Welcome to Codes of Creativity! Made in partnership with Lenovo and Intel, this series spotlights six members of the Dazed community. Ranging from different parts of the company, each essay gives insight into their work days, creative practices and top tips to make it in their field.

Alice Wade is a video editor at Dazed Media who works across the company editing footage for films, cover stories, campaigns and fashion week content. She also freelances as a video editor across the industry. 

I first got my start working at Dazed two years ago. Now I hold the title of video editor, which requires a wide range of skills. I edit a variety of videos, including both short-form and long-form content for the magazine’s online platforms. I often manage multiple projects at once and work closely with creative directors, talent, and project managers across the company to bring video ideas to life. Our work usually focuses on talent-led or franchise-based video content, especially for new issue releases. We also highlight talented young creatives.  

Below are my top tips for those wanting to pursue a career in video editing.

FIRST YOU HAVE TO SCALE IT DOWN

When our hero video projects arrive at post-production, I receive the rushes and audio files. There’s normally around three hours of footage that needs cutting down to eight minutes or less. First, I’ll create selects based on the footage. Sometimes I will have been on set so I’ll remember key moments from shooting or if the talent had anything they wanted out of the edit. My selects include blooper moments or whips and flashes, anything that can be used as textural elements or fun moments. Often the best moments happen when the camera is rolling longer than it’s directed to, and including these bits helps to create the Dazed tone, which is usually quirky and spontaneous and focused on capturing the creativity of the subject. 

IT IS A PARTLY COLLABORATIVE EFFORT 

Once I’m happy with the selects, I’ll begin cutting and putting the video together. I’ll then go onto Epidemic, which is a royalty free music site, to pick a couple of tracks that complement the talent and set the mood for the rest of the edit. Finding the right tracks can sometimes take as long as editing the video. It’s important to find the right one and editing to the beat of the music can help keep the video moving along. If I’m editing something specifically for TikTok, I’ll ask the social editors that I work with for suggestions of trending sounds.  Sometimes they’ll be shooting mistakes or moments missed in filming but these can be covered with a creative use of cutaways or graphics. Once I have the first assembly edit, I’ll work with the team to research any archival footage or B-roll. I recently worked on a video going through a fashion editor's extensive archive so I spent a lot of time with my manager finding niche runway footage. Then, I’ll send it off to my team for feedback. There tend to be a couple of rounds before everyone is happy, and then we’ll send it off to the talent to approve. Sometimes I’ll liaise with colourists and sound mixers and prep the files for them to work with.

It’s easy to get caught up with perfecting a small section of the edit, only to find that it doesn’t make sense with the wider narrative. Taking regular breaks and showing the edit to other people who have fresh eyes is essential. Working quickly and efficiently is also important. Allocating time to organising your files and properly managing hard drives/ backups is helpful for this. In fashion month, I turn around at least 3 videos a day, often editing TikTok videos within half an hour of getting the footage. You learn how to work quickly under pressure and how to churn these videos out, always following the same formula: a cold intro with celeb, a B-roll of the show, show footage and a finale or outro. Closing on a strong image or sign-off from the talent is important.

STAY ON TOP OF EMERGING PLATFORMS AND TRENDS

Adapting to emerging platforms and evolving audience preferences is crucial. Longer hero videos that sit on YouTube tend to follow a traditional narrative arch, whereas TikTok and Instagram Reels are highly driven by trends. Using a trending audio sound is a good way to boost engagement. You also need to make sure you’re capturing attention immediately. People scroll fast on social media, so the first 3-5 seconds need to hook a viewer. Normally we’ll start with a funny quote or a weird close-up. TikTok audiences favour authentic and relatable content, so we try to not overproduce our content and largely shoot on iPhones. Both platforms are mobile-first, so it’s important to edit for vertical viewing. If we’re creating a video that will need to be in vertical and horizontal format, we’ll keep that in mind when framing a shot. 

DEVELOP A UNIQUE STYLE

To develop a unique editing style, it’s useful to study other editors. Vimeo and Nowness are good platforms for finding talented editors. Break down their pacing, use of sound and various techniques they use. You can then experiment with different editing styles and incorporate more analogue techniques, like hand-drawn elements or stop-frame animation. You can learn so much by just playing around with footage and mixing things in an unexpected way. Effective colour grading and motion graphics can also help carve out a distinct editing style.

NEVER STOP LEARNING NEW SKILLS

It is also important to keep training. Last year, I finished a short documentary course at Raindance and am on multiple Skillshare courses to help develop my grading and sound skills. I do not have any formal training in editing so this is particularly helpful. I am also part of multiple editing and filmmaking networks to help build new relationships and learn from each other. Every year I sit on a showcase panel to judge short films. I normally receive feedback so it’s useful to be on the other side and sharpen your critical ability. If I run into a technical problem whilst editing, I’ll normally go on YouTube or reach out to other editors to help me. 

STAY INSPIRED ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Being active on Instagram or TikTok is also a great way to get started and it’s free. Posting your work regularly and contacting people for collaborations is helpful for building your online presence. I frequently reach out to directors or other creatives who I think are making interesting work with comments about their work. It's always good to begin a message with a compliment! Lots of people will not respond but that’s okay, it’s all about getting your name out there. Instagram is also great for finding inspiration, I keep lots of posts in saved folders.

TRUST IT IS ALL A PART OF THE PROCESS

It’s easy to get lost in a dark room editing all day, but developing your soft skills is also important. Creative work is all about collaborating and trusting each other. Learning to take feedback but having a strong perspective and having the confidence to defend your ideas is key. Becoming a good editor is about communicating your vision with clarity – and executing with high quality to tight deadlines.