How Professional Video Editors Think About Three Levels of Editing
How do professional video editors approach their craft differently than hobbyists?
Professional video editors work through three distinct levels: technical skills (Level 1), editing criteria like story and rhythm (Level 2), and emotion-first thinking (Level 3). Most editors start with technical training, but professionals begin every project by defining the emotional journey they want to create.
Why Most Editors Start at the Wrong Level
Most of us get excited about editing and jump straight into learning software. We download programs, figure out how to import clips, make basic cuts, and add music. This is Level 1 — the technical foundation.
Eventually, we discover Level 2, where editing develops its own vocabulary. You start refining in-and-out points, doing more sound design, and adding story structure. You realize there are actual criteria that guide your decisions.
But here's what separates professional editors: they start at Level 3, no matter where they are on their editing journey.
Level 3: Emotion as Your North Star
Level 3 focuses entirely on how you want the audience to feel. You use all your editing techniques and technical proficiency to support that emotional goal.
Think of emotion as a North Star you can keep coming back to throughout the editing process. It doesn't have to be complicated.
When I worked on a Select Health commercial, I identified at least a couple of emotions I was targeting. At the beginning, I wanted the audience to feel a sense of awe. Toward the middle, I wanted them to experience delight — to smile or laugh. At the end, I wanted the delight to continue, but I also wanted closure.
You likely won't have a project where you're only shooting for a single emotion. If you're only targeting one emotion for an entire video, that should be a warning sign that you're not taking your audience on much of a journey.
So I created an emotional map: awe, delight, and closure. Simple as that. Bonus points if you discuss the emotional map with your collaborator, like a director or producer, before you start your edit.
Level 2: Editing Techniques That Support Emotion
Once you have your emotional map, Level 2 asks: what editing techniques can we use to accomplish these emotional goals?
For the opening shot of that commercial, I knew several things would support the sense of awe. We were working with a visual effects artist to replace the background with a cityscape — that would give the shot scale. I planned to add orchestral score to the opening. The color grade would make it feel like a superhero movie.
I wanted to cut in when her cape was blowing, and with sound design, I could sweeten her footsteps. I wanted to cut to the next shot as her fist came down to give it a defining moment.
These are all Level 2 techniques, but the key was they were all in support of our emotional map.
Understanding how professional video editors approach sound in every shot becomes crucial at this level, where every audio decision serves the emotional goal.
Finding Delight Through Editorial Choices
For the middle section, we tried many different versions. The original script called for the camera to stay on the main character during her entire speech. But through experimentation, we decided it would delight the audience most if we cut away to different superheroes using their powers during the speech.
This was actually all improvised on set. Instead of staying on the speech, we cut away from the main character for almost a third of the commercial. After we leave her in the second shot, we go to six different shots before returning back to her. That's pretty unique.
Creating Closure
For the ending, several techniques evoked closure from the audience. The thumbs-up from Aquaman feels like an ending. Even more so, cutting wide to see all the superheroes at the table together, especially with the camera zooming out, really feels like ending.
I love the sound design of them all flipping the page at the same time, and bringing in the musical motif from the beginning ties it all together. Then we have one last joke after the art card, which in the commercial world is called a button.
Want to master the criteria professional editors use for every cut? Download this proven framework that reveals the 5 criteria top editors use to craft emotionally-impactful edits.
Level 1: Technical Tips You Can Use Today
Here are practical tips you can incorporate into your editing immediately.
Music Selection Strategy
If you're working on a project without a composer, go to a site like Artlist and listen carefully through their orchestral library. It might take some digging and time, but you'll probably find little sections of music you can place in your edit to give it the feel of a real score.
The Split-Screen Technique
Here's one of my favorite technical editing tips that I use all the time. When you have a static shot with two actors and there's space between them, you've exponentially increased your editorial options. You can choose the best take from one actor and the best take from another actor and combine them.
You can do this in most editing software with something simple like a crop or a matte, and oftentimes it doesn't need more finishing than that.
In that Select Health commercial, we took the best shot of the superhero leaving her chair, using the restroom, and coming back, and combined it with the best reaction shot of Bob from HR.
The Professional Editing Approach
All three levels are important and necessary. But if you pursue them in the right order — emotion first, then criteria like story, rhythm, sound, and action, and finally the technical — you'll go far.
Professional video editing isn't just about knowing the software. It's about understanding that every cut, every sound choice, and every technical decision serves a larger emotional purpose.
Ready to think like a broadcast editor? The Edit Like A Broadcast Pro course teaches you to create emotionally-impactful edits that win serious clients with real budgets.
