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www.postmagazine.com 21 POST OCTOBER 2018 EDITORS' ROUNDTABLE What trends are you seeing in editing, with either technology/tools or in certain styles/ techniques that producers/directors seem to be looking for now? Elizabeth V. Moore: "We're living in a time of a lot of distractions and people have shorter attention spans than ever, so it has become an even bigger challenge to hook people and actually leave a lasting impression. Content has to be engaging and make an impact visually, emotionally, or ideal- ly, both. Sometimes it's better to be more creative in your editing choices beyond just cutting from one shot to the next." Heather Danosky: "I think that content is shift- ing to portray realness in an actual real way. In advertising, specifically with female creatives, we are seeing real women in ads more and more. So much so that I think that it's very strange to stick to the old conventions of beauty. I think this trend carries over to editing as well. People want to make content that feels real, and editing is a big part [of] setting that tone." What are some of the biggest editing challenges that you face today? Moore: "I would say having enough time to create something unique and trying to find a balance between doing something current and edgy, but not lose the intention of the piece. Often the turnaround time is quick, so exploring a ton of ways of telling the story is unrealistic. This is why I think it's important to take the time to challenge your craft with exploratory or personal projects to develop an arsenal of editing instincts." Danosky: "It's really important to be patient with the process. Patience is a skill, and every edit is practicing and refining that skill." Have the demands placed on editors changed much over the years? Moore: "Not as much since I began editing, but the expectations and turnaround times seem higher than in decades past. Directors are not limited by the cost of film, so more and more amazing footage is rolling in. Even though this can present a bigger challenge to sift through it all quickly, It feels advantageous to have entered the industry when I did because the end result keeps pushing visual boundaries." Danosky: "I have always found editing to be a very demanding job. I can't imagine that it was ever less demanding." What is your single most important editing tool? Moore: "The single most important editing tool I have is my mind. The more knowledge I can gain, sights I can see and art I can experience, will con- tinue to grow my greatest toolset and allow me to keep evolving my craft." Debbie Berman: "While I consider myself to be a very technical person, I prefer to focus on the craft of editing as a creative storytell- ing skill. My job is ultimately to strive to find the heart and soul of the story and the per- formance, and to mold hundreds of hours of footage to streamline the narrative into a cohe- sive, exciting, emotional and engaging tale. The single most important editing tool would thus be my ability to disconnect myself from the footage that I have seen multiple times, and have a cinematic experience as a fresh audience member in order to decipher what informa- tion I am concluding at what point in the film, and what emotional reaction I am having as a first time viewer, and how to manipulate the media to attain the desired outcome — bonus points if you can find humor in some of those moments. The ability to intuitively analyze how to fix pace, emotional or story problems, to express that view in a convincing yet supportive manner, and to execute effectively all changes required to address this is key." Danosky: "My Wacom pen. I carry it around in my bag. Or my Magic Mouse." What system do you cut on and why? Moore: "I use Adobe Premiere Pro. I've tried other Marvel's Debbie Berman and some recent studio projects, including the upcoming Captain Marvel (top, center) and Black Panther (bottom center and right).