“The majority of major projects in TV are on Avid, and it's an amazing tool. You can't go wrong if you learn Avid.”

Mining for Story Gold 

 

Each artist coming to audition has their own backstory that we need to edit before they hit the stage. We have a lot to pack into our show in a short time so that the audience can connect with the artist. Each artist has five hours of raw material. That's a big challenge, finding those little nuggets that make these artists stand out and utilizing them in the best way you can. It's very challenging to make someone's life story fit into two and a half minutes. 

 

We have a large editing team because we have so much raw footage to go through and so many hours of TV that we're putting together. Throughout the season, you're working on all different artists and the person doing notes on one artist may not be the one who cut them originally. It goes through a lot of different hands before it reaches the final product. 

 

It's important that we create an overarching story so that it feels like a cohesive episode and not just segments. That's a very collaborative process where we're finding these moments with the coaches that connect the show so that it feels organic from start to finish.  

 

It's reality, so we're filming what happens in the moment. You're recording for hours and working with what happens. It's not planned, even though we're working within a structure of a competition. We don't know what we're going to get until we get it. You don't know how a contestant is going to be on camera. It's taking those moments and creating the show. It evolves over time.  

 

 

 

Powered by Media Composer

 

We always want to keep it feeling fresh. We're doing the same show, but each season everyone comes in with this energy of, okay, how do we make it different this time? The edit team works hard to make that happen. 

 

It's very collaborative. A lot of us are working on the same episode and we need to make sure we're not repeating the same story. You're talking with editors in individual acts to see, ‘Hey, how are you starting it?’ The producers play a big part, too, collaborating with us to come up with that perfect flow. What I love about being an editor on this show is that we're the ones that get to make those choices. It's rewarding to watch that come to fruition. 

 

This show couldn't be made without Media Composer. We have a large team of editors, hours of footage, thousands of music cues, organized in an easy to find way. We're all hitting the Avid at the same time, accessing the same footage. It's a lot of grind on the system and Avid always comes through for us. We wouldn’t make our deadlines if we didn't have a product like Avid. 

 

There are many amazing tools in Avid that I love. I love the Auto-Patching tool. We're dealing with 10 video layers, 24 audio tracks, and when you're building out that two-hour show, you don't want to mess it up. Auto-Patching makes it simple and fast. Another essential tool is ScriptSync. You may be doing notes on a piece that you didn't originally edit, so you don't have knowledge of the raw and the answer in your head right away. Finding that answer is so much faster with ScriptSync. It saves us so much time. 

 

 

The Editor’s Journey

 

Being nominated for an Emmy is always a surprise. There's so much incredible content out there, so many amazing shows, so many talented people in this industry. The fact that our peers nominated us is an honor. The nomination has made me a rock star in my own house because my daughter, who's eight years old, thinks it's the coolest thing in the world.  

 

The vibe of the show is very uplifting, it gives you hope. You're watching people achieve their dreams. It's neat because when they perform, you're not altering their performance. It’s live. You're highlighting their talent so you're not using any effects on the performance. We want to represent everyone as they are. We're not manipulating what they say to add drama that isn't there, we're not changing how the coaches feel. It's all true. 

 

I get really invested, as all our editors do. We connect with these people, we watch their lives and take great pride in presenting them in a lovable, rootable way. I was lucky enough this season to edit the package of Sofronio (Vazquez), who ended up becoming the champion. I loved him in the raw. There's something special about him. I wanted to make sure the audience could feel that, too. He has an amazing story, an amazing voice. From production to post, the editors, producers, everyone is invested in these artists, and we want to see them shine. It's exciting. 

 

 

From High School to The Voice

 

I took TV production in high school. They offered four courses, and you learned all aspects, directing, camera and editing. I fell in love with editing. 

 

I have never worked on a show that didn't use Media Composer from the very beginning as a digitizer, assistant editor, and editor. Every project I've worked on has used Media Composer, so it's been essential to my career. If I didn't know Media Composer, I wouldn't have a job. 

 

I've met such talented people along the way who have inspired me. I was lucky to be an assistant editor under Jason Steinberg, who is such a talented editor. He took me under his wing, allowed me to be his assistant, and gave me space to begin without pressure. It's a very creative job, but at the same time, you want to give producers what they're looking for, but you take it personally because you put your heart, soul and passion into it, and to have him show me the ropes and be that buffer where I could try something and get feedback from someone there to support, help and not judge, I wouldn't be here without him. Another editor, Brian Carrion, who I worked with as well, did the same. 

 

 

Beyond Putting Clips Together

 

You need to be able to take ideas you come up with, or if you see raw footage that sparks an idea, you have to be able to make that happen on-screen. Make sure you know the technical side, too. Watch as much TV as you can so that you can be inspired. It's long hours, a lot of work, but for me, it's so rewarding. It needs to be that for you. It needs to be what you love. You want to say, ‘Wow, I can't believe they pay me for this.’ That's how I feel, and I need to feel that way because it takes a lot of my time. 

 

In the beginning of my career, to stay sharp between projects, I would take classes to brush up on effects, continue to learn the tools, and get comfortable with them so that when I got my next gig, I could implement that. Over time, you get faster. It becomes muscle memory. 

 

Creative editing is very intense, a lot of brain power. There are so many decisions, especially in reality, because we aren't working with a script where the possibilities are endless, and there's no wrong answer. You're making a million decisions every day, to the point where, when it's time for dinner, you're like, ‘Just give me something, because I can't make another choice.’ I have to give my mind a break so when I come back, I'm fresh, re-energized, and ready for that work again. 

 

For sure, 100% you need to learn Avid. The majority of major projects in TV are on Avid, and it's an amazing tool. You can't go wrong if you learn Avid. 

 

We have an amazing group of assistant editors on The Voice. They're so detail-oriented, so organized. We couldn't do this without them, and the post team. Mentorship is very important. It's how I got to where I am, and I'm always looking for those opportunities. 

 

Put yourself out there, reach out on Slack. I'm always receptive and want to help assistants get going. 

 

 

About the Editor

 

Melissa Silva Borden is an Emmy Award-winning editor who has worked in television for the past nineteen years. Growing up in Massachusetts, Melissa fell in love with editing in a television production class. After high school, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in entertainment, and in 2006 was hired at Mark Burnett Productions. Surrounding herself with talented storytellers, Melissa honed her skills, landing her first gig as an editor in 2011. For the past fourteen years, she has worked on a variety of programs but feels incredibly lucky to have found a long time “home” on NBC’s The Voice, where she has been a member of the edit team since season three. Melissa has received five Emmy nominations and one win for her work on the show.