It's actually quite funny to think about how I even started editing "Battlefield" trailers, and that's all because I wasn't happy with the "Battlefield 1" Launch Trailer (even if I was editing trailers before, but not seriously until then), and I just wanted to remake it and make it my own. Next thing I know, it became one of the best things I did for the whole year, making my own trailers for fun and actually learning new skills and styles of editing, while entertaining 5million people and indirectly promoting new content for EA games.
I know I would never have the freedom that I enjoy now comparing while working at professional editing studio (or game publisher in that matter), but I'm glad that I learned what I'm capable of when I'm making something that I would personally enjoy watching. And I can't be more happy to know that I managed to reach 5million people and made them enjoy some 2min long Battlefield and Titanfall videos. I still get comments from people that are coming back to my old trailers I did and rewatching them on an emotional level. And that alone justifies my sleepless nights I had while editing these trailers.
Of course, with every trailer I released, I got criticism almost about anything, to the point that it was hard to ignore. And me being a person that reacts to feedback (for better or worse), I tried to "improve" my work using that feedback. As time went on, I learned that no matter what I do, there's always a specific audience type that won't enjoy a specific artstyle or method of editing. I can't please everyone sadly. So I accepted that fact and started making something that I would personally want to see, what I would personally watch and enjoy, whether the audience might or not like it at all. Was it a risk? Everything is a risk these days, so you just have to bite the bullet and go for it.
With every trailer I made, I started to experiment, tried different editing styles, used more niche or more popular songs to go together with the gameplay that is happening on the screen. Not because the audience demanded it, but because I wanted to improve myself as an editor. Some of it worked, some of it failed miserably. Some were masterpieces in my own creative mind, some haven't aged well as I hoped for, but that's part of the learning process. And that's one of the few things I would suggest for anyone that wants to get into editing - make something that you would watch yourself, and worry about the audience later, otherwise you won't be able to learn what editing is and how it affects us on an emotional level when watching a piece of media. If anything we learned in our modern age, it's that there's an audience for anything, no matter how niche it is.
Would I change anything about any of my trailers that I've done before? I would love to say yes, but I know it wouldn't be the right thing to do or say, because that is the biggest problem for creative minds. Creative minds never stop thinking about their creations, and we always want to come back and keep improving until it's perfect. And sadly, no matter what we do or how much work we put in, it will never be perfect. But doesn't mean you can't learn from your previous mistakes and make your next project even more amazing and interesting. Thank you everyone who been watching my trailers and still coming back to re-watch them. And I'm glad I inspired some people to start editing too. You have all the power to be great editors.
Comments