Working with Editors and Animators

To be the best creative partner you can be, it’s important to understand the way creatives like to work. Whether you’re a producer or a client, understanding how editors and animators work will help you make the best use of your time and your budget. I’ve been lucky enough to work with a lot of talented film and video professionals and I know from experience that there are a few things I can do to make the creative process a bit easier. Over the next few posts, I’ll be breaking down tips for working with a variety of people in the industry, explaining how they like to work, what they wish people knew about the role they play in a film and video project, and how to make the most of their talents. To start, let’s talk about working with editors and animators. I spoke with three experienced professionals for this article and they had a LOT to share.

Tip 1: Start at the End and Work Backwards

This tip came from an editor who has worked on countless documentary projects that have been exhibited in film festivals and on television. When making decisions early in a project, it’s good to understand the far-reaching implications of your technical decisions. For short videos that will primarily be used on the web, this might involve a quick conversation with your Director of Photography and your editor. For longer projects, this might require you to assemble your production and post production teams and have in-depth conversations before you’ve even shot a frame.

Choices you make early on can greatly impact the look of your film at delivery. The technical requirements of film festivals, broadcast television, streaming platforms or the web can vary quite a bit, so it’s important to have a sense of how your program will be distributed before making a number of key decisions. If you don’t know how your film will be distributed, your team can help you develop a plan that will give you flexibility.

The complexity of changes and the time and money required to make them increase exponentially (not linearly) as the length of your project increases. Planning to “fix it in post” can end up being a budget-breaker. Take your time during pre-production to make sure you’re making the best choices you can.

Tip 2: Ask Questions and Solve Problems Before Hand-Off

The more detail you can provide as you hand the project off to an editor or animator, the better. I try to look at everything I’ve assembled for the project and identify anything that the creative might question. Do I have a style guide that I can provide upfront? If each on-camera speaker will be identified with a lower third, do I know the correct spelling of each person in the video and how they should be credited? Are the logos in a suitable format? I try to think deeply about what I’d need to know if I were the one physically putting graphics on screen or editing with the materials I’m providing and answer as many of the questions that come to mind as I can before hand-off.

When it’s time to turn the project over to your editor or animator, create a “one-stop-shop” for information about the project. This can be an email, a document or a Slack thread. I want my creative talent to spend their time on the high-level work they do best rather than sifting through emails looking for materials I may have sent them piecemeal.

It’s helpful to handle notes the same way. If a comment on a rough cut confuses me, it will likely confuse the editor or animator as well. Make sure you deeply understand the client’s notes before passing them on to your creative. If you’re receiving comments and changes from multiple reviewers, collate them into one organized list of notes for your editor or animator.

Tip 3: Provide Direction

“I don’t know exactly what I want. Just be creative.”

You might expect editors and animators to welcome this kind of creative freedom, but in reality, these words strike fear in their hearts. Regardless of how creative they are, they still need direction in order to provide a finished product and do so efficiently. One Editor/Animator I spoke with asks clients who are unsure of what they want to review samples of his previous work and point out things they do and don’t like. Not only does this help define the project, but it ensures that the style the client wants is something he can actually deliver.

A.I. can be quite helpful when you’re searching for ideas. New tools like Midjourney allow you to enter a description or even just a few keywords for inspiration and provide A.I.-generated imagery in seconds. I dream of having a big kitchen and a greenhouse someday. With a simple prompt, I received four images to contemplate. If I were building a home, I could use Midjourney to keep refining these images and then pick and choose elements to incorporate in my designs (I love that herringbone floor). You can follow the same process if looking for design ideas for a video project.

The quicker the timeline, the more targeted the direction you provide should be. If your project is heavily dependent on stock or archival footage, the producer or client should screen everything and choose what shots are to be used. Having your editor screen footage and make decisions eats up a ton of their time, and if you don’t like what they choose, you’ll need to go back through all the footage yourself anyway to find substitutions. If I think I’ll need 20 shots to fill out a video, I may provide 40 that I like and let the editor choose from there. That gives them the ability to use what works best in the cut while ensuring I get what I’m expecting.

Tip 4: Manage Changes Smartly

Theoretically, you can make any change you want at any stage in a project, but it’s important to understand that some changes will have a bigger impact on your wallet and your timeline at certain stages in the project.

I wrote about this in my last blog post , which outlines the three phases of the production process. Your editor or animator can help by pointing out creative decisions that will be more difficult to change later on. Producers and clients can also train themselves to ask questions like “When will it be too late to go back and change this?” or “When will it be most cost or time efficient to make this change?”

Editors and animators are super creative and you can rely on them to come up with ideas that you never would have thought of yourself. As a producer or client, you want your creatives to spend as much of their time as possible on work that will make your project more compelling. By discussing your distribution plans upfront, providing organized materials and notes, giving thoughtful direction and managing changes well, you can be a great partner in the creative process.

Thank you to Eric Stenmark , Christopher Campbell and Jef Huey for their input for this article.

Sue O’Hora is a writer, producer and director with over 20 years of experience. She founded Rising Night Productions to streamline the video production process for busy communications professionals. She brings her extensive network of video experts and her skills in production, project management and digital marketing to each project. Her goal is to make video projects easier for organizations of all sizes.