Finely Sliced: Mitch Hall's Take On Trendy Editing Techniques

Mitch Hall has built a reputation working with leading creative agencies in the UK and internationally, delivering standout content for some of the world’s most well-known brands. With a strong instinct for visual storytelling, he brings ideas to life, ensuring every narrative takes centre stage. His creative expertise and collaborative approach make him a trusted editor for commercial and branded content that truly connects.

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

Mitch> Besides skimming through the rushes channelling Tom Cruise at the helm of those machines in 'Minority Report', first and foremost, listening to or sourcing the music that’ll accompany the project to get a feel for it is one of my main starting points. Whether I’ve sourced it or the director has, listening to the music gets me into the vibe of the project.

For example, when I was editing a spot for Brian May, I’d kick my chair back into fully reclined mode and blast Queens’ album out to re-acquaint myself with the guitar legend.   

Of course, it does depend on the project. If it’s about finding a narrative doc style then I’ll internalise the subject’s stories, concentrating on when those sharp soundbites arise. The audio bed edit is critical to mapping the path to a successful edit.    

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?

Mitch> It starts as a barrier on entry so a lot of the technical stuff you learn starts as a necessity until you realise it’s essential to the craft. And then it becomes about harnessing it, to give you an advantage or be more streamlined. 

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

Mitch> It feels cliché to say because I see it in every editing interview ever, but there’s no harm in driving home again that story is king. So as an editor, you’re on this journey of getting to the core of the story, finding the best route on the map. The best route equals a better edit. Unless of course you’re editing one of those abstract short films shown in art galleries where a woman is wrapping herself in string and cutting to a glass smashing in slow motion - then your goal is actually to confuse your audience as much as possible. 

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?

Mitch> I love cutting to music - it’s one of the main reasons that got me into editing. As mentioned earlier, music is such a great starting point especially for your edit rhythm. However, you do have to remind yourself that always cutting to the beat can actually damage your edit, you know.

A lot of the time it’s about the in-between beats or the rhythm of the dialogue being a better choice than your obvious musical beats. The dialogue is so important to the flow. Editors must be feng shui masters guarding the sacred art of balancing the chi energy within the timeline.

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

Mitch> This year I edited a promo at Gusto Film for a mega brand collaboration of KissFM’s Hype Chart in partnership with the Google Pixel 7 and Vodafone that chronicles the day in the life of an up and coming artist from their roster.

The challenge for me was packaging the artists’  jam packed day into a one minute piece, balancing fun moments as well as hitting various brand/product moments that didn’t feel too invasive. It was interesting combining the phone’s camera taking features and screen records/overlays into the narrative.

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

Mitch> I’m a big fan of directors who are passionate about their work. It’s about the characteristics of being curious and open to creativity but also firm about decisions which are approved of, all because they’re backed up by their passion for the project.

And in terms of approaching difficult conversations when there’s a creative difference, creativity is about personal taste and taste can differ but you are the editor who is in service of the director’s vision. You’re also in service of the piece you’re editing so if you think your taste is going to service the piece better then it’s your job to present this version or vision. So those difficult conversations are always about being in service of what you’re creating.

For me, this Heinz spot produced by Gusto showed director Tom Staniford projecting a clear vision to everyone involved.

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

Mitch> Too much material for sure. It results in a multitude of options and routes to go down - it’s an over 9000 piece puzzle that accumulates in a different picture depending on how you assembled it. Versus a 50 piece puzzle that has the end result picture on the back of the box.

The flip side to that is that having many routes to go down empowers you as an editor, your time to shine. I work with a very talented team at Gusto, their efforts result in having just the right amount of material to work with because they’ve spent meticulous time passionately planning and visualising what the end result will be like.   

If I do end up in a project that is lacking material to play with then I’ll sometimes turn to stock to flesh the project out. We’re also seeing new AI tools emerging that are showing us a door that leads to possibilities of a world where we’ll be able to create new material from very limited resources - a topic I’m following closely and experimenting with.

This year I delved into emerging AI image generating techniques to create a stopmotion/ timelapse for this promo below. In this instance, in collaboration with director, Blake Claridge, I was able to create material from scratch based on Blake’s storyboards. For me, this is an exciting area of experimentation.   

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

Mitch> I’m most proud of my work for Fender/ Charvel guitars. We’ve made promos for world famous talent like Brian May and Guthrie Govan. It’s a privilege to collaborate with such wonderful talent. These are musicians passionate about their craft so we get to tell passionate stories as a by-product of that. It feels genuine.

I’m also proud of a recent project we did for a charity called Whizz Kidz which involved telling an intimate story of an inspiring disabled child with a loving family, and again because it feels genuine. Director Tom Staniford and DP Ross Marshal, shot some beautiful sun-drenched Autumnal scenes.  

LBB> There are so many different platforms for film content now, and even in advertising something can last anything 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?

Mitch> There’s a big push for content feeling and looking homemade/user generated in a lot of areas, almost pushing out that middle budget look and feel, making the brand landscape look like either high end striking visual ads or genuine ‘user’ made feeling content.

So with that in mind, I’ve definitely noticed the increase in quickfire edits for the brand’s socials, taking influence from creators on the platforms. It’s all brand dependent you know, who is their audience and what type of content do they expect to see or pay attention to.

This is all usually part of a wider package of content, that sports a higher end ‘hero’ spot to lead the campaign, which is backed up by cutdowns of that hero spot. So I’m seeing 15 second, 10 second and  even five second cutdowns to really make it a complete package. It’s like a spider, the body is the substance and the legs carry the weight of the substance. Kind of gross but I don’t have time to think of a better analogy. 

With the internet being flooded with a fair amount of soulless AI content I think it’s easy to see that brands are going to, or should be pushing to make ads and content that feels genuine and uses real human talent to create it and not cut corners. But don’t get me wrong, in the right hands and with the right ideas, I’m all here for the more artsy clever pieces made using AI tools. If brands choose to make this sort of content then they need to be clever about whose hands they are putting it into.

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

Mitch> For me, my editing heroes are the folks editing movie trailers, I think they’re at the top of the game. They must have a lot of pressure and have a lot at stake. This trailer for a movie called 'Wakefield' is a masterpiece (shame the movie didn’t live up to the trailer). I think they got to the core of the story so well.   

Other than that, one of my most favourite spots for editing in recent memory is this promo for Hans Zimmer’s Masterclass. They picked out so many memorable soundbites from the eccentric icon and I love how they structured and paced it. I read somewhere that they impressively turned it around in one week as well.    

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

Mitch> I’d say there’s a trend of directors wanting techniques and ideas they’ve seen on Instagram or Tik Tok from creators. Especially the pacing of ads, and transitions is a big one, creative transitions are rife at the moment combined with all the dynamic camera moves at play at this moment in time. Personally I prefer commercials that are more driven by an original concept or story driven, rather than flashy bam! bam! bam! editing.  

If you’ve read this far down then I’d like to thank you for taking time out of your day procrastinating to read the thoughts and opinions of this hairy editor.