10 Creative Editing Techniques for Video Editors

Modern technology has come up with the latest video editing software and digitization of sound and pictures. As an editor, work is now reduced, but the skill needed is top-notch. Good editing can help a story move at a good pace fitting the narrative and instituting a suitable engagement with its viewers. Here are some creative editing skills you may need as a video editor.

Cutting on action

Cutting on the action is an editing technique where an editor cuts from one shot to another view that counterparts the first shot’s action. It is a typical way to make cuts between two various shots to appear invisible.

For instance, you can use video editing software to edit a person rambling down a lobby. When reaching for a door to open, you cut directly to the next room for the audience to see the entry opening and the person walking in.

Cutting to Music or Sound Effects

Video editing entails more than images. You will need to be keen on sounds and music details. Effective editing requires skills with the cuts that are synchronized with music rhythms or other sound prompts.

Editing software can make it easy to sync a cut to a musical note. You can also edit a sound effect by exhibiting your sound’s waveforms to an implausible level of detail. If you are looking for an exact bit of sound, zooming in on your waveform to an unmatched level is imperative.

Cross-Cutting or Parallel Editing

Cross-cutting skill entails being able to cut back and forth between occurrences. Here, you can show the viewer’s events that are happening concurrently. For instance, when a heist is going on in a bank or a hostage situation, cops are catching up to mitigate the issue. Parallel editing will also cover similar actions happening at different times.

Besides setting up both events to appear back and forth, you can employ enhanced skills such as split screens. A good editor will use appropriate timing to ratchet up tension or enhance comedic release.

Insert shots and cutaways

A cutaway shot entails a continuously filmed action getting interrupted by a view of something else. Here the editor receives an opportunity to show relationships between one shot and the other.

Cutaways, as the name suggests, implies drawing away from the main action to an insert or another object of concentration, such as an oncoming car. You can use this technique to arouse emotions as you connect different sections of clips.

Montage

This is a technique you can use to indicate time passing or the progress of a story element. You can use a quick or slow pace, adding short cuts or slow dissolves. Montage can be covered by music or sound cues. It is the best way to cover a lot of time fast. Its use should be limited and subject to detailed creativity.

Jump cut

A jump cut is a cut in video editing skill where a lone continuous sequential shot of a subject is fragmented into two parts. One piece of the footage gets removed to pave the way to the effect of jumping forward in time. This cutting technique is used within the same frames repeatedly. The technique is used primarily within montages.

Fade in/out

A fade is when the extract gradually turns to black or white color. Also, it can involve a scene appearing progressively on the screen. Fade-in can be set at the beginning of a film or stage as fed-outs are at the end. With this skill, you can fade out one clip and fade in the next one. A good editor can use fade in/out to portray the passage of time, such as a night-to-day switch.

Dissolves

A dissolve joins two shots by progressively transitioning from one to the other. You can use dissolves at the end of one scene or the beginning of the next. This skill helps show how two stories or scenes are linked. Use this skill when showing movement from one place to another or the passage of time.

Match dissolve is a more advanced form of dissolve. Here, an equally-shaped object will dissolve into another.

Smash cut

The smash cut makes loud scenes transition to quiet ones and vice versa. You can use this technique to transition between two different acts, accounts, or feelings.

Standard cut

The standard cut is also referred to as a hard cut. It is a raw cut of video editing where two clips are put together. The standard cut attaches the previous frame of one and the opening frame of the next. A proactive approach and willingness to start video editing are essential for a career in this diverse industry. Also, keep up to date with technology and new equipment.