Fandom Editors: Unsung Heroes
Timothee Chalamet, Jacob Elordi, Pedro Pascal—what do they all have in common? Other than being a white boy of the month, they each have an edit on TikTok that’s gone viral.
If you live under a rock and don’t know what an “edit” is, according to our trusted source, Urban Dictionary, “an edit is when one composes a video filled with scenes and or pictures, using transitions and effects.”
Edits are a part of pop and “stan” culture that is made by the fans for the fans. It is an art form that carefully curates clips to go perfectly together with the most trendy audio to back it. As an avid edit watcher, since the social media platform Vine (RIP), the evolution and impact of edits have been fun to watch.
In 2020, when the world was on lockdown and everyone was turning to TikTok for comfort, editors moved their talents to the app from the usual Instagram and YouTube. Because TikTok curates things to your tastes, whatever you like or are interested in probably had an edit on your For You Page.
And what’s one thing we all like? Timothée Chalamet.
On April 17, 2020, the TikTok account @stcrvds posted THE Timothée Chalamet edit. It was a clip of his character Elio in Luca Guadanigno’s Call Me By Your Name, dancing with the Melanie Martinez song “Play Date” added over it.
Image Courtesy: Call Me By Your Name / Sony Pictures
At the end of last year, Jacob Elordi’s Saltburn character, Felix, got an edit with the Flume song “Never Be Like You,” which became everyone’s obsession.
Image Courtesy: Saltburn / Amazon MGM / oorsz via tiktok
For weeks, people reposted and recreated the edits, which prompted a second wind in people’s love for the films, actors, and songs.
“Play Date,” initially released in 2016, has become a sleeper hit thanks to its inclusion in the viral edit. Following its newfound popularity, its numbers rose and amassed over 80 million streams on Spotify and 40 million views on YouTube.
“Never Be Like You” had a similar resurgence. Despite being the most popular song in Australia upon its release in 2016 and securing No. 60 on Billboard’s Hot 100 Year-End Charts, it reentered the Billboard TikTok Top 50 at No. 28 in January.
You’ve probably heard DJO, aka Joe Keery’s, song “End of Beginning” a million times in the last month. The song was first coupled with an edit of the FX show The Bear. Not only did the song drive conversation about the perfect Emmy-winning show, but it got Keery a no. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot Alternative Songs chart.
I can’t tell you the number of movies, TV shows, songs, characters, people, and more I have found, watched, and fallen in love with due to an edit. Anything and everything from athletes to food to countries (yes, countries) has been used in or inspired an edit. I’m sure that the niche TV show from 2006 that takes place in a different country has a group of people who love it and still do. Just hashtag anything you like, followed by edits, and something will come up.
Edits are iconic and significant contributors to the media landscape, running cinema and pop culture outside the fandom space; edits have more of an impact than you would realize.
With TikTok’s ability to reach millions and give users the same algorithms, edits have become mainstream. It’s no longer a secret phenomenon in fandom communities. Companies have now hopped on the popularity of “the edit” circulating the internet at the time for marketing purposes.
One way brands use the videos is by showing their employees so entranced with them that they are distracted from work. Fortress, a gaming venue in Australia, had their social media coordinator watching the Jacob Elordi edit on multiple screens. The video received 20.9 million views and 4.4 million likes. This format typically gains a positive reaction since many relate to being almost hypnotized by the popular edits.
Even the University of Minnesota's lifeguards hopped on the bandwagon. Aaron Taylor Johnson has become the next celebrity to be crowned with a viral edit. Last week, @honeymoonllx edited Johnson’s Spring 2023 Calvin Klein ad to Michael Jackson’s song “Dirty Diana.” Among the 1.3 million people who liked the video are UMN’s lifeguards watching the edit on the scoreboard.
Image Courtesy: umn.headguards via TikTok
Another way companies implement edits into their feeds is by making their own. Most recently, Lionsgate, the film distributor, created their own fandom edits to promote the movie Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
The movie was already gaining traction among the editing community due to the unprecedented attractiveness of young President Snow. Lionsgate’s social media team must have picked up on editors’ ability to encourage people to watch a show or media, even if it wasn’t on their radars previously. So, they rolled out multiple edits. One was sentimental, and the other was essentially a Snow thirst edit. The song choices even reflected the trends at the time with Mitski’s “My Love Mine All Mine” and Brent Faiyaz’s “Paper Soldier.”
The comments were filled with praise for whoever produced these videos. Some even said they were working “overtime” and “deserved a raise.”
Compilation edits are another way of incorporating the format into an organization’s accounts. The TikTok account of Duke’s Men’s Basketball posted an edit of the team to Lorde’s song “Supercut.” It was captioned “DUKE MBB CORE” in honor of their making it to March Madness’ Sweet Sixteen.
While this TikTok era of the editing community is getting the most attention, those who have watched them since the beginning have noticed a trend. Apps like Capcut have made editing much more accessible, but unfortunately, it’s made the process too simple. With the emergence of a sharable template, you can insert clips and photos, and an edit will be generated.
Editors are no longer clocking into editing software like Adobe After Effects or Final Cut Pro. Now, a superficial velocity (an editing term that means slowing down or speeding up the video’s subject) slapped over a snippet of a scene or fast clips stringed together is sufficient enough to gain millions of likes. This change is a more relaxed environment compared to the complex edits that took many editors hours to complete a 15-second video. Yet many edit enjoyers miss the creativity that took place on Instagram from 2018 to 2019.
No matter the format, millions enjoy short, mesmerizing videos. The entertainment industry has finally embraced their captivating abilities, and as a result, the hard-working editors get the recognition they deserve.
Strike Out,
Morgann Rhule & Kim Nguyen
Boca Raton
