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May 8 2023

How Much Editing Is Too Much Editing?

editng is too much editing
4 min

Excess of anything will decrease the quality of the original, let us see where to draw a line.

American actress Diana Lane once said, “A lot can change in the editing room.” Which is very accurate. Good editing skills are worth their weight in gold. However, how much is too much? 

A good editor is a game changer in film, photography, and written copy editing. Nonetheless, an editor who does excessive cuts may kill the soul of the original. 

When it comes to video editing, we have got you covered with illusto. The best online video editor will guide you through and let you master the art of editing. But it won’t tell when to stop editing, and since it is too easy to use. It’s too much fun editing on illusto. So let us find out when you have done much.

It just looks too much

Yes! The easiest way to find out you have done too much editing is when people can make out glaring edits you have made. Look at the first version of the photo or video and compare it to the ones after the improvements are made. Congratulations, you have unsettled the copy.

It’s like adding salt to a curry; it will make it taste better. But, when you put in more and more, it ruins the taste of your curry.

Regarding photo editing, it is lightning, and the darkening of photos must be taken care of. This has to be done so that the viewer doesn’t lose sight of the actual object that you want them to focus on.

Maintaining Visual Clarity

Editing is done to enhance storytelling, which is the foundation of editing. However,  to achieve perfection, you may mess up your story’s sequence.

If changes are made to the frame, ensure that the frame isn’t getting blurry and halos are not forming behind the focused object, which can disturb the entire frame and ruin the scene.

Similarly, in the case of photo editing, similar to video frames, it may cause halos and create weird lines on the photos, which affects their quality.

Using colors the right way

Make your frame or video colorful in the way you want to tell your story but without making the colors off-putting.

For instance, in Walter White, played by Bryan Cranston in Breaking Bad, the maker had a subtle way of telling a story in the scenes; through costume color and background shades in the scenes. Many critics came up with a theory that the darkening of that Walter’s darkened shirt color and dark backgrounds throughout the series, where an indication that he evolves into Heisenberg, shows how his personality has changed. The darker his shirt color became, the more negative shades were introduced into his character, and the darker the series became with the tone.

Spike Zone’s “Her” is a movie where editing of color has been done brilliantly.

That is how colors can be used if used well. Similarly, a color edited unnecessarily can have an off-putting effect on the screen. 

And again, when it comes to photo editing, the frame loses its originality when too many edits are done. The color can become so vibrant if not saturated carefully that the photo may lose its actual soul.

Losing details in the frame

In films or videos, the makers often try to put elements in scenes that are hard to find at first glance. But having watched a movie a few times, you will appreciate the quality and vision of a maker. This generally happens to all the Nolan fans. He is a master of deception. “The Prestige” is one of the classic examples of such mastery.

However, getting back to the point, the moment the editor tries to make the frame perfect, he is likely to lose the details that the director or filmmaker has cleverly put out there for the audience.

As far as photos go, similar to frames in films, the photographer’s intention of capturing certain things cleverly may just get lost, ruining the art.

Editing written pieces

Editing is not limited to just photos and videos. Editing is an essential part of writing too. The reader is the top priority in written editing. The expectation of what the reader wants. 

Then comes the client. The first question to ask is what are the client’s preferences? Do they need a blog for online editing software like illusto or does The New York Times needs an article about Harry Styles?

Anyway, imagine your client is illusto. What will you write? You have got to understand what the software is about. illusto is an online video editing software that professional spheres and newbies can use.

The video editor does not need newbies to pursue editing courses. Just drag the videos on the timeline and edit them. Then, export them up to 4K resolution.

The video editor is easy to use and provides premium features for free. One of the greatest strengths of illusto is that it is cloud-based and doesn’t demand your desktop or laptop to use High RAM or heavy graphic card.

let’s go back to the vital factor of editing. The other essential thing to consider is the writer’s train of thought. As an editor, it is crucial to understand the writer and the work they have put in and their perspective and make edits accordingly.

However, there is no hard and fast rule of what to do and not do in written editing but always work on keeping the copy should be clear, complete, compelling, and concise.

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