This was my first full short film production as an editor at Chapman. It was a four-day shoot, and after production wrapped, I had one week to turn in my first cut.

That was the first time I had to assemble a full 20-minute short with temp score and sound design in only five days. My head was spinning. I never thought I couldn’t get it done, but I wanted it to actually work. First impressions matter, and this was the first time I was going to show a cut to my peers and professor. So I put everything I had into making that first version as watchable as possible.

The way the class worked was brutal but honest. You’d bring in your editor’s cut with your director, everyone would watch it for the first time, including the director, and then the professor would ask the class to rate it: highly recommend, recommend, either/or, didn’t like it, or wouldn’t recommend to save mankind.

Harsh? Yeah. But also, that’s part of it.

I saw people walk out of class. I saw people defend every choice like they were on trial. And I get it. Being critiqued is hard. I don’t think that ever fully goes away. You just learn how to take what’s useful, let go of what isn’t, and trust your instincts enough to keep moving. The industry isn’t going to baby you. Especially when money, time, and people’s work are on the line.

Luckily, the class responded well to the first cut. It still needed a lot of work, but they understood what the film was trying to be. That mattered to me.

A lot of that came from the conversations I had with the director during pre-production. I tried to understand what he was going for tonally, what kind of movie he wanted to make, and what the story was really about. Being on set helped a lot too. I was watching the monitor every day and already cutting scenes in my head.

Once I understood the tone, I trusted that the film would reveal itself through his coverage and direction. To me, that’s a huge part of editing. You’re not there to force your own movie onto someone else’s work. You’re there to listen, understand the intention, and help shape the strongest version of it.

Communication is everything. When I suggest something, it’s not because I need it to go my way. It’s because I think it might help the film. Some ideas work, some don’t. That’s fine. The point is to keep digging until you know you’ve explored the scene from every angle.

I was lucky to work with a director who was open to that kind of collaboration. At the end of the day, it’s still their call, but when a director is willing to try things outside the original plan, the process becomes so much stronger.

It was a talented group, and I felt lucky to be part of it. The short came together really well, and I’m proud of what we were able to accomplish.