THE ART OF FILM EDITING: SIX-WEEK COURSE

The six-week class is ideal for anyone who wants to gain in-depth insight into the creative process of post-production. The course is designed for aspiring editors, of course, but also directors, producers, musicians, post-production supervisors, cinematographers, and anyone else who wants an intensive, hands-on training in film editing.

The first week of the class is dedicated to Final Cut Pro training and instruction in the basic techniques of film editing. Students work on scenes from two independent films, Tully (2003 Independent Spirit Award Nominee, Best Feature & Best Screenplay) and You Belong to Me (Frameline, Outfest 2007), alternating editing time with technical and aesthetic lectures.

After the first week, students begin working on their class project, a full-length narrative film or feature documentary. Each student is given a separate scene from the movie and has five hours a day on their own top-of-the-line editing system to work on it. The teachers move from station to station, consulting individually with each student to help them tackle the technical and aesthetic challenges of their scene. This personal attention from experienced editors is the cornerstone of the Edit Center curriculum. Our top-notch instructors are available all day, every day to address their students' needs. Our teachers' credits include The Squid and the Whale, Garden State, Forty Shades of Blue, Sicko and The Big One, plus many other films and television shows, and the format of the class allows them to spend each day working one on one with their students.

In addition to working with the teachers, each student also receives feedback from the filmmakers on the project, and everyone works together to assemble a rough cut of the film. Movies edited this way at the Edit Center include Great World of Sound (Sundance, South by Southwest 2007), Manhattan, Kansas (Audience Award, South by Southwest 2006), Room (Sundance, Cannes 2005), Home (Special Jury Prize, Silverdocs 2005), Red Doors (Best Narrative Feature, Tribeca 2005), Swimmers (Sundance 2005), Evergreen (Sundance 2004), Assisted Living (Best Feature, Slamdance 2003), Tadpole (Best Director, Sundance 2002), and Chelsea Walls (Cannes 2001).

Throughout the class time, there are also additional technical lectures, screenings, field trips, and evening seminars with various Visiting Artists. Though the students spend every day working with the teachers of the class, the Visiting Artists program allows each class to hear from other top New York editors as well. Past Visiting Artists have included Jay Rabinowitz (Broken Flowers, 8 Mile, Requiem for a Dream), Sarah Flack (Lost in Translation, The Limey), Craig McKay (The Silence of the Lambs), Jim Lyons (Far From Heaven, The Virgin Suicides), Tim Squyres (Syriana, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon), Tom Haneke (American Dream), Sam Pollard (When the Levees Broke, 4 Little Girls), and many more.

By the end of the class, each student has a credit on the class project and a reel of edited scenes with which to start their editing career. More importantly, every student has truly worked as an editor. The goal of the six-week course is to place the students in a real-world editing situation and provide a sample of what the field has to offer. This experience is invaluable, offering each student both a background in film editing and an opportunity to test the waters of the independent film world. By the time the class finishes, you'll know if editing is right for you -- and you'll have the experience, reel, and connections necessary to break in to the field.

The course fee is $5,500.

To learn more:
Read what students and filmmakers have to say about our program
Check out our gallery of class photos
Watch scenes that six-week students edited during their class
See a list of all our teachers and their credits

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