How to Brief a Video Editor

Most video editing projects don't go wrong in the edit. They go wrong in the brief — or in the absence of one. An editor who receives a folder of footage and the instruction "make it good" is guessing at your goal, your audience, and what "finished" looks like. Sometimes the guess lands. Often it costs you two extra revision rounds and a video that is polished but beside the point. This post explains what a good brief contains, so your editor starts from your message, not from a guess.

Start with the goal, not the footage

Before anything about clips or effects, say what the video must do. What should the viewer do afterwards — buy, enquire, sign up, understand something, remember your name? Who are they, and where will they see the video: your website, YouTube, Instagram, a trade show? A testimonial video, a product ad, and an event recap are different jobs, and the edit follows the goal, not the footage. If you can't state the goal in one sentence, work that out first — it is the most valuable line in the whole brief.

What to send your editor

1. The footage, organised

Send all the footage, labelled so the editor can find things: interviews in one folder, product shots in another, b-roll in a third. Say which takes are the good ones if you know, and flag anything unusable — out-of-focus shots, bad audio — so the editor doesn't build a cut around a clip you would never approve. If footage is missing, say so honestly; a good editor will tell you what can be worked around and what genuinely needs a re-shoot.

2. The script or key message

If you have a script, send it. If you don't, send the key message in your own words: the three or four points the video must make, in order. For interviews, a transcript — or even rough notes on which answers matter — saves hours of the editor watching footage to find the line you need. The clearer the message, the fewer wasted cuts.

3. Examples of what you like

Three examples of edits you like, with one line each on why: the pacing, the music, the graphics, the tone. "Like this" is vague; "like this one's pacing, but with our colours" is a brief. Equally useful are examples of what you don't want — an editor who knows what to avoid makes fewer wrong turns.

4. Your brand assets

Your logo, brand colours, fonts, and any existing titles or end cards. If the video needs captions, say so, and say which languages if more than one. Brand assets sent late are a common cause of a finished-looking draft that still needs a full rework.

5. Formats and platforms

Say where the video will run and which versions you need: widescreen for your website or YouTube, square or vertical for social media, with or without captions. Each format takes finishing time even when the edit itself is shared, so a format discovered after delivery is a new job, not a free export.

Say what "finished" looks like

A brief should say how you will judge the result. Is success a video that feels calm and premium, or punchy and fast? Should it be under sixty seconds, or can it breathe? Who gives the final approval, and by when? Naming the decision-maker matters: a video reviewed by one person moves fast, while a video reviewed by five people in sequence will take five rounds unless you gather their feedback together. Agree the number of revision rounds before work starts, and who signs off each one.

The mistakes that cost the most

The expensive mistakes are almost always the same: a vague goal ("make it engaging"), footage sent with no notes, a script changed after the cut is finished, feedback arriving one person at a time across five rounds, and formats discovered after delivery. None of these is hard to avoid; each one just needs a line in the brief. The other common mistake is briefing the edit before deciding whether the job also needs compositing — screen replacements, clean-up, effects work — because effects shots planned late cost far more than effects shots planned from the start. If your video needs anything beyond cutting, say so in the brief.

What a good editor should ask you

If your brief is thin, a good editor will ask questions before starting: what is the goal, who watches it, what footage is missing, which takes matter, what the deadline really is. An editor who starts cutting without asking anything is either very confident or not thinking about your message. Questions before the first cut are a good sign, not a delay.

The bottom line

A good video brief is one page of decisions: the goal in one sentence, the footage organised, the message in order, three examples you like, your brand assets, and the formats you need. Write it before you send the footage, and your editor starts from your message instead of a guess — which is where good videos come from, and where the money is saved.

If your video also needs visual effects or layered work, our video editing and compositing services page explains the difference between editing and compositing, and what each one costs you in time. And if you are deciding what kind of animation your video needs, our post on motion graphics vs animation sets out the options in plain terms. For the full service, see our motion graphics services page as well.

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