shots Awards 2015: Editor of the Year

Following our coverage of the shots Awards 2015 in the last issue, here, in round two, we speak to several more gold winners – including editor Joe Guest, the team behind The Unquiet Film Series and folk from Blink and Psyop – about working with dogs and penguins and what gives their work that gilded glow

Editor Of The Year: Joe Guest

Yours is an impressive body of work from the end of 2014 to the end of 2015. Can you feel when a project or a series of projects is really working well?

Thanks. You can tell when a project is working by the feeling in the room and the response you get from showing it to colleagues or family. I’ve recently started showing my son, Stanley, who’s six, my edits and it’s fun to watch his face and get his first response to things: “Ohhhhh… Daddy, that girl nearly smashed the house up by dancing. CRAAAAZZZZZYYYY!”

Your shortlisted work is quite eclectic, from penguins to flying t-shirts to dancing children. Does that eclecticism make your job more enjoyable but also more challenging?

That’s what keeps me going. It’s good to challenge yourself. Working with a wide range of directors means every job is different. Although the three jobs you mentioned are all from one director.

There was a lot of heavy post work on all of these jobs, except for the Thinkbox spot [Harvey And Harmony], as that dog gave an amazing performance in every take. It’s not often you get away with dogs having sex in the back of a car in an advert is it? The challenge in post-heavy jobs is still telling a story with the main character missing. There’s a lot of acting and wild pointing going on in the edit suite.

One of the judges said that editing works best when you don’t notice it. Would you agree? And can being inconspicuous be difficult sometimes?

It really depends on the work you’re doing. If it’s music based then you can get away with some heavy cuts that hit you in the face, but for more narrative based jobs it’s good to be more subtle when the footage allows.

When a job comes in that requires the film to feel like a one-shot, that’s when the challenge begins. If it’s not fully planned out then getting it to time can prove difficult. It’s always good to edit on set on those jobs, so you can work it out with the director.

How important is an editor’s relationship with the director in creating the best work possible?

I have many directors that I have been working with over the years now and it doesn’t hurt to know what they want or expect from you as far as the editing process goes. It’s important to be on the same page with the director and be able to bring their vision to the screen. Then again, there’s nothing wrong with a good argument about a certain shot selection.

You’ve been shortlisted for this category for the last three years. How does it feel to win in 2015?

It was an amazing honour to win this year, and also unexpected as there was some great work from the competition. The fact that Final Cut also won best edit house for the second year running was awesome.

Is there a project from last year that you look back on most fondly?

Both John Lewis ads, Monty’s Christmas and Tiny Dancer, were great fun to work on. The girl in the latter gave an amazing performance, so it was a joy to edit.

It’s often said that a commercial – or any film project – is made in the cutting room. Have you ever had the urge to step behind the camera and shoot the frames you’re cutting?

I love editing and I work with a great bunch of talented directors who all shoot amazing work, but never say never…