Weekly Winners for Oct. 3, 2015

Editing Video: It ain’t over, even when it’s over.

Peter Weiler

Nothing focuses the mind like a deadline.

Brad Clark
www.bradclark.net

Screening too many similar takes is like overwhelming your nose trying different colognes.

Joe Castellano
www.reveal42.com

Why are render times always inversely proportional to the amount of kudos received on a piece?

Frank Lombardi
www.flophoto.zenfolio.com

Weekly Winners for Sept. 28, 2015

Editing is so advanced these days that the people who used to say “we’ll fix it in post” have changed their tune to “we’ll fix it in distribution.”

Chris Luker
www.utahcamerarentals.com

Client: “Why can’t I use my line drawing in the video? It looks great in all the print ads?”

Mike Rom
www.RomByDesign.com

We need a name for the phenomenon of showing a client a rough cut that contains a tiny edge of a black lighting stand way, way in the background (or the CEO with one tiny hair sticking up); then, for the rest of the project, that’s all the client can see. This distraction needs a name.

James Valastro
jamesvalastroproductions.com

Weekly Winners for Sept. 21, 2015

“It’s brilliant.” “It’s fantastic.” “This exceeds my wildest dreams!” “…Here are my changes.”

Rick Lavon

The dilemma with pushing your creativity artistically and technically is that it always brings you to the cliff of your own incompetence.

Tricia Williamson
photographicartistryandimages.com

Got a client you haven’t heard from in months or a year? Erase their old project files and media, and you are guaranteed a phone call or email from them within 24 hours, wanting a re-edit.

Mark Suszko

Weekly Winners for Sept. 14, 2015

In a rough cut review, everything you ask the client to ignore because it’s not finished – titles, audio mix, color, etc. – will inevitably be all the things they are concerned about.

Christopher Meurer
www.modernmotionvideo.com

We usually give the client three music options: two fantastic options and one terrible option to let them feel empowered to make the final decision. It always backfires, they pick the terrible one every time.

Christopher Meurer
www.modernmotionvideo.com

For actors to utter the name of a specific Scottish play is deemed to be bad luck. “URGENT” is the MacBeth of video editing.

Jeff Fulton

Nothing gets your heart rate up like rendering Segment 2 when Segment 1 is on air! Beats the heck out of cardio!

Elanor Payne

Weekly Winners for Sept. 7, 2015

No one knows what you do but they always know that “it won’t take long.”

Jeff Fulton

The amount of money you will make is inversely proportional to how many people are on the project’s committee.

John Primm
www.dvpostvideo.com

Beauty is in the eyes of the checkbook holder.

Jim Staylor
www.staylor-made.com

Client (after handing editor a VHS tape to ingest): “This can be cleaned up, right? I once saw it done in a Mission Impossible movie…”

Jeff Riegel
www.jeff.gsrmem.com

Weekly Winners for Aug. 31, 2015

Whenever an Editor is happy with their work their peers will ask “what camera was that shot on?”

Jeff Fulton

Intelligence never saved anyone from gross stupidity.

Tricia Williamson
www.PhotographicArtistryandImages.com

To the Client: If you wanted it “like yesterday” then you should have asked for it “like the day before!”

Brett Ross
www.br-aphics.com

It’s pretty much a given that if you don’t get a deposit you will have to chase the client for payment.

Will Bearyman
www.silverhookstudios.com

Weekly Winners for Aug. 24, 2015

Actual comment from an actual client.
Client: “Just use that Michael Jackson song. Nobody will ever know.”

Jerry Thompson
www.bigdogfilms.com

Client: “Use, you know, that fantastic plug-in you used the last time that sorted it.”
Editor: “Mmm, I think you’ll find that was the ‘Editor’!”

Keith Woolford
www.archmovingmemories.co.uk

As much as I love editing scenes where the cameraman went hand-held, there will be the inevitable, great, must-use shot with perfect matching action where you can plainly see a tripod in the background.

Daniel Larson
www.comvideoproductions.com

Weekly Winners for Aug. 17, 2015

It’s not a mistake until it’s left the shop.

Philip Snyder

Clients are like your Mom: They can never figure out what you do, or why that little thing takes SO MUCH time, and they always have something to scold you about.

Anand Kulkarni
www.flopfilms.in

(Sign in my edit room) ‘No Sniveling’

Don Smith
www.NewsVideo.com

SPECIAL MENTION
FOR PANDERING TO THE CONTEST ORGANIZERS

Your color is all messed up and you don’t know how to fix it. Time’s running and the client is waiting. Now you wish you’d known about Larry’s “Salvaging Video” webinars.

Bjorn Till

Weekly Winners for Aug. 10, 2015

Every new technology opens a whole new world of things that can go wrong.

Will Schwarz

Nothing is impossible if you don’t have to do it yourself.

Philip Snyder

Needed Lead EDITOR: Must have at least 5 years of experience. No out of college applicants will be excepted. Must be expert in Adobe Premier, Photoshop, and After Effects. We will ONLY look at candidates that are capable of shooting with a pro camera, setting up lighting, and recording live audio. You must have a deep understanding in DaVinci Resolve and Cinema 4D. This is an ENTRY LEVEL POSITION.

Hector Pina

Techniques trump technology.

Ric Viers
www.ricviers.com

Weekly Winners for Aug. 3, 2015

The devil is in the details, unless you’re shooting a horror film, in which case the devil is in the dailies.

Jason Land
Transient  Films

Producer: “This script is so strong, we won’t even have to direct the actors.”

Robert LaRue
www.gryllusglyphics.com

To keep editors happy, no changes should ever be sent Friday afternoon.

Karen Cerino

Nothing is final.

Urszula Kocol

Weekly Winners for July 27, 2015

Merrick’s Law: Murphy was an optimist. Had he ever worked in post production he would have said: “Anything that can go wrong is NOTHING compared to what the producer is going to ask for 3 hours before the deadline.”

Merrick Dupea
www.cre8tvmg.com

As a dedicated production professional, I sit in dark places and wait for bad things to happen.

Mark Triplett

Editing is the splice of life.

Chris Douthitt
www.wildcattv.us

The client is ALWAYS right…. unless the client wants Comic Sans titles and copyrighted music by Katy Perry.

Alex Hudson

Weekly Winners for July 20, 2015

Adding a convincing laugh track is no laughing matter. It can bring you to tears.

David Mills
www.davidmills.net

Nothing adds more time to a job than requests that start with the words “can you just.”

Yossi Itzinger
www.yossiitzinger.com

Inspiration is not available on demand, doesn’t operate on a schedule, cannot be planned and doesn’t always show up for work.

Martin O’Connell
www.mjolaw.net

About the time you have that great idea and go to jot it down… You’ll be interrupted.

Ted Langdell
www.flashscan8.us