Awesome Editing

The sounds you hear in movies can dramatically enhance what you see on screen. But other than dialogue, most movie audio isn’t created on the soundstage, it’s added in post-production by foley artists and sound editors. Paul E.T. explores the importance of sound effects, music, and speech in filmmaking.

The Great British Bake Off is called The Great British Baking Show here in the U.S. because Pillsbury owns a trademark on the words “Bake-Off.” Captain Disillusion digs into the consequences of this legal battle in the way the show has to be shot, edited, and have VFX applied to modify its contents for Netflix.

Dave Ardito makes short videos inspired by anime. There are lots of fun and energetic clips on his TikTok feed, but this is one of the best examples, a real-life version of Speed-o’Sound Sonic from One Punch Man zooming and ricocheting around a room thanks to some slick editing and VFX.

A crackling fire, advancing a mechanical camera, and a well-struck golf ball are among the most satisfying sounds in the world. Musician Dan Mace recorded and edited together some of these great noises into a soundtrack that’s engineered to be even more satisfying than its individual components.

(Flashing images) Filmmaker Páraic McGloughlin created this mindblowing music video for Monolink’s track The Prey, incorporating the incredible sculpture of artist Tomàs Barceló. Páraic created the dizzying visuals by cutting between similar objects, locations, and perspectives in rapid succession.

madmatthies is a master of the TikTok transition. In this clip she sends her head spinning with a variety of camera tricks, edits, and props. Break the illusion and see how she works some of her magic in this behind the scenes clip.

Athlete and physical comedian Daniel LaBelle imagines a world where gravity is strictly optional. He edited his slow-motion footage to never show his feet touching the ground, then got his buddies to participate in an even better part two of the series. That bit with the treadmill is our favorite.

(PG-13: Gore) From greenscreen to miniatures to CGI, there are lots of different ways to produce visual effects. Filmmaker and essayist David F. Sandberg reminds us how simple edits can be one of the most effective ways to create illusions on screen and to integrate disparate elements to create a cohesive effect.

Filmmaker Patrick Pierson created this eye-popping visual travelogue that features wild transitions to transport us seamlessly around the globe. He pulled off the trick by replicating the same camera movements wherever his travels took him, including New Zealand, Prague, Paris, Venice, Copenhagen, and many other destinations.

Filmmaker Conner Griffith is a master of tying together sound and motion. In this clip, he takes us on a speedy ride along California’s Interstate 5, precisely edited to the tune of Richard Tee’s rousing piano version of Take the A-Train.

FXItInPost took a famous sequence from A New Hope, and reworked with new footage, clever editing, and VFX to make the battle between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader far more thrilling. It’s impressive, but we couldn’t help but think about George Lucas endlessly reworking his classics.

World traveler and filmmaker Brandon Li spent a month in Seoul, Korea capturing images of the vibrant lives of its citizens from all walks of life, deftly transitioning between images of the city’s mix of traditional and modern urban lifestyles. Director’s commentary video here.

Guitarist Davie504 has certainly proved that he has mad bass skills. But if you can’t keep up with his fingers, he’s here to show you how all you need is some basic video editing skills to perform just about any tune you’d like.

Among the imaging technologies shown off at Adobe MAX 2017 was this tool which works kind of like Content-Aware Fill, but for video. It’s designed to easily remove unwanted objects from moving images. We’re hoping to see this feature in Premiere or After Effects soon.

YouTuber Buttered Side Down used an array of clever editing, camera tricks, and VFX to make his first-person quest for his lost frisbee far more daunting than it really was. The only thing better than this would be a VR version of the video.

(PG-13: Language) Isaiah Howard (@isaiahxavier10) uses the smartphone app musical.ly to create totally trippy selfie music videos, which feature fast camera movements, and rapid edits which are at once completely disorienting and hypnotic.