If you have always dreamed of a career in video editing but weren’t sure if you wanted to tie up with a specific studio or broadcast center for much of your job, you might be wondering if you will be able to do it that easily.
As a professional video editor in this highly competitive industry, it is essential to learn about the factors to consider (along with the steps to take) to be successful as a freelance video editor.
From onsite video editing 2-3 days at the client’s office to create a short digital video produced in-house at your desk, as a talented freelance editor and video editor, you will be able to offer your services for digital videos for corporate as well as private clients.
Table of Contents
What does a freelance video editor do?
The advantage of working as a video editing freelancer is to participate in innovative projects continually. The development of a professional profile is accessible for every video editing freelancer to implement.
Conversely, for companies, it means that there are qualified freelancers who have already gained experience in projects in other companies and bring this to their own project in a profitable way.
As audiovisual editing and post-production professional, your job will be to edit images and sounds from films, reports, broadcasts, … shooting rushes, archive elements according to the artistic intentions defined beforehand, and develop the best video effects.
This job is accessible from a degree in audiovisual supplemented by professional experience in editing.
Usually, recruitments are open on customary fixed-term employment contracts, sometimes on open-ended employment contracts (television channels, production companies, post-production companies).
However, the industry is changing. You can now easily find jobs and contracts as a freelance video editor as long as you selecting the best freelancing marketplaces such as Eventeus.com or Upwork.
Also, full proficiency in one or more image or sound editing software is required.
The activity of a freelance video editor:
It is carried out within television channels, production companies, post-production companies, and the direction and production team (director, producer, editor-in-chief, …).
It varies according to the sector (cinema, audiovisual, advertising, music), the type of equipment (mechanical editing table, computerized editing station, …), and the type of production (film, documentary, report, … ).
Here are some of the main fields where you will find freelance jobs as a video editor:
- Cinema
- Event
- Publicity
The main types of companies and structures recruiting freelance editors services are:
- Advertising company
- TV channel
- Phonographic publishing company
- Film post-production company
- Audiovisual and cinematographic production company
- Video game development studio
- Animation film studio
- …
The profession of the freelance video editor is rich and varied! You will need to select the footage for a movie carefully, put together all the shots for a film, work with the director, and keep your client happy.
Therefore, you are going to have to be attentive, a king of communication, and a pro of Adobe Premiere or any other video editing software. A final professional cut, a subtle transition, or a rigging trick, be versatile and efficient.
You can always start by familiarizing yourself with avid video editing software: you will be able to experience some of the basics of video editing from your computer.
The job of a freelance video editor:
- Watch the shoot’s rushes and select the takes for editing according to the indications and artistic intentions of the director, journalist, …
- Determine the start and end of an image, a shot
- Assemble plans, images for an audiovisual product
- Check the quality of the dialogues recorded during a shoot.
- Editing direct sounds
- Compose the atmospheres and sound effects of an audiovisual product
- Synchronize direct sounds with images for film editing
How to become a freelance video editor?
Freelancers do not have the benefit of a supporting firm’s reputation for the quality of its work. Your main selling point to potential clients will be your resume and portfolios (showing that you have experience in a specific area) and your editor skills (providing direct analysis), and the overview of the type of product you can supply to the customer.
As you continue to familiarize yourself with various genres and production budgets, you may wish to develop multiple portfolios so that you can tailor future applications to the interests of the potential client.
From short digital videos to high-quality video projects, as a freelance video editor, you need to have a realistic assessment of your skills and weaknesses is essential.
While Freelancers enjoy the freedom to choose their hours of work, their amount of work (or little), and the genres and types of videos they edit, that freedom can come at a cost. Mismanaging your client’s time (or money) by not meeting deadlines or going over budget can cost you some work ahead and significantly damage your reputation in a relatively insular film community.
How much should a freelance video editor charge?
Typically, the price for a video editing service is between USD 125 and USD 200. Video production companies and freelance professionals can edit home videos, music videos, commercials, short films, and feature films.
There isn’t a minimum or maximum content length for hiring a video editing and editing service. The only limit is your creativity while filming.
Video editing services include stitching video footage into a final piece, adding DVD-like chapters and menus, adding motion graphics (such as titles, logos, and business cards), adding voiceover or background music, adjusting brightness, contrast, and colors, retouching image stabilization, and hundreds of other techniques that will transform your amateur videos into a masterpiece.
Besides, the price of editing a video depends entirely on the results desired by the customer. The final cost will depend entirely on the project’s complexity and the quality of the last production values expected by the customer. If you want to add special effects to your video, it will undoubtedly cost an extra.
What skills does a video editor need to have?
To become the perfect freelance video editor, you must be rigorous and organized: a shot should not be poorly connected. A correction error is visible, or the atmosphere is changing completely from one shot to the next.
Video editing, special video editing software, know-how, and technique: so many things that intrigue you and push you towards this profession that makes you dream so much!
Being a video editor means letting your creativity run wild while respecting deadlines. Still, above all, it knows how to transform twenty hours of hesitant shots into five minutes of pure pleasure.
Personal and professional skills:
- Visual image appreciation
- Sound editing techniques
- Film editing techniques
- History of cinema
- Video editing techniques
- Features of editing software
- Digital editing techniques
- …
Get started as a freelance video editor with Eventeus.com!
As freelance editors, you will need to find new projects and get in touch with many potential clients.
Besides, many companies are looking for full-time and part-time freelance editors. The required professional skills are editing videos, motion graphics, post-production freelance video editing, and other tasks on Adobe Premiere Pro.
With Eventeus.com, as a freelancer, you can get in touch with clients worldwide and find the latest freelance video editing jobs online with companies looking for specialists’ services and jobs posted on the marketplaces.
