[0:00]Seven levels of editing, each one building on the last, to bring your editing from terrible to Oscar-worthy. Starting with level one. In the 1930s, movies cut to a new scene every 12 seconds on average. But modern films average a cut every 2 and a half seconds, nearly five times as many cuts in the same span of time. Sure, this is partially due to editing software and digital cameras making the process easier. But there's also a psychological reason that faster cuts have progressively become the standard for successful films and even social media content. Our brains are efficiency machines. To save energy, your brain constantly tries to stop processing things that aren't changing. This function is called neural adaptation. If you stare at a static shot of a person talking, within seconds your brain indexes their face, the background and the lighting. Once that's done, the brain literally dims its electrical response to that image, making viewers more likely to tune out and click away to a different video. But more frequent cuts are just one way to reset the brain. Different angles, jump cuts, dynamic visuals, these can all do the same thing. And this is especially relevant for entertainment style content. There's a reason Mr. Beast videos have back-to-back-to-back cuts, crazy visuals, and constantly changing scenes. But there's a catch. See, if you interrupt too much or in the wrong way, you can actually push the audience away, which we will get into in level three. But first, level two. Okay, so we just learned that adding pattern interrupts prevents the viewer's brain from tuning out. But with pattern interrupts, every time you cut, the viewer's brain has to answer the question. Where am I supposed to look now? If the answer isn't immediately obvious, their brain has to scan the screen. And if the viewer has to hunt for the subject every few seconds, the brain begins to burn through its mental battery faster and disengage from the story. So as an editor, now our job is not just to interrupt attention, it's to guide it. And by this, I mean we need to guide where the viewer's eye should be looking at all times. Because when the viewer never has to search, they never have to think about watching. They just watch. So let's look at one of the best examples ever created for this. In 2015, Mad Max Fury Road redefined action movies. The director famously stood over his camera operators and made sure they put the crosshairs on the nose, because he wanted every shot to be center-framed in order to keep the viewer's eyes locked in one spot. And this idea carried over into the edit where Margaret Sixel had to sift through 480 hours of footage and tag every single usable frame that would keep the viewer's eyes centered. And the result was an action movie that won six Oscars. Because despite the insanely fast-paced action scenes in the movie, it all somehow makes sense in the moment, because the viewer's eyes never have to search. And no, this doesn't mean you have to keep every shot perfectly centered. But the principle behind this technique is what editing always comes back to. Story always comes first. And this principle applies everywhere, not just Hollywood films. Take a YouTube documentary about World Wars, for example. Instead of forcing viewers to interpret static maps, editors animate movements so the brain can follow events naturally. When highlighting an article quote, editors visually highlight the exact words being read so the viewer's eyes and ears stay synchronized. Or maybe it's as simple as zooming in on a certain part of the screen. We're just trying to avoid making the viewer search for where to look. But even when your video is easy to follow, there's another layer at play. Because editing doesn't just control where the viewer looks, it shapes what they believe. Which brings me to level three, Perception Control. Every editing decision sends a signal to the viewer about what kind of video they're watching. Educational videos tend to use cleaner, more restrained editing. And visuals might be used to try and explain complex topics in a simplified way. Whereas entertainment content uses faster cuts, motion, and more visual intensity, with the sole purpose of trying to keep you engaged with the story. But if you mismatch the editing style with the audience's expectations, it subconsciously creates friction in the viewer's mind. I mean, imagine if one of my educational videos suddenly used constant memes, chaotic zooms, and exaggerated sound effects, like this. Even if the information stayed the same, the video would feel less trustworthy, because the edit signals entertainment, while the content signals education. And viewers don't consciously analyze this. They feel it instantly. This applies everywhere. If a film looks amateur with awkward framing and consistent cuts, then viewers assume the storytelling is worse before the story even unfolds. Because throughout history, great storytelling and great editing have usually appeared together. So the edit becomes a proxy for quality, which also makes it a proxy for trust. And trust isn't just important for storytelling, it matters for the tools we use online too. Which brings me to today's sponsor, Proton. You probably know Proton for their privacy first tools like Proton mail, Proton VPN, encrypted cloud storage, and more. All built around the idea that your data should only belong to you. Proton also offers an exciting opportunity for content creators through their Proton Partners program. And it's one of the most creator-friendly affiliate setups I've seen. You sign up, get your referral link, share it with your audience, and you earn a commission on every sale. No complicated contracts, no waiting around for payments, no hoops to jump through. And the earning potential is real. Creators in the program are already pulling in thousands per month. And because Proton's products are subscription based, your referrals can turn into a genuine passive income stream that compounds over time. The more you share, the more you earn. Plus, and I think this is the part that a lot of creators will appreciate, you're not just promoting some random product. You're helping your audience actually protect their privacy online. And that's a recommendation you will always feel good about. If you want to check it out, head to proton.me/jointheprogram or there's a link in the description below to find it there. And it takes like only two minutes to get started. Huge thanks to Proton for sponsoring the video. Now, let's jump back in at level four. Okay, so you've filmed some different scenes for a short video you're making about a productive day in your life. Coffee, work, editing, task completing, and then there's the most beautiful sunset timelapse you have ever filmed. It looks insane, perfect light, perfect color. It's your favorite shot. So, you drop it in the middle of the video to bless your viewers retinas. But nobody seems to care. In fact, you got like five views and someone asked why you put a sunset in the middle of the video. Now, that negative feedback isn't because the sunset looked bad. It's simply because it had nothing to do with your productive day. You didn't add it to serve the story in any meaningful way. You chose it because you liked it. And that's dangerous because when you include your favorite scenes without any real intention, you break immersion. So, to solve this, you need to bury your treasures. If a scene does not serve the story, it gets cut, no matter how great the videography might be. But before deleting shots that don't seem to immediately serve your story, first ask if there's any way it can. So what if you move the sunset to the very end of the video, and give it a satisfying speed ramp, and turn it into a visually symbolic payoff? Your productive day is done and the sunset symbolizes closure. Now, we get to include our favorite shot and it serves the story without burdening the rest of the video. But truthfully, none of this matters unless you also consider your platform and audience. If this video is going on YouTube, for example, attention is very fragile. In my most viewed YouTube video with over a million views, nearly 40% of viewers clicked away after 30 seconds on a 13-minute video. And that's the reality of making content on YouTube. You have to constantly earn attention. So a sunset timelapse in the first minute might cost you attention, so you might cut it entirely. But on a platform like Netflix, viewers sit down expecting atmosphere. And there are also some channels on YouTube where I would say this is the case too. But basically, the viewer has agreed to immerse. And editors have more freedom to let longer shots breathe if they serve the story. Same sunset, different audience, different decision. So, when I say bury your treasures, what I really mean is this. Every scene should be chosen with intention. If it strengthens the story, keep it, if it weakens focus, cut it. Level six. One of the biggest mistakes an editor can make is telling the audience something that they could have felt. If a character in a film has been roaming a forest for days, you might leave in the scene where they say, man, I'm really tired. I've been out here for a long time. But as great editors ourselves, we are not going to do that. Instead, what if we show the passage of time through the edit? Let's use a series of identical center-framed shots consistent with what we learned in level three. But in each shot, the character looks progressively more worn down. Their hair is messier, their clothes are dirtier, the light is fading, and by the time the sequence ends, the viewer feels the exhaustion in their bones, because they watched the transformation happen. And this works for educational content and YouTube too. Think of your video like a building. You can use a recurring visual like a pyramid to symbolize the steps of your video. At level one, we lay the foundation. As we progress, the pyramid literally builds on screen. This gives the viewer a subconscious sense of achievement and something to follow along with throughout the video. They aren't just watching a video, they're climbing this mountain with you. Level seven. When people think about editing, they usually think visual. Wow, that transition was so cool. Wow, that visual must have taken you hours to make. But what most people fail to realize is how important sound is for building atmosphere. And this might sound bold, but sound is responsible for half of viewer immersion. Don't believe me? Well, let's take a look.
[10:09]That's the power of good sound design. Think about it, you are much more enticed to buy cookies from a shop you're walking past if you can see the cookies in the window and smell them. Because the more primary human senses you engage, the more of an emotional reaction you can give. So with video, you can essentially tap into the senses of sight and hearing. So by negating either one of these, it just reduces the chance that people will stick around and watch your video, because they're less stimulated. But you also need to be careful here because if you do this wrong, then it can actually make it worse than if you ignored sound design entirely in the first place. So let's break down effective sound design. It can be broken into two categories: diegetic and non-diegetic sound. Diegetic exists inside the world of the story. Footsteps, rain, voices, and is super important to establish realism. Non-diegetic exists outside the world of the story. Things like music or narration.
[11:05]Both of these types of sound shape how the viewer feels. But a lot of people overcomplicate this because they see Hollywood with professional sound designers, who make sounds from scratch, and genius composers like John Williams, who create music specifically for films like Harry Potter and Star Wars. But you don't have to be a world-class composer to use compelling music or sound effects. Right now, I personally use a site called Epidemic Sound, which I will link in the description. But there are plenty of great options out there that don't require you to be a musical genius. Level seven, Rhythmic Control. So let's think about why music works. If a drum beat is completely random, it just sounds like noise. But when the rhythm is consistent, it feels right and your brain locks in. And once it locks in, even small variations feel exciting because they exist relative to a stable pattern. And editing works the same way. As viewers watch your video, their brain begins to learn its rhythm, the pacing, the flow, the visual logic. And once that rhythm becomes familiar, they stop thinking about the edit and just start experiencing the story itself. This is why when you see crazy editing that looks really cool, it can actually feel exhausting to watch, because it's not just fast, it's completely unpredictable. And I see so many beginners who fail to understand that editing is there to enhance the story, not just show off their sweet animated visuals. So how do you actually develop rhythm? Well, there's a lot you could say here, but it starts with learning when a moment has delivered its value. Not too early, not too late, you hold a shot long enough for the viewer to understand it, and the moment they do, you move on. And the more you practice this, the more natural it becomes. Eventually, you stop guessing when to cut and you just feel it. And outside of editing yourself, the best way to develop that instinct is by studying great editing from others, watching content that really pulls you in and paying attention to what it does well. So don't just watch content, study it. Because the more you understand rhythm, the more control you have over how your story is experienced. If you enjoyed the video, make sure to like and subscribe if you haven't already. And if you want to learn more about video editing, you might like this video right here.
