Editing is a major part of storytelling. It creates a more concise story, keeping audiences engaged from beginning to end. In filmmaking, editing also refines the footage, turning every shot into a visual masterpiece. China’s Yun Huang knows this well; editing, for her, is a way to express her creativity.
Years ago, when Huang was deciding what to do with her future, she began working for a local television station in China. The experience changed her life. When creating small videos for news segments, she realized the power of editing, knowing that she could decide exactly how a story was told. She had discovered her passion, and never looked back.
“Editors make a story more meaningful and attractive. It often doesn’t make sense when only watching the raw footage. Editors need to totally understand the script as well as context first, and then find the best way to show the story to the audience. We try our best to immerse audiences into the scene and enable them to be more deeply enthralled by what they are watching. This is why editing relies so much on emotion,” she said.
Throughout her now esteemed career, Huang has used her talents to enhance every project she has taken on. Her work on films such as Stardust and The Dream Goes On impressed international audiences. When creating the documentary series Unveil China Outside China, she was able to express her love for her home country with the rest of the world.
The highlight of the editor’s career came with her experience at CareerGirls, an organization that aims to help all girls to reach their full potential and discover their own path to empowerment through access to inspiring career role models and supportive girl-centric curriculum. This was early on in Huang’s career, and at the time, she met another inspiring editor who allowed her to see that there is a responsibility with filmmaking, and to use her skills to better her community.
“The job was so meaningful because I could use my editing skills to help girls. It allowed me to become sensible of the potential importance of my work,” she said.
This is a mantra Huang carries with her at all times, and when she worked on the commercial titled “Choice” earlier this year, she knew it was as important as ever. The commercial showcases the story of a girl’s life, highlighting the importance of her choices. Through her decisions regarding education, love, career, and so on, every choice impacts her future. The commercial encourages girls to make good choices and stay true to their hearts.
“The video is inspirational for girls. It tells us that we should make decisions by ourselves and follow our dreams,” said Huang. “The client said that he wanted the commercial to have a kind of tender feeling. Such a film is my speciality.”
Having worked on similar projects before with CareerGirls, Huang was ready to begin her work on “Choice”. When she got the script and understood the reasoning behind the client making the commercial, her creative juices were flowing, and she had many ideas of just how to tell the story. She felt moved by the work.
When she began editing, Huang firstly wanted to find the right song for the video. She knew that music evokes emotion, and she wanted to create a gentle but strong feeling. Upon doing so, she began editing to the rhythm of the song.
Like any commercial, the client had many opinions and comments regarding how to showcase their brand. Huang decided the most efficient way to incorporate them was to create several versions of the video and allow them to decide what they liked best. The story had eleven time periods and therefore could easily confuse the audience, so in each version of the commercial, she made sure to keep the story extremely clear. Not many editors would be eager to take on such a task, but that, according to the client, Kris Fu, is what makes Huang so special.
“Yun is devoted as an editor, she is both professional and passionate in the filmmaking industry. She is skillful in editing and also she treated her work seriously, that’s what it takes to be a good editor,” said Kris Fu of Oceanic Drive Pictures.
The video was posted at miaopai.com, a Chinese video sharing and live streaming service with 70 million daily active users, on February 11th, 2018, and has amassed over 4.91 million views since that time. Within its first two hours, it already had over 30,000.
“I was so surprised that the video got the response that it did and still does. It’s amazing. I’m just so glad that audiences like this commercial and had positive discussions about it and their own stories,” said Huang.
Be sure to check out “Choice” and feel inspired by Huang’s work.