Video editing: The visual cut

[dhilipkumar]

VIDEO EDITING has become an inseparable part of today's media and entertainment industry and hence the increased demand for video editors. The secret behind making art aesthetically appealing lies in the techniques of editing. Video editing, which is a significant part of the post-production process involves rearranging, modifying, adding or deleting segments of videos to produce a polished and final video.

Functioning of video editing has become more efficient and works of video editors have become comfortable, faster and time savvy with the advent of non-linear editing or the digital video editing, contrary to the conventional and arduous linear methods of editing. The video editor who edits sound tracks, films and videos does it onscreen with professional editing software's like The Final Cut Pro, Avid's Media Composer, Adobe Premiere, Xpress Pro, etc. These software's enables capturing of video and audio from any USB or fire wire input device, editing the video and audio components, combining them with transitions and special effects, syncing the audio and video clips, removing unwanted footage, adding sub titles, enhancing and exporting videos, etc to come up with the desired video.

EligibilityPeople who are interested in taking up editing as a career option do not require any mandatory degree in editing. He can be from any stream but the ultimate need lies in training oneself thoroughly with the editing techniques before he enters the professional world and his obvious flair for video editing. The editors are expected to devote a lot of time and hardwork to solve the intricacies of videos and making them worth producible before the audience.

However some may also have a bachelors or a master's degree before entering this profession. Several reputed institutes in India offer courses to students who want to specialise in the visual media. "We offer a two years full-time post-graduate course and it gives equal weight age to both the theoretical and practical aspects of video editing. The students are trained thoroughly and are ready to be absorbed by big media houses at the end of the course", says the spokesperson of AJK Mass Communication Research Centre. Creativity is the soul of this profession and one needs to cross-check his/her creative skills before taking up editing. Keeping oneself abreast of the latest technical editing techniques are of utmost importance. Needless to say the editors need enormous patience to master this profession.

Job prospectsFrom production houses to media houses, the news channels, television serials, film studios, big film companies, etc, editors are in demand everywhere. And nowadays working over the web is very much prevalent and so the dominance of editors even in the web media. It is the editor who refines the video and makes it consumable for the public. With the advent of technology, online editing has gained immense importance. Reality shows, live matches, spot reporting, game shows, etc all require the proficient working of online editing and hence the increased popularity of online editors. This is a highly competitive field with a large scope for employment opportunities specially in India.

Apart from that, people interested in having something of their own can even set up their own editing studios as per his/her choice. "Knowledge of editing skills and its efficient practical applications is the key to a successful video editor. We at our institute provide placement assistance and we are glad that our students have been placed in several reputed production houses and news channels. The job opportunities in this field are showing an upward graph with each passing day", says Anindya, IT manager of the International Institute of Mass media, New Delhi. When asked whether any kind of indiscrepencies in terms of gender bias exists in this field, he adds quickly, "There is nothing called gender bias at least in this profession, expertise and technicality is the ultimate requirement. But we see that generally the numbers of male video editors are greater than females. But recently a number of editing schools are coming up mainly for women, so we hope to see a lot of female video editors in future."

Remuneration:

Initially, an editor gets anywhere from Rs7000 to Rs10,000 per month. With some years of experience and perfection one can expect a high package of anywhere between Rs 40,000 and Rs 75,000 per month. Respect and honour are an addition to that!

The video editors these days also have the opportunity for freelancing. That is (s)he will be paid by the firm depending on his / her working hours as per the rates of the firm (s)he is working with. Also (s)he can be a full time editor and can free lance for other firms depending on his time availability.

But it is his full time working company which should be his priority. And sometimes working as editors over the internet can be truly lucrative.
Institutes offering specialised courses in video editing (in India)

# Film And Television Institute of India, Pune.
# Satyajit Ray Film And Television Institute (SRFTI), Kolkata
# Mass Communication Research Centre (Jamia Milia Islamia University)
# International Institute of Mass Media, New Delhi
# EMPI Institute of Advertising & Communication, New Delhi
# YMCA Centre for Mass Media, New Delhi
# South Delhi Polytechnic for Women
# Diya Chaurasia
# IIMC, Dhenkanal