A Guide to Great Editing for Your DVX100 Digital Movie
by Barry Kaplan

As a DVX100 filmmaker, it’s obvious that you’d want the best looking project possible, especially shooting in mini-dv format. After all, it’s your reputation and professionalism on the line. So, to make sure that you get the most out of your movie production, you have to look at it from all standpoints. This means that you have to give some thought not only to your pre-production and production, but your post-production as well…especially when it comes to your editing.

If your edit is bad, not only will you lose your audience, but you’ll lose the content of your project as well, because the viewers will be concentrating more on how badly it looks rather than the message you’re trying to get across. Not to mention ruining the possibility of getting more clients/investors for your next digital film production!

Don't forget that even if your movie production shoot went extremely well with your DVX 100 and you got all the coverage and shots you needed and even if your images look ready for the festivals, one thing left that can ruin it for the audience is the editing, pacing and timing of the project.

Editing is storytelling.

It’s like you’re at a party trying to tell a joke to a whole bunch of people. Everyone is gathered around you, listening to your every word and watching your every movement. BUT…if you don’t tell the joke correctly and without proper timing, you start losing the attention of the people listening and most importantly, the punch line loses its climactic ending and the whole joke goes bust.

Same thing happens when editing a project.

So as an independent digital film maker, you must be aware that the way you piece together the shots to your visual puzzle are the last touches that you put on your project before completion.

Coming from an editor’s standpoint, I’ve noticed that those who have a good sense of musical rhythm and can keep a beat make better editors. This is only because they already have a feel for timing and pacing. So, if you run into some difficulty piecing together a video production, then you might want to ask the help of someone you know that has a good sense of rhythm. Hey, it couldn’t hurt.

Again, with all that said…this isn't something that is set in stone - take it for what it’s worth and then make your own decisions. That’s the beauty of being a complete DVX100 filmmaker. You have the ability to control your own vision.