Editing is where the film is actually made. Everything before this was gathering material. This is the stage where a pile of takes becomes something somebody can watch, and it is the stage most first films rush.
Free software that is genuinely good
- DaVinci Resolve — free, Windows and Mac, used on actual feature films. Steeper to learn, but you will never outgrow it.
- CapCut — free, desktop and phone. Fast, forgiving, and has automatic captions.
- iMovie — free on Mac and iPhone. Limited but perfectly capable of a good short film.
- Clipchamp — free, built into Windows.
- Shotcut or Kdenlive — free and open source, on every platform including Linux.
Any of these will make a festival-quality film. Pick the one you can open today.
Get organised before you cut
- Copy all footage into one folder. Never edit from the camera card.
- Keep a second copy somewhere else. Editing corrupts files occasionally; hard drives fail regularly.
- Watch everything once, all the way through, before cutting anything. Note the takes you like as you go.
- Sync any separately recorded sound, using the clap from step 5.
Build it in three passes
Trying to make each cut perfect as you go is the reason edits stall. Do it in layers instead.
- Pass one — the assembly. Put the best take of every shot in story order, end to end. Do not trim, do not fix anything. It will be too long and it will feel clumsy. That is correct.
- Pass two — the rough cut. Now tighten. Trim the tops and tails of every clip. Cut whole moments that are not earning their place, even good ones.
- Pass three — the fine cut. Frame-level timing, sound levels, music, colour, titles.
Cut on movement
A cut placed in the middle of an action — someone standing, turning, reaching — is almost invisible. A cut placed in a still moment draws attention to itself. When a join feels wrong, try moving it a second earlier into a movement.
When to cut
- When new information appears. A reaction, an arrival, a decision.
- Slightly before you feel ready. First edits are almost always slow. If a shot feels comfortable, it is probably a beat too long.
- Not on every line. Watching a conversation ping-pong between two faces on every line is exhausting. Stay on a listening face sometimes — the reaction is often the better shot.
- Let the sound lead. Starting the next scene's audio a moment before the picture changes pulls the audience forward. It is the easiest professional-sounding trick there is.
Sound and music
Fix the dialogue first: even levels, no sudden jumps between angles, room tone filling the gaps. Only then consider music.
Music must be licensed. Using a commercial track without permission will get your film blocked, muted or rejected from festivals. Use libraries that state clearly that tracks are free to use — there are many, and most ask only for a credit. Read the licence, keep a copy, and put the credit in your end titles.
And try one pass with no music at all. A lot of short films are wearing music to cover a problem that would be better solved in the cut.
Captions and audio description
A film nobody can access is a film nobody watches. Both of these are straightforward and both are expected at this festival.
- Captions. Every editor listed above can generate them automatically. Automatic captions are a starting point, not a finish — always read them through and correct them. Names, place names and anything shouted come out wrong. Include meaningful non-speech sound too: [door slams], [laughing].
- Burned in or separate? Burned-in captions are part of the picture and always work. A separate subtitle file can be turned off and is better for viewers who do not need them. If you can only do one, burn them in.
- Readable captions. Two lines maximum, plain font, white on a dark band, positioned so they do not cover faces.
- Audio description. A spoken track describing what happens visually, for blind and low vision viewers. Write it into the gaps between dialogue, record it plainly, and keep it factual — describe what is there, not what it means.
- Flashing images. Avoid rapid flashing entirely if you can. If your film contains it, say so in the opening seconds.
- Contrast and text size. Check your titles on a phone screen. If you cannot read them at arm's length, they are too small.
Show it to somebody before you finish
Find two or three people who have not seen any of it. Sit them down, play it, and do not explain anything first — if it needs an introduction, it needs another edit.
Watch them rather than the screen. You will feel exactly where they get bored. Then ask: what happened? and where did you get confused? Do not ask whether they liked it; people will say yes.
Exporting
- Format: MP4, H.264. Universally accepted.
- Resolution: 1920×1080 at the frame rate you filmed at.
- Titles: include your title at the start and credit everyone at the end — cast, crew, music, locations, support workers and interpreters.
- Check the export all the way through before you send it anywhere. Exports fail silently in the last ten seconds surprisingly often.
- Check the festival's rules for length, format and deadline on the entry page before exporting the final version.
Before you send it out
- Dialogue is clear and even throughout, checked on headphones and on a phone speaker
- Captions are present and you have read every one for errors
- All music is licensed and credited
- Everyone who helped is in the credits, spelled correctly
- You have watched the exported file start to finish
- It meets the length and format rules of wherever you are sending it
That is a finished film. Whatever happens to it next, you have made something that did not exist before, and the second one is considerably easier than the first.