Career opportunities in film and video editing have exploded over the past few years. Not that long ago, this was a skill mainly required by film and television studios as well as production companies. Competition for these jobs was fierce. It still is, but the number of jobs has also increased significantly. Social media and video sharing channels, news sites, and corporate websites engage people and promote themselves with film.
There is no longer a distinct line between creative and communications roles. PR managers, graphic and web designers, games developers and digital marketers all need video editing skills.
Why do it?
Digital communications are central to the way companies engage with clients and customers. With that, the demand for video content has rapidly expanded. Video will soon account for over two-thirds of internet traffic for entertainment and information.
Companies use video marketing because uploading content to channels like YouTube give them unprecedented reach to hundreds of millions of people. A viral video is worth hundreds of thousands of euro in advertising, but at a fraction of the cost. Smart, funny viral videos also creates goodwill amongst consumers.
In addition, video production costs have dropped. As a result, more and more companies are using film and video marketing to promote their message.
What’s involved?
There is no single path into film and video editing. You could do a 4 year degree in film and television production, a 2-year diploma course or a year-long certificate course. These cover a number of subjects as well as editing.
If you are keen on a more hands-on and practical course, you should consider learning industry standard video editing software such as Final Cut Pro X. Final Cut Pro X is a professional video editing programme used by film and video editors around the world. Courses in Final Cut Pro X can be as short as 2 or 3 days.
There are also courses on Adobe’s Creative Cloud suite of programmes. These include Adobe Premiere Pro, a video editing application, and Adobe After Effects, a digital motion graphics and compositing programme used in post-production.
At a glance
People working in creative and communication roles need video editing skills. Educational options include short 2 to 3 day courses on professional video editing software, 1 year certificate courses, 2 year diploma courses and 4 year degree programmes.