The best advice often comes in casual conversation. That’s why Adobe and Variety teamed up at the Sundance Film Festival last February to present Editors on Editors, a series of conversations where two accomplished film editors discuss their craft. One particularly candid and insightful conversation featured Opus editor Ernie Gilbert and By Design editor Benjamin Shearn in which they shared valuable – and often humorous – perspectives on their craft and process.

Preparation Unlocks Creativity

Gilbert and Shearn are no strangers to editing different genres, from feature films to music videos, indie projects to documentaries.

Both editors agree that thorough preparation early in the editing process removes barriers to creativity later.

Shearn maintains a consistent prep process across all projects. “Then, when it gets to the point of actually sequencing, my technique gets wildly different… there are unique demands for each project.” He emphasized that part of his reason for dedication to proper preparation is to ensure he can fully access his creativity later.

“Once it gets into the right-brain, creative part, that’s when I try to unlearn and really just adhere to what the project needs,” said Shearn.

Gilbert agreed that thorough preparation accelerates the creative process. “The only shortcut, the only secret, is to do. It’s to try. It’s to get an assembly together, to get a scene cut, to do a pass of something. And once I have that, I feel like, oh, I can make that part better.”

Embracing Experimentation

In By Design, the main character, Camille, becomes a chair, presenting Shearn with the challenge of making an inanimate object a key character. He experimented with pacing and lingering on reaction shots longer than typical to show how other characters in the film were projecting onto this inanimate object. His experimentation worked and helped “emulate the idea that they [other characters] were getting feedback from the void.”

Gilbert likened the editing process to shaping clay. “You’re at the potter’s wheel and you’re trimming, you’re pulling, you’re pushing, you’re doing all those things. And then maybe you do it too much, and the pot falls apart, and then you start over,” Gilbert explained. “I’d rather try something than talk about it because, thankfully, we’re editing digitally. We’re able to make these changes very quickly.”

Polishing Before Presenting

Shearn offered practical advice for up-and-coming editors: “When someone says, ‘I can watch it rough,’ they are lying.”

He recommends getting cuts to 80–85% completion before showing them to producers, directors, and others because “they’re going to mention everything that’s bugging them. They’re not like, ‘Oh, I understand that’s going to get fixed later.’” He stressed the importance of addressing basic issues like loud sounds or color correction before showing a rough cut. Shearn highlighted his use of Adobe Premiere Pro’s Enhanced Speech feature for dialogue cleanup and streamlining his workflow.

While some technical issues can be addressed early on, the editors agreed that pacing is something that evolves through review and feedback, trial and error. Shearn noted, “It’s something people jump on immediately, and it’s a work in progress. That’s not something you can ever nail on the first cut. It fluctuates throughout the process.”

Collaborative Relationships

When asked how they work with assistant editors and directors, both emphasized that strong relationships are key to creative collaboration.

Gilbert noted that he looks for “someone who is down to try things that maybe they don’t want to try right away. And then I return the favor, you know? I think the best version of those relationships is two people who are pushing each other to make things better and fighting for the integrity and the North Star of what the project is.”

Shearn agreed and noted that on By Design, he had to be his own assistant editor. “We didn’t always get along,” he joked. “We got along a lot less than you would think.”

You can learn more from these accomplished editors—and enjoy a few laughs—by watching the full conversation on the Adobe Video & Motion YouTube channel here.