Film Editing School
The editor of a movie is an essential member of the production crew and they make it look easy. However, it’s a highly prized skill and an art. To get into this career, a place at a Film Editing School is the best launching pad. There are several to choose from and they offer a mixture of hands on experience and theory. A good school can lead to an interesting career in the movies and in television.
For a short course, there is the Edit Center, which supplies a 6-Week Art of Editing course. There are classroom and practical sessions with the opportunity to cut films alongside professional directors. One of the tutors who has worked at this Film Editing School is actor / director Ethan Hawke. The end of class project provides the student with a credit and a reel of scenes, to show prospective employers. Shorter intensive courses are also available.
The Burbank Media District is the location for the Video Symphony Film Editing School. The courses are delivered by experienced people in the industry, using the state of the art Avid equipment. This make of equipment is used in the majority of movies and TV shows. The school also re-trains professional editors in Digital Editing. Courses here include Postproduction Marketplace and Job Essentials, Introduction to Photoshop and Narrative Long-form Editing.
New York University offers a Film Video and Broadcasting Certificate with the focus on film editing. Students learn a range of skills, including assembling and editing footage and the use of music and sound effects, graphics and voice-overs. Students also learn how to use software packages, such as Final Cut Pro and Avid Media Composer.
New York City also has the New York Film Academy School of Film and Acting, which has one and two year courses on many subjects, including film editing. These are practical based courses. The Academy also has departments at the Universal Studios in Los Angeles, Disney MGM at Florida, Harvard University in Massachusetts, London, Paris, Florence and Abu Dhabi.
The Temple University in Philadelphia has a Film Department with a Film Editing course on its curriculum. Students study advanced film and video editing techniques for Documentary Editing and Fiction Editing. Courses at this Film Editing School cover theory and the use of equipment.
London Film School has an MA Filmmaking Course which incorporates all the major studio skills, including editing, along with screenwriting, cinematography, and directing. The course is taught in workshop environments. For those students wanting to specialize in a specific field, such as editing, there is advanced tuition. The Head of the Editing department is Jaime Estrada-Torres, who has worked on projects with directors, Tim Burton, Werner Herzog, Nick Broomfield and Mike Figgis. The school is the oldest of its kind in the world and it produces award winning graduates. Former student at the school, director Mike Leigh, is the Chairman. Other notable alumni include Michael Mann, and Danny Huston.