FAQ: Discussion: Learning to edit. How do I decide where to cut?

When should I make a cut while I’m editing?  Please allow me a moment to give you some thoughts

It’s a simple question with a great many answers depending who you speak to and the genre of project you are editing.

Simplistically:
You will find some say 4-5 seconds is about right for general work.
For conversational dialog, at the end of a sentence.
For documentary, you can let a shot hold for much longer.
For action, cut every 1-2 seconds and so on.
Or you may have heard of Walter Murch and “In the blink of an Eye”
There’s a good synopsis at : http://filmbooknotes.blogspot.com/2009/05/in-blink-of-eye-by-walter-murch.html

I’d like to offer another thought and to make it clear, let’s have an analogy with the craft of the wordsmith. It’s an almost forgotten art of writing good copy that engages the reader.
I think it’s best summed up in a short section of a book by the sadly deceased Gary Provost.
https://www.garyprovost.com/how-to-tips/

In his book, “100 ways to improve your writing” he offers the following sage advice:

“This sentence has five words.
Here are five more words.
Five-word sentences are fine.
But several together become monotonous.
Listen to what is happening.
The writing is getting boring.
The sound of it drones. It's like a stuck record.
The ear demands some variety.

Now listen.
I vary the sentence length, and I create music.
Music.
The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony.
I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length.
And sometimes, when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with the energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals - sounds that say listen to this,
it is important.”

There’s a very nice version of this adapted to video by Russel Berg.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VQzALPQ3fI

So, don’t just cut methodically at 4-5 seconds, don’t action cut it every 2.
( This applies particularly to cutting to music )
Instead look at your footage, how long does a clip hold your attention.
Surprise your audience with a long lingering look.
Snap them back with a few shorter cuts.

You may think that you don’t have this editing skill.
I would suggest that you do and that you’ve been editing by looking and feel ever since you picked up a TV remote and went channel surfing to find something to watch.
You will have instinctively scanned a channel and assimilated the meaning and made a decision to watch or move on.

Please let me know your thoughts.
Does it help? Do you agree? Hit up a reply and lets chat.

I’m hoping this can be the start of a series of editing thoughts that will go beyond the technical.
If there’s a specific topic, let me know.