Recommendations for video editing courses...

[Zukan]

One of my students is 13 years old and his parents have asked me what would be a good entry level course for him to take. BTEC is high on the list but I am wondering what you would recommend?

This is the email I received from his father:

Separately, sam’s heart seems really set on video editing and we would like him to work with your help towards a formal qualification in this space. Can you recommend any BTEC qualifications in video editing that might be appropriate? The gateway level 1 course perhaps seems a decent starting point- see link below:'

https://www.gatewayqualifications.org.u ... ndustries/

[MOF]

Final Cut Pro can be learnt from home, on structured courses and has a certification.
https://www.apple.com/uk/final-cut-pro/resources/

[zenguitar]

There might be a career path through the National Film & Television School qualifications. Hugh would know more.
https://nfts.co.uk

And in Bucks, which is your part of the world.

Andy

[Hugh Robjohns]

Most of the full-time NFTS courses are intended for post-graduates. I don't know what the entry requirements are for the short courses. Its certainly worth a look... but I doubt they'd take a 13 year-old.

I'd have thought the online FCP course or Btec would be good starters.

[tea for two]

I imagine he was inspired by his favourite YouTube channels, TikTok.
(I would be at his age) .

If this is the case, Zuke I think it might be worthwhile checking out which his fave channels are that inspired him to want to video edit.
Which video editing software those channels use (Adobe, Davinci, Fcp, iMovie et al).
Then seeing which courses use those software.
It's just a way to get more engagement from him in the course, more relateable to him, then there's more chance he will fly through it.
At that impressionable age such a relateable learning experience is worth its weight in gold and future gold lol.

[James Perrett]

I would suggest that, rather than concentrating on software which may well be out of date by the time he wants to get a job, he looks at techniques and styles of video editing - and also film editing. Things like how much time you give each shot, and how different shots tell a story. You can learn an awful lot just by watching good videos with a technical eye.

[MOF]

I would suggest that, rather than concentrating on software which may well be out of date by the time he wants to get a job, he looks at techniques and styles of video editing - and also film editing. Things like how much time you give each shot, and how different shots tell a story. You can learn an awful lot just by watching good videos with a technical eye.

Nothing wrong with looking at other editors work of course but there’s nothing to beat getting experience, if only to try and duplicate what they did.
FCP (or the free iMovie) is one of the main professional editors and very reasonably priced, plus it’s most likely to be around in the next five to ten years. No doubt it will have evolved by then but the basic principles won’t have changed.
When I started in TV just one U-Matic player was £20k@, the caption generator was £60k. Cine equipment (no sound) wasn’t exactly cheap either and film was expensive, especially if you did it properly and went down the 16mm negative and answer prints for editing route.
My brother bought an early VHS camera and recorder and edited onto another recorder which was difficult and poor quality, so he was put off editing until DV camcorders and an early version of FCP came along.

[Zukan]

Thanks guys. Food for thought.

[The Red Bladder]

OK, here's the skinny!

First off, you must ask the question of this father - does Junior want a career in film and/or TV? Or does he just want to edit some footage? (The reality is of course that only time will tell!)

NFTS is the only formal education available in the UK that is worth having and as Hugh states, they are very unlikely to take 13-year-olds. It is the one film school that maintains close links with the TV and film industry. The good news is that it is nowhere nearly as difficult to get into as the Surrey Tonmeister course - BUT having a good showreel and a folder of other artwork is important!

There are so many good how-to videos on YT that I feel any special course in how to set up and get going would be a waste of money. Whatever Junior needs to know is in there - from lighting to lenses, from pulling focus to pulling a dolly, it's all there!

TV or film? That is the question! Although both industries have been moving ever-closer together, they are very different disciplines. Film is usually done with a single camera, TV is usually does with multiple cameras. TV is very much a 9-2-5. Film is like going into battle, i.e. a single big project with a single outcome and grindingly long hours.

My guess is the Junior just wants to play with video and that can be cheap and easy. FCP only runs on an Apple and getting an Apple that is going to be powerful enough to run a few streams of 4K video that is required for editing work is still relatively expensive. A decent PC will still set the father back about £3k. (Tip - Scan has a video department and they know what they are doing!)

The film industry is still mainly using Media Composer (Avid) though in European TV, Premier is mostly used. More and more youngsters are using DaVinci-Resolve and pretty much all colouring is done in Resolve.

One of the reasons Resolve is gaining ground is the basic version is free and the full version is as cheap-as-chips - and if it is good enough to be used by Roger Deakins, it'll be good enough for Junior!

I was doing the A-for-V all yesterday on a high-profile nature documentary and that was all Premier and we hosted the editing for a BBC documentary earlier this year and that too was Premier. I filmed and edited two music concerts for Russian TV in Spring and Summer and edited them in Vegas.

The good news is that Avid, Premier Pro and Vegas Pro have proper colouring tools, so they can be used for film and 'filmic' work for TV.

Nearly all film-for-TV work is shot on 4K to ensure that it is future-proof. This has the added benefit that one can reframe and steady a shot in post. Feature films are shot in 6K RAW using a logarithmic colour range and recoloured in post. TV cameras and DSLRs default to Rec-709 (limited colour range).

There are many good books on the subject, but which ones to get depends on what direction Junior wants to go in.

[pk.roberts]

It's very easy to assume that editing is all about knowing how to use the software, but really, that's only the 'enabler'. Editing is really about story telling; most beginners don't realise this so get very obsessed with the 'bells and whistles' that the software offers. This course run by the NFTS (although may not be appropriate for the OPs student) probably captures the essence of the craft;
https://nfts.co.uk/craft-editing
Some of the editing software manufacturers offer 'certification' courses and it might be worth looking these as well.
There are also commonly 30 day trial periods available for software and some very good online courses (including all the media you might need) on Linkedin Learning (which also has a free first month trial).