The following is a review by Woody Woodhall, CAS about EditMentor.
I took classes when I was in college to learn the art of filmmaking. Back then it was film, little strips of images that we hung in large cloth bins and edited with flatbed machines or upright Moviolas. Happily, with digital video, those days are far behind us. There are many obvious advantages with film in the digital realm for picture and sound editing today. But what has been lagging is a computer approach to teaching the art of the cut.
Editmentor is a serious application designed to fill this void. It is an interactive program that takes you through the various stages of picture editing. By using the “Getting Started” section you are given an overview of the various panels inside of the app and how to navigate and find help when needed. It’s a quick tour and highly recommended to make the best use of the various classes.
You get introduced to the way the information works inside of Editmentor. You also get a tutorial on the various tools that will be used to edit with. Editmentor has a full-fledged editing interface built in. It is similar to the many editing apps that are currently in use. It has a bin for media, an edit timeline, and the tools needed to cut, move, copy and paste media.
Speaking of the classes, there are several wonderful ones to choose from. It is a growing platform, and the plans are for more classes to come. However, as it is, the offerings right now are all quite good. There are two classes on the art of filmmaking, a Broadcast Journalism class, as well as a full class by a master editor, Stephen Mark, A.C.E. who edited HBO’s Deadwood and many other outstanding projects.
Below is a look at the layout of the “Getting Started” class. These window panels are the typical look for each offered class. Top left has the media folders, top center is the viewer where you see the media play, and the bottom of the screen is the timeline where you mark edits, make edits, and learn the tools that are just to the left of it. The panel on the right is an information panel that takes you through each task and offers useful links about and beyond the lessons. This panel disappears when you start the lesson.
In general, I have found that the lessons are an excellent source of information told in a logical way. The Getting Started lessons are an excellent start for learning the terms and techniques that are used for picture editing.
Each account has a personal “dashboard” where you can see the various classes that you are taking and the progress in each.
Within each course there is a logical progression in learning. Each lesson concept plays off the last one. For those who are interested in learning about picture editing this is an outstanding, hands-on introduction to the concepts, tools, and techniques for the process. The interactivity makes this a unique app for learning picture editing, which is a vital skill in today’s digital world.
The screenshot above is an example page of a lesson using a short film. This lesson teaches the concept of a “MacGuffin”. In each stage of learning, I am impressed with the depth of information presented. Here, the lesson goes back to the script itself. As logical as it is to read through a script prior to the edit, it is not necessarily what many would think to do. Understandably, they get the footage and want to dive right in, and in so doing perhaps missing the overall thematic arc that is in the written word. This lesson reinforces the idea that the script is where the story idea is embedded.
Each lesson has various learning tools to cement the ideas the student is tackling. In some cases, there may be markers that ask multiple choice questions about the current scene. Since editing is a very subjective thing, in many cases answers might be correct even if they are not the “right” answer. Editmentor will then suggest that it is a “partially correct answer” and detail why that is. There is also a “hint” button that can offer clues to the answers, or a “reveal answers” button if you really get stuck. The explanations are clear and precise and in my opinion, this is a very well-conceived learning approach.
Interactivity is a key component to the learning process. I’ve spent many hours on YouTube watching videos on various things that I needed/wanted to learn. This can be a great opportunity to learn from those who’ve mastered whatever skill, and while you may want to learn something, it’s in the doing that real learning takes place. Just watching someone else do the work is not a complete learning experience. Editmentor takes teaching to a deeper level.
Editmentor is chock full of great explanations of choices to be made. I’ve been a filmmaker for a long while so many of these concepts are already well understood by me. But, that being said, I am still learning new things from each lesson. For instance, I’ve never heard the term “plot voucher” before taking one of the courses. That tidbit was in one of the sidebar additional information pieces. It was a concept that I knew of but didn’t know it was named and defined. These sidebars are full of deep information outside of the bounds of each lesson, add a lot of value, and should not be missed.
As you can see here, once you have completed the lesson challenge, a screen shows the answers to the questions and the reasons why. All the lessons are well paced and give an excellent overview of how and why edit choices are made.
You can view the status of your work in any course’s progress. These lessons do not skimp either, this master class with Stephen Mark, ACE, is over 13 hours long!
As a new application, there are a few things that may need to be addressed as it grows. The pages can feel a bit cluttered at times. I’m viewing on a large 4K desktop monitor, I’d be hard pressed to see all the information on a small laptop screen. I also could not find a monitor level, so I found that I needed to do that locally at the volume control of my playback device. Most editing programs have a level control somewhere on the timeline controls. It is also only offered currently on Google Chrome, not a deal breaker by any means but not my go to web browser.
That being said, I think that Editmentor is a fantastic learning tool for picture editing. Being available through a web browser is a fantastic concept. No program to install, no media to download, all the convenience of a browser. It has insight and practical advice on the entire process. It offers clues, answers, and options, as well as an edit interface that is similar to the non-linear editors that are used to do this work. I think as the content expands various types of edit projects will be included.
Since Editmentor offers a free trial it’s really a simple choice to dive in and see if it fits a learning style for you. You might find as I did that the interactivity is a key aspect in learning how to do this type of work. Editmentor is a unique and highly intuitive learning platform for a world overflowing with digital media.
– Woody Woodhall, CAS
