We recently connected with Frank Cettina and have shared our conversation below.

Frank, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I was mostly self-taught with some styles of editing and tricks being taught to me throughout the years by other editors. I expanded my abilities in the same way I learned the basics; trial and error with a bit of help from others who knew more than me. When you work on projects with others, you get to witness what they know and compare editing tricks. I did this in order to better myself at editing, along with color grading and VFX. I found that constantly challenging myself was the best way to add to my repertoire. If one wants to learn all about editing and post-productions, there is no need to take a class or pay for a course. There are so many free resources for learning editing that formal classes seem obsolete. I had a lot of difficulty learning how to edit just because of the sheer amount of software, styles, effects, and tricks there are to be learned. It can be hard to start climbing when you’re looking at a mountain that never seems to stop rising. I suggest taking your time and breaking things down. I started by learning a new skill every week. I found that the skill most essential to me was pacing. It was probably one of the hardest skills to learn. It is one of those things where you know it when you see it but can’t describe it otherwise. There is no other way to get better at this skill other than constant practice and analysis. I usually ask fellow filmmakers to watch my rough cuts in order to get their opinions on the pacing of my cuts. Everyone will see things differently and what makes you an editor is your eyes and the way you cut something.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Frank Cettina and I am an editor. I am an alumni of Montclair State University, with a BFA in Filmmaking and minor in International Studies. When I was first learning to edit, I would practice on software that I could find for free. Most of those programs were so basic, the only thing you could do was cut together two videos. It was only until I got my hands on Adobe software, like Premiere and After Effects, around my freshman year of high school that I started to expand my knowledge and understanding of editing. I would take on any job that involved video and editing for school events and projects. As a kid, I struggled with ADHD, never being able to put my focus to an activity for a long period of time. I was even told that I would not make it academically by many teachers. That seemed to change when I was cutting footage together. I would work on videos for hours on end, even forgetting to eat sometimes. My entire heart and mind would be centered on the edit I was working on. I took that drive and focus for editing and turned it into my career.
Now I do post-production work for films, documentaries, music videos, and corporate videos. I am skilled in timeline editing, color grading, and VFX. Many of the short films I have worked on have even gone to film festivals around the country and won awards. I have been working as an editor for 6+ years now and mostly edit with Adobe Creative Suite and DaVinci Resolve. Editing is my passion and I like to bring my vision and creativity into the work so that my clients get a final product that they can call perfect.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Since the beginning of my journey as a creative, I have always had one thing that drives me forward and makes the hard work I put into my projects feel worth it. That one thing would be seeing the reaction to my work. I have always felt that film was a medium made to be shared with others, otherwise what would be the point in making films in the first place. I don’t care whether it is for one person or a whole crowd, or even if the feedback is negative, I’ve always enjoyed sharing my work with others to see their reactions and hear how it made them feel. I have been lucky enough to watch the films I have helped create not just with my family, but with entire audiences. I have gotten to listen to a whole crowd laugh to a joke that I heard so many times during editing that I couldn’t find it funny anymore. I have seen audiences move back in their chair and gasp when the big twist in a film I put together is revealed. These genuine reactions are music to my ears and one of the main reasons why I became a filmmaker in the first place.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I was raised by a scientist mother and an engineer father; needless to say, my parents were not on the creative arts side of things. They were, however, very supportive in my path and understood that it could be a career with enough hard work. Instead of trying to understand the creative side of things and ultimately fail, my parents decided to support me on the logistical side and looked for ways to connect their paths to mine in whatever way made sense to them. It was my job to find what linked between our paths and go from there. I think that non-creatives might not understand that while the work that is being done in the creative field might be different from non-creative projects, the way to getting a job is the same universally; you have to stand out and make connections with others. For a non-creative it might be hard to tell whether the work the creative is doing equals good or bad. Film, art, and other creative forms aren’t as clean cut as one plus one equals two, but the way to making that creative form into a career is the same as landing any other job. So if you (a non-creative) find yourself encouraging a creative on building their career, just talk about how you built your own career. The similarities are there, you just have to find them.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://frankcettina.myportfolio.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frankgcettina/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frank-cettina/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@frankcettina