Joe Parsons on The Two Sides of Editing

Joe Parsons joined Gramercy Park Studios at the start of 2022, having previously worked at Soho edit houses The Assembly Rooms, The Whitehouse, and The Quarry.

He heads up the Hogarth UK edit department, alongside Joe McNally, and brings over two decades of experience cutting award winning work to the company’s commercial.

Not content with the cut and thrust of a 30” or 60” spot, Joe has also edited a number of feature films, TV work and, like any editor worth their salt, numerous short films.

LBB> The first cut is the deepest: how do you like to start an editing project?

Joe> Select, select, select.

Really, I wish had a better answer to kick this off with but for me it’s the only way to start a job. There are no short cuts to going through all those lovely rushes, even the bits where someone forgot to turn the camera off, because you just never know, right?

Most obviously it helps you see what you have to work with, but it also brings you up to speed with where the director and creatives are at so on any conversations that follow, you’re plugged into what’s going on.

If time allows, I like to do this before hearing too much about what went on during the shoot so that I can approach the job neutrally.

Thelma Schoonmaker famously doesn’t go on any of Scorsese’s shoots so she avoids any of the noise about what did or didn’t ‘work’ on set and it’s a great rule of thumb to go by. Just because a scene felt tricky while shooting, it doesn’t necessarily mean it won’t deliver on screen, and vice versa too!

LBB> Non-editors often think of editing just in technical terms but it's integral to the emotion and mood of a film. How did you develop that side of your craft?

Joe> Editing is definitely one of those things where you have to learn on the job, you can theorise and pontificate as much as you like (guilty as charged) but eventually you just have to dive in and have a go.

With time you’ll develop those instincts although you’ll always be perfecting and honing that aspect of what you do.

LBB> How important is an understanding of story and the mechanics of story?

Joe> I always love that point in the edit where you’re familiar with all the footage, you know your deal breaker shots that you have to find room for, and the cut is maybe over length but not enough to cause you sleepless nights.

Now you can experiment a bit, accentuating individual characters or points in the script as you explore what’s really key to the story that needs to be told. So yes, that understanding is of course fundamental to an editor’s role and again something that you’re always learning more about.

LBB> Rhythm and a sense of musicality seem to be intrinsic to good editing (even when it's a film without actual music) – how do you think about the rhythm side of editing, how do you feel out the beats of a scene or a spot? And do you like to cut to music?

Joe> Argghhh, music!! It’s so great when a project has a track that feels perfect and that everyone is behind – and is affordable too, obviously!

Conversely, it’s a nightmare when you just cannot find that right track. Recently I churned through over a hundred tracks in a day on a job with the agency in tow as we all threw the kitchen sink at it. A fun day for everyone, obviously, and a new PB for me.

For these reasons I try not to get too into the music too soon, it can sometimes send you off on a path that later can become hard to come back from. As long as it feels more or less right in pace and tone, then I go with it and worry about finessing the details later.

LBB> Tell us about a recent editing project that involved some interesting creative challenges.

Joe> Without a doubt the last Mayor of London film tackling male violence against women and girls (MVAWG) was a challenge in every respect and one I and everyone involved fully embraced given the serious message of the campaign.

The film was around five minutes but due to the interactive nature of the piece it had *checks notes* 270 possible narratives all of which had to feel like watching that was the only way it could have played.

It was kind of mind bending, a bit like 4D chess only harder and with more players, but we got there in the end, and it really was a huge team effort.

One of the pleasures of this job is working with incredibly talented people across different disciplines. While I know it sounds like a cliche we had such a stellar group of people working on this, from the force of nature that is RSA’s Kobe Adom to the cream of Ogilvy’s creative teams and on to many others that I can’t name without going into Oscar-acceptance-speech territory but they know who they are.

LBB> How important is your relationship with the director and how do you approach difficult conversations when there is a creative difference of opinion?

Joe> The director/editor relationship really is everything, if that clicks then tricky notes on the cut from agency or client are so much easier to deal with and a 15-hour (or more) day can be a breeze.

Sometimes it takes time to build that trust, which I totally get from a director’s POV, and other times you just hit it off from the get-go. Be it over a common response to the footage or something seemingly trivial like a shared interest – it can just help everyone in the room relax a little.

My partner here at GPS heading up the editing team, Joe McNally, always says half of the job is facing forwards and half is facing the back of the room and he’s totally right in that this job is about so much more than simply pressing the right buttons.

Listening to everyone, keeping the energy in the room and balancing opinions are just as important and all go towards helping to find the best edit.

LBB> What's harder to cut around – too much material or not enough? (And why?)

Joe> Instinctively I want to say too much material is always preferable to too little but that’s not without its problems either. With the demise of film and producers on set no longer hearing money pour through the gate with every frame, it’s much more common to have a high shooting ratio than the other way round.

That said, sometimes not having that shot you’d ideally like can force you to make creative decisions that in the end are to the benefit of the piece overall. The story behind the final scene of ‘Blackadder Goes Forth’ is a great example of this.

LBB> Which commercial projects are you proudest of and why?

Joe> It’s really hard to single out individual jobs as I’ve been lucky enough to work with some super talented people on some great projects though the Mayor of London would again get a shout, not least because of the great crew but also because I was honoured with a Silver from the nice folk at Kinsale Sharks.

Basically, if it’s on the reel you can bet I’m proud of it!

LBB> There are so many different platforms for film content now, and even in advertising something can last anywhere from a few seconds to a couple of hours. As an editor, are you seeing a change in the kind of projects you're getting from brands and agencies?

Joe> Without a doubt the days of a 60” with a 30” cutdown and two 10”s seem to be numbered, but that doesn’t make our job any less creative. If anything, there’s even more to focus on now and it’s important to ensure that the shorter, often social, edits still feel integral to the campaign as a whole and not an afterthought.

When social media content first started it was seen as a poor relation and often used by the smaller brands while now even the highest profile companies want exposure on these platforms and often the creative will originate there.

LBB> Who are your editing heroes and why? What films or spots epitomise good editing for you?

Joe> It’s often frustrated me that the films with faster editing seem to get the gongs while any editor will tell you that pacing something slower is often harder to get right, especially over a long format.

Films like ‘The Insider’ and ‘Point Blank’ are great in this aspect. The footsteps scene in ‘Point Blank’ is a killer and Steven Soderbergh’s films are really good to watch for the economy he tells a scene with.

Showing my age here but commercial-wise I’ve always loved Frank Budgen’s ‘Number One’ spot for Audi, the timing and delivery all the way through are just so good. “Taxi!!..”

LBB> How does editing in the commercial world differ from the film world and TV world?

Joe> It takes a lot longer and you get paid a lot less, in my experience at least! Always up for another challenge though…

LBB> Have you noticed any trends or changes in commercial editing over recent years?

Joe> Aside from schedules getting shorter and the number of deliverables going through the roof, the shift to remote editing shows no sign of going away.

Much as it’s great to have that flexibility to be able to work from home at the beginning or end of a job, I still feel that the big presentations to agencies and clients are best done in the suite. Find the biggest telly in the building, dim the lights and hit play.