Don't Lie Awake At night wondering when your editing career will Really take off

Do you worry about where your career will be in five years? Most people do.

Sometimes it feels as though no matter how talented and hard working you are, you can't seem to consistently land jobs on the big films and commercials that you would like. 

Are you making a good impression with producers? Is your showreel strong enough? Maybe you just don't know the right people?  

It seems like you're doing everything right, and yet your career isn't moving as quickly as it should.

Guess what? The people at the top felt the same way at one point. People like This is England editor Chris Wyatt were not born successful. ​

But he spent years learning the skills of his trade. Skills like how to manage difficult relationships with producers.  Or how to put together a showreel that regularly gets you work on big productions. And then there are those skills which many people don't even realise they need, like knowing when it's best to ignore notes.

What if you could avoid years of frustration by learning these skills directly from Chris Wyatt himself? What if you could do it on a fun weekend in central London, alongside a small group of other like-minded freelancers?

"I'm not going to become wildly successful from one weekend!" you might say.

Well, that's true. You still have to put in the work. But chances are you're already putting in the work. And it's hard.

Now's the time to make it easier.

Introducing a transformative two-day course...

23rd-24th of June 10:00-18:00 in a secret Central London location

Acclaimed editor Chris Wyatt shares his insider industry knowledge with a maximum of 25 working film professionals.

He will draw from lessons learned over the course of his career working on major feature films like This is England, '71 and God's Own Country.

Topics will range from the creative, such as how to find the emotional motivation in sequence, to the more practical, including going from assembly to final cut and how to get hired on your dream job.

Wyatt will use selections from his body of work as case studies to explain the creative and practical solutions he has found over the years and then show the participants how to apply these solutions to their own work.

This course will be highly interactive, with lively discussions that will continue into the evening as the tutor joins the participants for a drink at the pub at the end of each day.

Participants of our April 2018 course enjoying a round on us at the end of the day

See what previous students of our editing courses say:

Course Outline

Day 1

​

1/    Introduction and bio

• What made me get into the film industry and become an editor
• Getting started and catching breaks
• The apprenticeship route – new alternatives
• Imagining the physicality of film as a tool to help you in the digital world
• New paths to jobs and why it’s crucial to be at the top of someone’s ‘inbox’
• Why you shouldn’t rush your career

2/    What it really means to be a Film Editor

• Seeing yourself as a conduit between director/audience
• Feel it – don’t think it – the motivation behind constructing a sequence
• Be your own person – it’s important that something works emotionally for you
• Be true to the director’s vision but don’t always agree on the path to take
• Examples

3/    Workflow - Assembly to fine cut

• The joy of the assembly/editors cut – the calm and serenity of the director’s cut and the threat of intrusion at the point of screening and ‘other voices’
• Working on location
• How does environment factor on the edit?
• The differences in dealing with hands on and hands off directors.
• The difference between small independent films and larger studio films
• The ‘test’ screening
• How to ignore notes but read an audience response
• Examples

Day 2

4/    The Montage/Working with music/Sound Design

• Editing requires an innate sense of rhythm – it’s no surprise that it’s a large part of the process
• When to use it and at what stage to start using it
• When not to use it
• How to be sure you’re not using Music as an emotional crutch because you’ve lost confidence with your material
• How much sound design to include in the rough cut
• Examples – ‘Dead Man’s Shoes’ – ‘This is England’ – ’71 – ‘God’s Own Country’

5/    Documentary/Drama

• Working in both – the parallels between the two
• Documentary a purer form of filmmaking?
• How documentary editing experience will help with working on drama
• How the renaissance of the documentary now uses much more ‘drama’ orientated scenes and structure
• Examples - Going Postal (a documentary about rampage massacres in the US) – Lost Children of Berlin (a documentary about a school reunion at the last Jewish school in Berlin that was shut by the Nazi’s) – Dreams of a Life (where documentary and drama coexist)

6/    Script to Screen

• Examine the role of the script in the edit
• Park the script at the door of the editing room
• The edit as a further ‘rewrite’
• How once the filming starts – the material has its own life and is not dependent on the script anymore
• Comparing and contrasting the shooting script and how the final film is different (scene order etc)
• Examples – ‘Christie Malry…’, ‘The Falling’

Chris Wyatt

BAFTA and BIFA nominated editor Chris Wyatt has enjoyed a diverse and successful career. Starting with short films and documentaries including Dreams of a Life, he then went on to work on feature films, such as This is England and Dead Man’s Shoes. Wyatt has also worked on TV series such as Secret Diary of a Call Girl and BBC’s Close to the Enemy. His more recent credits include ’71 and the critically-acclaimed God’s Own Country.

Terms & Conditions

1. By registering it is implied that you accept the terms and conditions applied to the service. It is the responsibility of the user to analyse all the information published here before proceeding with the registration. The organization reserves the right to change the terms and conditions without previous notice. These changes will be published on this official event page and will be considered valid from that moment onwards.
2. Cinema Jam Ltd. reserves the right to cancel a registration if the participant does not meet any eligibility requirements described above. In these cases a full refund will be issued.
3. No booking will be considered valid until Cinema Jam Ltd. receives the total value of the registration.
4. The registrations cannot be re-utilized or returned, unless in case of cancellation of the session, yet if it is possible and reasonable, the name of the registration can be changed for another person to attend the session. Please bear in mind that Cinema Jam Ltd. will not be responsible for travel expenses, or any other additional expense, in case of cancellation. Cinema Jam Ltd. will equally not be responsible for any monetary compensation in case of timetable changes or cancellations. Cinema Jam Ltd. is also not responsible for any compensation or devolution in case of absence of the event by the participant for any major reason (ie: situations outside of the sphere of control of Cinema Jam Ltd., such as war or threat of war; riots; civil unrest; industrial dispute; airport shutdowns; flight cancellations; terrorist activity; natural disaster; nuclear disaster; fire, adverse weather conditions; or similar situations).
5. There is a chance that the Cinema Jam Ltd. might have to make alterations regarding dates or timetables, either due to changes in the professional schedule of the workshop speakers or due to travel difficulties. These alterations are beyond our control and will not be cause for reimbursement.
6. There won’t be any devolutions or reimbursements in case of absence by the participant for professional, personal or health reasons.
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8. The participants are responsible for checking the veracity of the information during the registration and report any errors or mistakes as soon as possible.
9. Cinema Jam Ltd. reserves the right to refuse entry and reimbursements in case of abusive behaviour, physical and psychological threats, drunk or disrespectful attitude. The same is applied in case the participant tries to enter the event with any object considered as a weapon or with any illegal substance.
10. Cinema Jam Ltd. will not be considered responsible for the loss or destruction of private property of the participant, nor will it be responsible for any medical or hospital expenses in case of injury or illness inflicted during the event nor on its installations or in the city that is hosting the event. For this exact reason the organization advises the participants to acquire health and travel insurance against all possible risks.

11. By purchasing this course you hereby authorise Cinema Jam Ltd (the Producer) to record and edit your name, likeness, image, voice and participation in the performance on film, tape or otherwise. You agree that the Recording may be edited and otherwise altered at the sole discretion of Cinema Jam Ltd and used in the whole or in part for any and all broadcasting, non-broadcasting, audio/visual, and/or exhibition purposes in any manner or media, in perpetuity, throughout the world. Cinema Jam Ltd may use and authorise others to use all or parts of the Recordings. Cinema Jam Ltd, its successors and assigns shall own all right, title and interest, including copyright, in the Recordings, to be used and disposed of without limitation as Cinema Jam Ltd shall in its sole discretion determine.
12. You will be automatically considered for free membership in Cinema Jam and if your profile matches Cinema Jam’s membership criteria, you will be added to our membership database. If your profile does not match our membership criteria, you may still receive communications from us in future regarding offers, events and courses.

Refund Policy

To cancel your place on this course, notice of cancellation must be given by email to info(at)cinemajam.com.

• If you cancel at least 28 working days prior to the start of the course you will receive a full refund minus a 10% administration fee
• If you cancel between 28 and 10 working days prior to the start of the course you will receive a 50% refund
• If you cancel less than 10 working days before the event you will not be entitled to a refund

No refund will be made for non-attendance on the course.