In the world of filmmaking, the editing and post-production process can make or break a film. From pacing, to music, to storytelling structure – so much of a story is born in the edit. To learn more about the art of editing and how it’s used to reach a creative vision, we chatted with Ethan Jacob (@EthanJacob). Jacob is a freelance editor who has worked on projects for REI, Chipotle, The North Face and other big name organizations. He has recently edited a number of Sony projects and his work, along with the entire production team was fantastic. As many still photographers begin working on video projects more and more, we picked Jacob's brain about the role of an editor and the art of editing.

We sat down with freelance video editor Ethan Jacob to chat about the editing process and how it can make or break a film...plus we talk about the Sony cameras he uses to film.

Breaking Down Editing 

First, we asked Jacob to break down his role as an editor and what that looks like in relation to the production team. “In the broadest sense, my role as an editor is to create the world in which all the pieces of a story live together, whether that be original footage shot and production or archival footage and source, as well as dialog and music. All of it's been put together to convey a message. And it's my job to make all those pieces play off each other towards the director's vision.”

Jacob’s official role is known as an Offline Editor, “I basically design everything in a in a rough format that's unpolished, but that speaks to what it can be when it goes to a sound designer or it goes to a composer or it goes to a colorist. I set the framework for what the piece will end up being.” 

Jacob’s Journey 

At first, Jacob went to film school and spent six years as a commercial and music video director. He frequently worked on tight budget productions, where he had to fill many roles. This is where Jacob really fell in love with editing and the way he could shape a story and build a world. “Editing was really where I experienced the most creativity and joy in the filmmaking process.” 

To start switching roles from directing to editing, Jacob began working as an assistant in a commercial post-production house. That’s where he got his traditional training. Eventually he left to pursue freelance editing projects. 

Now, Jacob primarily works as a commercial editor. He also takes on documentary projects. Moving forward, he’s hoping to continue with commercial work and add more documentaries and docu-series projects.

Approaching a New Project & Building a Story 

As an editor, Jacob is typically brought onto a project during pre production, before anything has been shot. He reviews the pre-production material and works to get a sense of the Director’s vision. Once everything has been shot, he has a meeting with the team on how everything went and if any of the vision has changed. “This helps me have a clear idea of what they're looking for, what they're hoping to create before I see the footage and start messing with things.” 

Then Jacob gets into the meat of his work, putting the story together. “When I'm crafting a story, I think at the core I'm just trying to convey the ultimate message or vision the director and creatives have set out to tell and everything else builds around that. And while there's many moving pieces like shot structure and transitions and sound design, ultimately everything I'm doing is in the attempts to enhance the original message. And sometimes that means making the most visual and audibly dynamic piece I can. And then sometimes it means trying to make the edit as unassuming as possible so that the truth of the message can just be as raw as it needs to be. And in most cases, it's a balance of those two.”

“A lot of filmmakers differ on this part of the process. I came from a traditional commercial post house background as an assistant. So it's really important for me to make sure that I'm ingesting and breaking down all the media in a very organized and formulaic structure so that when I'm in the process of actually editing, if inspiration sparks off of something I know is in one scene, I can easily get to that without messing up my flow. So it's like a road map that I have to continue my flow of editing while still being able to work through the project in a very cohesive way.”

While editing, Jacob’s views his role as supporting the director in any way. This can vary by director, in some cases, it involves showing the director what the story has the potential to be, and in other cases, it’s following directions clearly and enhancing the story in little additive ways. 

One thing that holds true across each edit is the importance of pacing. “After working on a lot of films and wrestling with enough edits, you start to feel how an edit should breathe. And it's really about a balance and finding the moments that should run fast and hard and then giving the viewer a chance to breathe and take in what you just put them through.” He goes on to explain that this remains the same for a longer piece (15-30 minutes) and something like a 15 second commercial. “It's the same concept of grabbing the viewer with a sprinting energy and then giving them a moment to breathe and then maybe doing it again. It's an ebb and flow.” 

Working on Sony Projects 

Jacob’s most recent work with Sony is on MOMENTUM: A new short form docuseries spotlighting the next generation of creators with Sony Electronics. He edited episode two, featuring Jazz Avery and episode three, featuring Ian Eastwood. He also edited pieces with Sony Cine featuring the Sony FX30 and Sony FR7. For the Sony Cine projects, he worked with Director Curt Morgan (@curtismorgan) and he spoke about that experience, “I was brought on by Curt and his company Wolvvs who are a production partner with Sony. Through the experience editing the FR7 and FX30 launches I was offered the opportunity to work on the Momentum series as well. And in working with Curt I've found you have a filmmaker who tells stories in a beautiful and technologically dynamic way. And then you have a company that partnered with him to advance the technology in which those stories are being told, basically to the cutting edge. And that's just an incredible formula for making films.”

Jacob is excited to see the direction Sony is going with cameras and technology. As an editor who is also trying to push creativity further and further, it’s fun for him to work with fantastic talent and technology. “You're constantly using media and tools that are on the forefront of innovation. What I'm working with when I'm in those edits, both from the production team at Wolvvs and the tools themselves, just all really speaks to pushing what we can do with our tools as filmmakers and how that pushes a story. That's been my experience with all the Sony films.”

See more of Ethan Jacob's work on Instagram @EthanJacob.