As much as I love editing (and I’m sure most professional editors do too) it’s always worth pointing out that sometimes it’s good just to get out of the editing room. Last week I had the opportunity to spend a few days on a working/fun trip up in the Poconos shooting video for my brother-in-law’s automotive website. I’m not a videographer by trade and would never claim to be a professional camera operator but I know enough to capture some good images so off I went.

If you think about the life of an editor it’s almost hard to understand why anyone would want to be professional film, television or video editor. You spend very long hours perched in front of a computer screen and perform most all of your daily tasks via a mouse, trackball or tablet. Often these tasks are performed in darkened rooms with no windows, no cable television and only minimal contact to the outside world. The Internet is always there to tempt but that means edit work isn’t getting done and besides, who wants to take a break from looking at the computer screen by looking at the computer screen. There are often fussy clients in the room who are watching the clock tick by and their dollars tick away. Sweet and salty snacks may only be an arm’s length away and getting a sugary soda to wash them down is only a few doors out of the room. The only time out of the edit suite in a given day might be a couple of trips to the bathroom and/or lunch room. It’s no wonder a lot of editors are smokers as it gives he or she another opportunity to get up and get out into the daylight. And it’s a miracle that most editors (especially those that work at post houses) aren’t 500 lbs … sitting, snacks, sugar … they really don’t go together.

That’s why I want to issue a reminder to the experienced editors out there and a word of warning to those newbies who are beginning to build their client base and their hours. Take time to get out of the edit suite. And not just the daily breaks that you need to avoid eye strain and repetitive stress injury but take extended trips away from the dark room to reconnect with the outside world. Of course there is always the real vacation to the mountains or beaches that can totally recharge your creative batteries but a working vacation or a work related day trip also does wonders for me to connect with other parts of the production process. There’s a little part of an editing job that the editor can only obtain by visiting the shoot and seeing for themselves in real-life those images that they will spend many hours cutting later. To shake hands and actually converse with that face you will come to intimately know through manipulation of the editing software often seems to give me just a little edge when doing the edit. Carrying a camera around for a day and dealing with changing of tapes and the dead battery can go a long way toward giving the editor an idea of what it is like to shoot in the field. But most importantly I think getting out of the editing room on occasion and dealing with other aspect of the production process can help an editor rediscover what they love about editing in the first place.