Overview of the role
The role of an assembly editor can be seen as a bridge gap between the assistant editor or edit assistant and the editor.
In the realm of factual film with the advent of digital filmmaking, the sheer volume of material used in production has increased. Big shooting volume productions that use multiple cameras, formats, remote setups etc or tight schedules are seeing the need for assembly editors increase. It’s a role that demands organisation paired with a good sense of narrative and communication.
Core responsibilities
These core responsibilities are provided as a guide and are not exhaustive. The exact responsibilities in a particular job will vary depending on the scale / budget band / genre of the production.
The editing responsibilities for the assembly editor are broad, from technical and organisational to the use of creative thought and action. Here are examples:
- Organisation of the project and rushes
- Organising and sourcing archive
- Identifying interviews, making string outs and at times cutting them down for the editor
- Cutting to paper edits
- Syncing rushes with sound and possible multi-cam situations
- Sourcing, ingesting, and organizing music and SFX
- Creating and applying luts
- Exports for various members of the production
- Collaborate with the director and editor when identifying themes and arcs
- Identify areas that need clarification or additional footage
- Working with transcripts or paper edits from editorial
- Maintaining the flow of information between post and different departments
- Creating a friction-free workflow system from production to presentation
Skills
Check out role specific skills, transferable skills, and attributes for the role of assembly editor.
- Communication: quite often the assembly editor is the first person to have an overview of the material. It is also their purpose to feedback any technical problems with the footage, corrupt clips, dead pixels, etc., to production, as well as any missing narrative and possible pickups as to pre-empt any problems in the edit later on. So good communication is needed to convey this to all members of the production process.
- Software: the software of post production is always evolving, be it updates to existing systems or whole new packages. There may be moments when you will be confronted by a whole new system that you will need to learn whilst managing an edit. A solid knowledge of existing routine packages such as the Adobe Suite and Avid Media Composer is a must, along with the relatively new DaVinci Resolve.
- Hardware: you will be expected to understand how to operate PC / MS-DOS and Apple based computer systems as well as how they interact with each other (formatting drives, character differences etc).
- Creative elements: the assembly editor is primarily a creative role. It essentially is taking responsibility for the first draft that an edit. Identifying the needed material and removing the unwanted. Within that is also the need to identify themes, motives and happy accidents. Most often the assembly editor will need to watch hours of interviews and actuality, so attention to detail is essential. The editor may also require you to make more complex edits, rough cut scenes, apply SFX or lay down music. So a keen editorial mind is needed.
- Organisation and management: the assembly editor will most likely pull and organise the interviews, actuality and GVs. They will have to be able to create multiple sequences and bin structures that are intuitive in finding material. Their aim is to bring another level of organisation to the edit to ensure it’s a faster and smooth process.
- A good AE is cooperative and works well within a team environment, but is used to operating under their own initiative and for long periods alone.
- Organised and able to structure projects
- Honest and candid
- Strong sense of narrative
- Able to take direction and advice
- Understanding of genre, theme, and creative moods
- They remain cool under pressure
- They’re team players and open to compromise
Discover more checklists
Take a look at additional editor skills checklists