You know the point in your editing process when you start to think, “Hmm, this could be an actual show or video. I don’t feel like I need to turn it off after 20 seconds.”? Pacing is the first thing to start making this happen. Most people think pacing is just cutting faster. It’s not about speed; it’s about control. A lot of things contribute to pacing: when the cut in point starts, how long a clip runs, what the viewer has to see before you cut again, etc. A moment that you give the viewer time to breathe can feel powerful. A series of cuts that don’t give them enough time to see the action can feel messy. The first step to good pacing is recognizing that when you make a cut, you aren’t just cutting out or down a clip. You’re also changing the pace of your edit.
Here is an easy exercise to start working on pacing: Take 5 short clips of a person doing something. It could be tying a shoe, packing a backpack, putting on a camera. You get the idea. Cut these five clips together to make a scene that feels calm. Then cut these same clips together again and make a scene that feels more frenetic. Watch them back without music. Compare them. What feels rushed? What feels boring? Where do you lose interest? Where does the scene start to flow? I find that an exercise like this can teach you more about pacing than any video or article can. The reason is that by doing the exercise, you can compare the two versions right against each other.
For the longest time, I would cut at the end of actions. It makes the edit feel late and clunky. If someone is reaching for a door handle, I would wait until their hand had stopped before I cut to the next clip. Instead of waiting for their hand to stop, cut before it does and let the action finish in the next clip. It makes a huge difference. Another thing you should avoid is making all your shots the same length. When you do this, the scene starts to feel robotic. Mix it up. Vary the length of your clips.
Sometimes you’ll feel like the pacing in a scene is off, but you can’t quite put your finger on why. Try turning the sound off and watch it again. Music can mask a lot of pacing issues because it gives the scene energy through the audio. When you turn the sound off, you can only rely on the pacing of your cuts. Watch the scene once and look for action. Where does your eye get pulled to naturally? Watch it again and look for information. Is each clip long enough for the viewer to get the information they need from it? If you feel a clip is a bit long, try pulling a few frames off the head or the tail and see if it feels better. Everything in editing is incremental. You usually don’t fix an edit or a scene with one big fix. You fix it with a series of small ones.
You can get a lot of practice in with pacing in under 20 minutes. Here is a practice session that you can do in under 20 minutes: For the first 5 minutes, find 4-5 clips of someone doing a simple task. Then for the next 10 minutes, try and edit them together to make as smooth of a scene as you can. In the last 5 minutes, make three versions of the scene where the only thing you change is the length of the clips. Save all three versions. Then watch them all at the same time and compare. You’ll start to see how pacing affects the tone, the clarity, and the emphasis of a scene. The more you do this, the more intuitive it will become. The more you will start to see the effect different pacing has on different scenes.
I also feel that progress comes quicker when you stop trying to decide if your edit is fast or slow and start trying to decide if it feels appropriate for what you are watching. There are times you want to hold for a moment before someone opens a present to build anticipation. There are times you want to rattle off a series of quick cuts while someone is walking to make the scene feel more upbeat. The key to good pacing is not to force the same pace onto every situation. The key is to find a pace that helps you communicate exactly what needs to be communicated in the scene. The more you work on short scenes and play around with different pacing in them, the easier it will become.