The Finished-Feel Imperative

modern editorial pressure, described by editor Julian Clarke, where early cuts are expected to 'approximate the feel of a finished movie.' This involves 'tarting up' the edit with extensive sound design and a polished temp score, shifting the metric of a successful cut from just strong storytelling to a complete audio-visual experience. While this can help sell a scene, it places a significant additional burden on the editor to deliver a highly polished product from the earliest stages.