Rebecca Bowker - Editor
Job title - Comedy Editor
Experience - 10+ years
“Firstly, never let an opportunity pass you by, however small or unappealing it may seem. You never know what it may lead to. The industry is small, and that tease you cut for a show that will never get made may be your door to your dream job! ”
Tell us about your job role and the kinds of projects you work on;
I am, in the main, a comedy editor. I cut anything from stand-up routines, panel shows, or funny VTs, both unscripted and scripted. Each new job tends to bring a different set of skills and expectations. Often a studio-based show requires you to cut a 3-hour record down to 30 minutes, keeping as much content as possible, whilst maintaining the continuity rhythm and feel of a live experience. Whereas on a VT edit, I am given the rushes from a shoot and allowed the freedom to tell a story creatively and funnily, as efficiently and succinctly as possible.
What does an average day look like in your post-production working world?
I think the thing I love about what I do most is that every job requires me to come up with new ways of working. Sure, the equipment stays the same - I work on Avid, but it’s amazing the different ways you can put shows together and I am always looking for new and better ways to make a program! However, an average day would be like this: I would normally start by grouping my rushes. I like doing this myself as it’s the only sure-fire way of knowing everything is there, and that you aren’t going to miss that amazing shot the camera person grabbed when no one realised. Then I will watch the rushes, (hopefully in full, but this is dependant on the job and time restrictions: Fast turnaround shows obviously don’t allow for this) creating a line cut of the best, most interesting, cameras and making notes as I go. Then the rest of the day is spent cutting down my line cut - First for content, then for pictures, then sound, then extra assets, such as GFX. It is usually only then that I will think about practical things like duration. Getting something to time is a big part of the job as anything unscripted rarely has the length of the show factored into the length of the record. If I have the time I will always make the cut work with the funniest stuff before trying to get something to time as It’s amazing how much content you can keep when you see something finished rather than as a rough cut. I also spend a lot of time making sound edits work as I think getting something that sounds natural makes for a better viewing experience for everyone, especially in exec viewings! I also think that the eyes can be far more forgiving and less easily tricked than the ears. Plus, there are always different camera angles to fix a bad picture edit but rarely different mics to fix a bad sound edit. Once a cut has been viewed, changes are done, and signed off, it’s time for a final pass. I try to treat every offline project I do with the same mantra: Would I be happy for what I have produced to go straight on to telly without a Dub or Online? Sometimes the edits I do, don’t get the time to go to finishing suites, so it’s a habit I have got into because of that. But I find that it means when you do have the luxury of an online editor and dubbing mixer you afford them the time to get creative themselves, and I think the finished show is much better for it.
How did your career in post-production begin?
It started the day I left university. I knew I wanted to work in TV and I knew I was pretty competent with a computer so I got a runners job at a company called Editworks, mainly because it was the only job offer I had that was paid, and I needed money to be able to stay in London. My degree had been in French so I wasn’t particularly sure how it was going to go, but I quickly learned that most training comes on the job. I moved into the machine room and then from there was trained up to be an in-house editor, mainly working on gameshows. After a few years of editing, I decided to go it alone and become freelance as I wanted to open up the genre of shows I was working on. It was massively daunting but I joined The Independent Post Company and I have never looked back. With their help, I moved into light-entertainment, working on huge shows like X-Factor and Britain’s Got Talent, before leading me to where I am now, working on comedy entertainment, and getting to work on things that are truly my passion.
Tell us about a career highlight;
Probably the first time I finished editing my first show. It was a game show called Who Dares Wins. I was petrified. Being an editor is quite a solitary profession and you are pretty much out there alone, but to go from the first day, sat with hours of rushes thinking this is never going to come together, to 5 days later having a finished show that people loved, was the greatest feeling. This feeling has never, and hopefully will never, go away but realising what was possible will always stick with me.
What do you love most about editing?
Getting to tell a story and making people laugh. There is no better feeling than sitting in a viewing and hearing people chuckling away. Job done.
Which women in post do you admire?
Every one I meet. It probably sounds cliche, and I can only speak for Entertainment Television, but unfortunately, women are still in the minority on the technical side in post. And it’s hard. But the more female editors there are, and the more women you see in machine rooms, the easier working it will become.
Favourite piece of work?
It would have to be Taskmaster. It’s extremely rare to find a show that you work on for months on end, watching and cutting for 10 hours each day, yet still loving to sit down and watch it air.
What advice do you have for other women wanting to start a career in post?
Firstly, never let an opportunity pass you by, however small or unappealing it may seem. You never know what it may lead to. The industry is small, and that tease you cut for a show that will never get made may be your door to your dream job!
Also, talk to people, ask questions. I think it is easy when you are starting out as a runner, not to realise that nearly every person you meet started out in a kitchen somewhere so can give advice on how to progress your career. I think this is especially important in post. Most editors work alone and you don’t get much opportunity to see how other people work and to learn from them. A quick question here and there to different editors taught me so much. And if you ever have the opportunity to sit in with them take it! I learned the most from watching other people do their job and seeing different people’s approaches to tackling the same thing.