Khaiyah Barber - Editor
Job title - Editor
Experience - 5+ years
“Post-production is not an easy field to break into especially as a woman of color being that it is a white male dominated industry, but believing in yourself will propel you through hardship.”
Describe your job role and the kinds of projects/clients you work with.
I am a video editor and this means that I take every single piece of footage, every audio track, every sound effect, every transition, every motion graphic or visual effect and watch/listen to it all then combine it, color it and equalize it to create one gelled body of work. My main group of clients need social media content because in this day and age, who doesn’t? I create long form youtube content and short form easily digestible promotional social media content.
What does an average day look like in your post production working world?
I am as detail oriented and structured as they come, I typically begin each day by checking Asana, Slack, Notion and my email for the day’s tasks and I’ll compile them all in order of importance and urgency in my physical planner and create a to-do list for the day. Depending on which client takes precedence on a certain day this can determine how long I’ll be sitting watching footage. On some days the only thing I’m doing is watching footage and familiarizing myself with the content and style. First I categorize the footage by creating keyword collections based on every single thing about the footage: the date, time of day, location, topic, angle, take, lighting, audio channel, etc. Then I’ll get an order of events in the timeline so I have an extremely basic idea of beginning to end. I’ll watch this and while it is playing I’ll go through adding markers for where I want B-Roll, lower thirds, pop-ups, a cut, etc. And I’ll be sure to label those markers with which thing specifically I wanted there. This saves so much time for future "editing me" because I don’t have to spend any time guessing. On super fun days, all I am doing is transferring footage and creating folder systems. Those days I just turn up the music and zone out.
How did your career in post production begin?
My father has been in post-production my entire life. I saw him direct live productions at an early age and it was mind boggling to watch the many shots and angles on what seemed like a thousand screens in the control room be condensed down to one single feed that played on the screens in the auditorium. This changed the way I see the world because it was at that point I realized through this medium you could completely control what people see in the end. Soon, I got bit by the editing bug when I wanted to create youtube videos. My dad already taught me how to film, but I didn't know how to put it all together. So I did what any independent 10 year old with access to a computer would do: I learned. I began my journey using an open source editing software called Kdenlive. It didn't have very many capabilities back then, but it got the job done. There wasn't even a reverse feature so I would cut up clips then shift all the pieces from end to beginning to make a reverse effect. Was it choppy? Absolutely, but it forced me to think outside the box. Once my dad saw that I was determined enough to figure it all out myself, he began to invest in my newfound talent beginning with a new editing software that would change my editing journey forever: Final Cut Pro. Once I learned this application I became good enough to join the family business, DynamikWorks, and edit videos for real, paying clients.
What has been your career highlight?
One of the highlights of my career was working on a web show called, the SBA Roadshow. We created this show from conception to delivery. I was a part of the process in making the original treatment and guide for the style of the show. Being the technical director and editor of this show I figured out that before this point I didn’t ever really value systems the way I should. There would have been absolutely no way to do work the way we did without creating an order of operations. When to edit, when to transfer, when to get motion graphics, etc. Having to coordinate all of these things and see it through for two seasons worth of content while still evolving is not an easy process. I had to constantly think ahead to what could be better, more simplistic and engaging. How can I draw the viewer in to make them feel the emotion behind the story? How can I make them laugh? Cry? How can I help my team meet deadlines? How can I ignite the passion of creating in my team? The power of leadership came to a head during this time. I learned the most about post-production during this time period working on the SBA Roadshow.
Who are your role models in post?
Of course my dad is a huge role model for me because he got me into the post production world to begin with. Otherwise, I am mostly inspired by underdogs in the industry. The people that were not set up to win, but have still pushed through anyway. I absolutely adore Ava DuVernay because she has been in the industry fostering authentic stories featuring the black community for years before anyone really knew her or gave her the recognition she deserved. I love the work of Jordan Peele because of how he constantly pushes the boundaries in the thriller and horror genres. Who says that those movies aren’t comedies? It is all about your interpretation and I am fascinated by how he leaves so much room for your own thought process about his creations. There is so much to learn and these are just three of the people I look to as inspiration and role models.
What advice do you have for others wanting to start a career in post?
What you want and what you can do are not synonymous, but what you believe you can do and the time and effort you put into said belief is what makes it yours. Half the battle much of the time when doing anything is believing you can. After that, it’s simply the time you put in and the effort you give it that will carry you. I’d say first figure out your "why". Why do you want to be in post? What is drawing you to the world of post-production? And then always remember that. Start trying to recreate things you’ve seen or try to make things you’ve never seen before. When you’re creating anything, always remember your initial why because it will change your approach to everything you do. Post-production is not an easy field to break into especially as a woman of color being that it is a white male dominated industry, but believing in yourself will propel you through hardship.
Favourite piece of your work (please share a vimeo or youtube link)
I think this may be my favorite work more so because of the experience I had with everyone behind the scenes. It was such a joy to work with other women of color that value the creative process and are working to create something that is not only meaningful, but also fun, which at the time (and even now) we needed the most as a community. I love every video I edited for Malique’s Mixxy Drinks because they’re such a good time to watch and as an extra bonus: I had creative control :) . I hope they make you want to dance and have a good time! https://www.instagram.com/p/CUK3maqFtma/