to know. Hollywood standard typically has multiple camera angles, sometimes simultaneously, and knowing exactly when to cut between those angles and shots is something that will take practice and timing. So, learn from the pros!
Sound
As stated before, a typical vlog only has one subject telling the story. To keep the audience’s attention, auditory stimulation needs to be at max capacity. Now, that doesn’t mean bass boost every word, but there is a need for overlapping dialogue and sound bridges throughout the video. If the subject is introducing an insert, there might be a need for an overlapping of their dialogue (“This reminds me of that time in third grade when...”) with the dialogue of the actual insert (“Mrs. Teacher, I think I peed my pants!”). For editors everywhere, this skill is crucial for any film! Even if it’s silent, editors typically work with six tracks of sound (Master, Room Tone, Special Effects, Foley, Voice(s), Soundtrack). Learning when and how much to mute one track versus the other is important in balancing the scene and, quite literally, making sure every voice is heard properly. Along with all of that, sound bridges (like the example above) help transition one scene to the next. It’ll also help the flow of the story continue without jarring the audience with too much audio.
