VELMORFILM: I’m Kay, I’ve been fan editing since, I think, the end of 2020? Every time people ask me about it/how I got into it I always say ‘I was bored in lockdown.’ I think that was probably it, yeah…I just downloaded some app on my phone and eventually used my school and uni’s Adobe account which is, y’know, wonderful while you have it. Yeah, so I’ve been doing that since then, posting on Instagram/Twitter…and then I did a Bachelor of Screen Production for three years, so I finished last year. So that was, again, sort of another, like, gateway into making editing something that is more of a profession or career instead of just a hobby. That’s where I’m at now, this is my first year out of uni, I’ve been very lucky to have just gotten casual work at Australia’s, like, government TV network sort of thing. So, yeah I’ve been doing stuff there which has been very, very cool. 

ALYVIDS: You basically started fan editing during lockdown, did you do any type of editing or have any interest in editing prior to lockdown?

VELMORFILM: Yeah, I guess I wasn’t aware of editing as a concept that much before that, but, like, when I was younger I would make little films/trailers with my sister and my friends—the classic iMovie template trailer and everything. So I’d do that, and also just make these random funny videos; I would have so much fun putting them together, editing them together to, like, make a weird transition or something. At the time, I didn’t think anything of that. 

ALYVIDS: You didn’t think anything of it, and now it’s become your life!

VELMORFILM: Yeah. And, also, I’ve been doing dancing since I was probably six or something. So I think, again, the musicality and rhythm and everything involved in that as well…

ALYVIDS: Has impacted the way you edit and the movement in your edit. That actually makes more sense than any of the questions I have to ask today, because I think being an editor but being a dancer first helps you with the rhythm of a movement piece in the entire thing so it makes sense why you have a specific style with the way your edits move, and I think that’s really cool to know. What kind of dance do you do?

VELMORFILM: I do ballet, and I used to do jazz. 

ALYVIDS: Gotcha. That actually makes a lot of sense, that’s really cool! 

VELMORFILM: I love that you’re, like, analyzing this like that.

ALYVIDS: Oh, yes, I am!

ALYVIDS: How do you mark down beats? There are a lot of beats you have to hit when it comes to creating such a big montage of edits.

VELMORFILM: I normally don’t mark them down. I know some people mark, like, every beat. Normally, if I’m going to mark one it’ll be a transition point, or like the music sort of shifts into a chorus or climactic moment. So, I’d mark that so I know where it is. But, I’m…I don’t know, I think because I come from a dancing background I know that things are generally in, like, bars of eight, or bars of four or something like that. So I can kinda tell how the music is going…and even like cutting audio, like how that is traveling so I can, at a certain point, make it feel like a natural progression. 

ALYVIDS: Right, you’re predicting what the eight count is going to be so it makes sense I your head whenever you’re just going with the motion. That fully makes sense, that’s so cool.

ALYVIDS: Okay, so with cutting clips my main question is, do you do, like, a string-out of a movie? Do you do scenepacks? Do you make your own scenepacks? Where are we going?

VELMORFILM: I probably years and years ago used to use scenepacks when I was doing more of character edits and that sort of stuff ‘cause they’re great. But now, normally I will go through, like, a whole movie and I’ll either—I used to sort of cut as I went and then drag things onto my audio and delete the stuff that was before that. But now, I’ll do a proper string-out of it, cut it down, and scan through that and sort of choose my options. Especially now that I’m doing less linear narrative things and more of, like, just whatever—

ALYVIDS: Where you kind of create your own concept—

VELMORFILM: Yeah, so as I’m cutting it I’ll be like, ‘oh, okay! I see where I could use this, or I might use this but I don’t know yet.’ So then I sort of keep everything there. My timeline looks crazy!

ALYVIDS: You use Premiere or After Effects?

VELMORFILM: I use both, but I use Premiere for, like, the base of everything. 

ALYVIDS: The base of it, so stringing it out, cutting audio, gotcha. That makes so much sense, because Premiere is easier to listen to, playback-wise. 

ALYVIDS: We were wondering how you chose your music, because I feel like your music is a lot of old pulls, it’s not always new pop music or trending audios. So is it just songs you listen to, or is it songs that come to you in some way? 

VEMLORFILM: Yeah, I just have very old music taste. So it’s basically just whatever I like listening to, and often…like, I’ve done a few edits recently where the whole concept of the edit or the inspiration behind the edit is because I’ve heard this song and been like, ‘oh, I need to do something with that!’ But yeah, it’s basically just, like, me, my own music taste, me trying to go through my Spotify-generated playlists and find something that I can use.

ALYVIDS: Completely, completely! That’s really, really cool though. Do you think growing up in dance kind of influenced the way you like music? Or is that two different things for you?

VELMORFILM: I think it would be probably pretty separate. Yeah, dance has just more given me means to analyze music and understand the structure of it, I guess. 

ALYVIDS: That’s cool, that’s cool. I see. 

ALYVIDS; Do you like following the lyrics with action, or breaking out of that mold? Or do you like picking and choosing which times you’re willing to follow lyrics exactly and show a visual that’s the exact lyric, or do you think that’s cheesy? Or do you have a pick and choose battle between that?

VELMORFILM: I think I like doing it when I can…like, it feels obvious to me what the music wants to show, I guess, or if it’s the edits where it’s based off a song, that’s where I’m going to more lean into visualizing the music. I think it’s a really nice idea, I love it when people do those edits. 

ALYVIDS: I love it when people do it, I know some people find it funny. 

VELMORFILM: Yeah, it’s such a visual and audio medium, you have to bring them together. I think it’s silly when people ignore the lyrics and they’re just, like, choosing whatever song they want. Because, I think, even if you’re not going to visually show what the song is describing, it’s still…

ALYVIDS: Prominent. It’s still prominent in the exploration of what you’re trying to create. Do you mix music? Are these audios mixed by you?

VELMORFILM: If you can call mixed me cutting them down in premiere pro and adding maybe a little bit of a fade here and there, then yeah. 

ALYVIDS: Okay, so you do a little bit with your audios, just a little bit! 

VELMORFILM: Normally, I just shorten the song down. 

ALYVIDS: When you watch a film, do you remember what happens in a film? Is your memory very good and it’s naturally, like, an index in your head? Or do you note down scenes when you’re watching movies? 

VELMORFILM: I don’t note down. Actually, once I was watching Superman and I noted down, ‘Superman eye shots’ because I was just thinking, like, close-ups of people’s eyes, I need to remember that. Yeah, normally I just sort of remember visual scenes that stand out to me and I’ll want to use that in something. Like, a lot of the time when I do those big edits where it seems like I remember all those things, it’s me searching on YouTube, and YouTube happens to show me exactly what I want. It takes a few hours of searching, but then I find it!

ALYVIDS: I relate to that a lot. That questions was from me just because I feel like people go about that very differently, and some people are more like me where the index in your brain is there, and when you start searching for it everything falls into place in that moment, and everything you’ve ever watched you’re pulling from and it’s all of a sudden there. But also, I think it’s cool because it gives your edits a voice—and specifically your year-end edits, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, now 2026, I think that it’s interesting how you’ve taken on that challenge of creating something like that, like, a full trailer every single year. I wanted to ask where the idea came from and does it ever feel, like, pressure during parts of it? Or does it feel fresh and new? Or is it part of the editing experience with that?

VELMORFILM: I love that you asked me, I love talking about these! People used to do so many collabs—like, big collabs in 2019, 2020, 2021, and so I think I was on one of them and I did an edit for 2019. I look back on it now and I’m like, you actually did not watch any of these movies!  And I guess that made me aware of, like, oh! You can theme an edit to a year of a film. And I think as I progressively got more into watching movies and being aware of film Instagram and film Twitter and seeing, like, what was being made, I sort of started to get interested in making them. I did one for 2021, and that was the first one I did. It was quite short, but I think I just enjoyed the process of doing that. I thought I had put so many things in there and thought, ‘wow, I did such a good job!’ And I decided I wanted to do one the next year, I think. And I’m very big on once I start a tradition I want to keep it going.

ALYVIDS: Aand it’s also like a time capsule, not only of, like, what you’ve watched, what we’ve all watched, but also what your brain has pulled from that year and can create a cohesive lineup of so many things in film and TV, and it’s really, really cool how your edits are like—I’m pretty sure it’s the 2024 edit you did, it’s like, everyone’s talking and it all matches up in the intro, and I thought that was really cool because it not only shows your personality through the edit, but also it’s showing another concept completely made of all of these different movies that aren’t talking about the same thing. It’s really hard to do, so I applaud you for that.

VELMORFILM: Thank you. That was actually, I think…I recently remember this existed but there was, like, this big sort of mash up edit film that went to screen at Cannes and I had watched that, maybe it was that year. And I thought it was the coolest thing ever, just putting everything together like that so I think I just wanted to do something similar to that. 

ALYVIDS: I see, I see! Okay, so that goes into my other questions. How do you maintain voice in your edits while using so many versatile media and techniques? 

VELMORFILM: I think being on the internet so long and having an account where you’re sharing art on a platform that is very driven by followers, and likes, and algorithm…all these numbers. You really just have to not think about that and not let it drive what you’re making because otherwise you’ll get miserable and start making the blandest, most un-creative things ever. Going into it with that mentality, and then I really like sharing my interests and hoping that someone will watch a movie or listen to a song or something like that out of them. So, I think I just…I don’t know, I feel like I just really want to share things that I like. It’s like I’m the target audience! 

ALYVIDS: I see, I see. It’s hard to do, though, because I think right now specifically—even a broader statement—people in movies are trying to make them so explanatory and for everyone, when that’s not what movies were made for. Y’know, they’re for each niche kind of, and for each person to find at the right time and learn from and everything. But like, I feel like a lot of big productions are making media more simplified because they want it to be for everyone. So, I think that kind of matches here because if you did that, you wouldn’t have as strong of a voice in your edits, and I think the reason why you’re really successful online is because it’s coming from you and your own personal thoughts. 

ALYVIDS: I wanted to ask, do you have any trailer editing that inspires you? You just mentioned that you saw a Cannes edit, and that was what inspired you when you made your 2024 film edit, are there any movie trailers that you saw growing up, or even recently, or even just you remember thinking, ‘wow, that trailer’s really cool,’ and draw inspiration from that?

VELMORFILM: I low-key haven’t watched this movie, but The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo trailer, I just think that’s such a good trailer. It’s probably a teaser, I think it’s the main one. The movement in the clips there and how it all ties into the music is just so good. 

ALYVIDS: For me, it was, um…I liked the movie the way the trailer…I don’t know what happened but when I was in the movie theater, Saltburn’s trailer, I just thought it was interesting the way they did it—and also the title card popping up and everything is one of my biggest inspirations. It’s so funny, I feel like film editors are being more acknowledged now which is really cool, but movie trailer editors are not as acknowledged. Like, they’re kind of in trailer houses or in-house and they’re kind of credited there but not on the exact thing.

VEMORFILM: I always wish they had credits for a trailer. I want to see who’s edited these trailers! 

ALYVIDS: Do you have any editors, though—in films since we don’t always know who’s making the trailer edits—that you look up to or inspired you or have shaped the way you look at editing? 

VELMORFILM: When I was first beginning film school, I thought Lee Smith was really cool. He used to edit a lot of Christopher Nolan and stuff—he’s Australian, which is why I was like, ‘oh, that’s cool! He’s doing all this.’ Love Jennifer Lane, Oscar winner.

ALYVIDS: Very, very cool. She’s awesome. She’s one of my favorite Oscar winners, when she won I was ecstatic! 

VELMORFILM: When Paul Rogers won the Oscar for Everything, Everywhere, All At Once, I loved that because he had a very messy Premiere Pro timeline and I really related to that. I’m trying to remember who edits Damien Chazelle’s stuff. I don’t remember his name right now, but he’s great. I love what he’s doing. 

ALYVIDS: Do you think these are all specific patterns of director-editor relationship where they have worked together for a long time? Are you more drawn to the cohesiveness of the way an editor and director’s relationship is, or would you rather do a lot of different projects here and there about a lot of different things?

VELMORFILM: I’ve always been very drawn to the director/editor relationship, I think it’s very cool. Like, especially when it’s a director like Nolan, or PTA, or even…I think Greta Gerwig’s had the same editor for her films as well. Yeah, I just think that’s such a nice partnership because it’s very much, like, really into dialogue there. You really need to know what the other person is thinking and what they want when you’re the director and you’re the editor. But, I also haven’t really been in that position. I worked with one director and I didn’t want to work with him again, but I also do think it would be cool to just see what’s out there—

ALYVIDS: See what’s out there and figure it out and then, hopefully, as you continue you’ll run into someone who feels a connection with you and you feel a connection with them and it continues and grows into a whole new thing. 

ALYVIDS: I know you went to school, but did you do graphic design in any capacity or does font style just come naturally to you? Did you learn anything about it before you made edits?

VEMORFILM: I did visual arts as an elective at school, but it was sort of just…I guess I’ve always been a visual person, and it’s also just the practice. I’ve been doing this for a while, like…five years now, basically. So, a very well-curated Pinterest board and fonts downloaded on my laptop. Very much, like, a big thing has been getting inspiration from places that aren’t just other editors on Instagram and TikTok, like you need to find your sources elsewhere.

ALYVIDS: Do you use value or speed graph?

VELMORFILM: It depends. 

ALYVIDS: It depends, so you’re going back and fluctuating between them, gotcha. 

ALYVIDS: Do you have any specific ambitions in this editing world, and if so what are they?

VELMORFILM: I would love to be in a position where I can choose projects and just do whatever I want. I would also love to just be making really cool things. Like, I love what Aiden Zamiri is doing in his creative direction there. I would love to be someone’s…like, some cool creative director’s editor. I’d love to be doing graphics and making a bit more of a space for fan editing in that style of marketing of movies. Yeah, I don’t know…I just think there’s so many different and better things that are out there where I could see how I could be doing that in an interesting way, it’s just having to get there in the first place. 

ALYVIDS: Montage editing, to me I consider that way more trailer editing than being a movie editor, but do you have more interest in being a trailer editor or a movie editor? 

VELMORFILM: I think I need more movie editing experience, I really enjoy it so I did an eight minute short film with Liz. She directed and we co-edited together, so that was really fun because it was a lot of her style with text and graphics, it was like a fight/action movie, so there was a lot of that going on. So that was really fun, and I could imagine really loving that in other projects. So, I think I…yeah, because it’s easy to slip into fast-paced editing when you’re just trying to edit a scene, so I think I’d just need to sort of get a hang of that more and see where I end up. 

ALYVIDS: Sort of slow down in a sense of things because, I think as fan editors we kind of move really fast, and it’s actually kind of funny because I even have to catch myself slowing down at times. I think that, like, you have to pick your battles of when you’re fast and when you’re slow with the way you move about things. With editing a full movie, I think that’s, like, the complete trajectory of figuring out when we’re going fast and when we’re going slow, when we need to let the audience breathe and, like, all of those things. But whenever you’re making a trailer edit cut it’s kind of more so, like, a hype reel. It’s kind of, like, keeping the viewer engaged without letting everything breathe for too long because it’s put on such a short streaming platform. But, how do you think you navigate that, do you think it’s more so like you don’t even think about it, you just make the edit and hopefully it does well? Or it is more so like you think about the way the edit is breathing and when we need to let it sit and when we need to let it go fast?

VELMORFILM: I think a lot of the time the song dictates that for me. I’m definitely aware of, like I don’t want my intro to be too long, I don’t want the outro to be too long; I do understand that people will swipe past it if it’s too long or if it’s not, like, engaging immediately. Which is fine, but it’s also a bit sad.

ALYVIDS: It’s sad, and it’s also, like, sometimes I want to break away from that mold and actually try to engage them as much as I possibly can. 

VEMLORFILM: Yeah. But even if I did sort of try and accommodate for all of these things and make it super engaging and super fast-paced, like, who knows if that’s actually going to work to do well or anything. 

ALYVIDS; I think you might as well just do what you want. And it’s working, it’s working, Kay!