ABSTRACT
It should never be forgotten that film editing is a craft in which those involved have a tactile relationship with their ‘material’. Although the ‘material’ is not shaped by the editor as clay is shaped by the potter, the way in which the editor relates physically to the footage will affect his sympathy and harmony with the process of shaping the cut film. I cannot stress this too strongly for those aiming to become editors or to edit their own material; watch any first-rate editor and it will not be long before you sense his relationship with film as a substance.
