In this clip, the editors remember the intense pace of work associated with editing in independent production houses. 48-hour shifts and working overnight were not unusual, while the feverish environment of Soho often mixed work and social life.
Television editors almost never work independently: their work is informed by negotiations with producers and directors, and often directly instructed by broadcasters and production companies. In this clip, the editors discuss how they worked to refine and alter programmes to suit competing requirements.
The editors discuss – with a degree of horror – how changes in digital technology have enabled technologies of centralisation, hot-desking, and multi-skilling. In their view, these developments risk diminishing the importance of the skilled work performed by video editors.
Finally, the editors conclude that having developed an almost innate familiarity with they equipment, they can go back to working with it almost ‘within an hour’ if necessary.
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These clips are drawn from a longer group discussion between a group of videotape editors, graphic designers, and Avid editors.
Explore more videos from this collection on the project’s Figshare space, or browse the same content on our YouTube channel.