My daughter is making a documentary. A documentary. With which I am not allowed to help. She is twelve.
As I watch her pick up iMovie effortlessly (or so it seems), it's hard
not to wonder what we professional editors are going to do when all the
twelve year olds become iMovie whizzes--and beyond. And yet, as I have been watching
her, I have also been reminded that editing is not just about knowing a
program. I try not to jump in, but sometimes, I just "feel" what should
come next. I just "feel" that a shot should be shorter or longer, or
that a cut should be a dissolve, or that a moment would be more powerful
if it played out for just a few more frames.
For, you see, while you have to have the tools to edit, and know them
well enough to use them to tell your story, and troubleshoot when
there's no professional troubleshooter around, being an editor is about
more than just the tools. It's about telling a story. A story that will
move people because of how you put it together. A story that is made up
up of all those choices you made because you "felt."
And no matter how many twelve year olds become iMovie whizzes (and my
daughter may be one of them), there will always be a place for people
who know how to tell a good story in pictures--with feeling.
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