As an editor, I know how to cut, but these guitarists can shred! Dad jokes aside, this was kind of my dream project: I got to edit spots with friggin' rock stars in them, and I got to learn more about how guitars work in the process (I'm an avid guitar player). If that weren't enough, I was also given the creative flexibility to cut these spots together in my own way. Though all the spots share a common structure, consisting of interviews alternating with musical demonstrations, there was a lot of opportunity within each spot to tailor the tone of the piece to the personality of the featured guitar player. The result is a series of episodes that are consistently fun to watch and never become stale or cookie-cutter.

Sticking to a format doesn’t have to make things dull. In fact, having a consistent structure between videos in a series can open up a lot of creative possibilities. I knew that as long as certain talking points and sections were included in each video, that I could have some fun with how those sections were presented. Because many of the more whimsical editorial choices I made were retained in the final cuts, I now experience a distinct sense of ownership over these pieces when I play them back to myself—particularly the Scott LePage piece. These spots were filmed with a relatively small number of takes, but even so, I’m sure if the exact same footage had been given to another editor, something distinctly different would have emerged. That’s why no two editors are ever equal. Every person makes their own unique decisions when working their way through a cut.