Beth Atkins: On Film, Editing, and Music
The process of each, and how they weave together her work as an artist.
Ava Williams: Can you tell everyone a little about yourself? Who you are and what you do? This can be as vague or detailed as you like.
Beth Atkins: Hi! I’m Beth, I just turned 24 and I’m a video editor living in Brighton, England. I grew up in a small seaside town called Swanage, then at 9 my parents took my 3 brothers and I traveling around Europe for a year in an old coach we converted. We settled in central France in 2008 and I lived there until I was 18, returning to the UK to go to university. I studied film at uni for 3 years and moved to Brighton with my boyfriend Jacob after I graduated, 2 and a half years ago! I have been working as a freelance editor since I graduated.
AW: How did you get into filmmaking? Is there a clear memory of you realizing it was something you wanted to pursue?
BA: I’ve aaaalways loved films. My mum used to be an actress and my Dad was a theatre lighting designer for 20 years so I’ve always been in a creative kind of world, but for me it was pretty much always editing. I started making little movies and montages of my friends when I was around 11 and basically haven’t stopped since. I can’t really think of an impactful moment where I decided it was what I wanted to do but when it came to deciding what I wanted to do after school, it just seemed obvious that I would be studying film in some way, shape or form.
AW: You’re also an editor, which I love. When I went to your website you had a paragraph where you talked about it so passionately. I am a retoucher, and I love it I think in the same way you might love editing. So what draws you into it?
BA: Editing is SUCH an underrated art form - and I really think it is an art form. You can learn the technical side of different softwares and everything and that is obviously very important practically - but there’s a part of it that can’t be taught. In that way it kind of reminds me of dancing or photography or any other art. You can be the most technically proficient person in the world at those things but if you don’t have the passion or the eye or whatever it is, then something will always be slightly missing. The storytelling capabilities of editing are endless, and I just find it so constantly exciting.
AW: When I was watching your grad video you used a lot of found footage, what made you use footage already shot instead of more of your own? I know you have your own footage in there which was wildly exciting to watch I didn’t know what to expect and was always wowed by it.
BA: Montage editing is my favourite thing to do in the whole world. Using archive or found footage just completely opens up the possibilities of what is doable. In my 2nd year of uni I specialised in editing and we had an assignment to make a ‘poetry project’: essentially pick a poem and illustrate it with a video. In hindsight this project was absolutely pivotal for me in finding my style as an editor, and a great precursor to my grad film. My very talented friend who was specialising in cinematography helped me shoot some stuff, that I combined with all sorts of archive footage; movies, nature documentaries, music videos, time lapses of the night sky. The project was an experiment, I’d never done anything like it before but it was such an incredible experience, because it just kind of happened. It’s like my hands were going… oh yeah this is what we’re supposed to be doing. So when it came to grad films, and I had the opportunity to make an individual piece, I knew I wanted to explore that avenue even more. State of the Nation is such an allegorical film anyway, all mixed metaphors and visualisations of feelings and so on, that using archive footage just worked so perfectly. I have never been an amazing cinematographer - I enjoy stills photography a lot and I think I’m alright at it but whenever I try and film something, I can never get it to look quite how I imagined it would. I shot the stuff in my grad film as best I could but when I watch it back now those parts really stand out to me as inferior to the rest of the film.
AW: Follow up to the above question, how did you decide what footage told the story best?
BA:The process of finding the footage was a long one. For my other montages I usually just go to YouTube and find whatever works best. However since I was submitting this as a grad film I had to have the copyright to everything I used. I ended up using an internet archive site, and specifically a collection of copyright free films called ‘Prelinger Archives’ for most of the stuff. I had some specific imagery that I knew I needed based on the script, and so I tried to go off of that, but it was also just a lot of hours of watching and collecting anything that I thought might work.
AW: What is your process in creating a film? Do you tend to start in the same spot? How do you go about creating?
BA: With the montages it usually starts with a theme or an idea. Then the song and the recording of my cover. Then it’s time to collect footage; I’ll never get everything I need in the first batch but I try and get enough variety of videos to start. And then I just start! Like I said before, it kind of just happens. It feels very pretentious to say but you know that Michelangelo quote, “I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free” - yeah it kind of feels like that. I’m debating whether to leave this in because I feel so obnoxious right now lmao - I know I’m not making The David or anything but I really relate to that idea that there’s an edit in there somewhere that already exists, and I’m just putting together the jigsaw to get to that point.
AW: Is shooting or editing a bigger part of your process? Or are they of equal importance to you? As a photographer I don’t know, can a bad shoot be made good through editing? In my own work I find both are equal. In photography the foundation of the photo I think tends to take precedent for most people. If I don’t like the retouching of a photo, then I don’t like the photo no matter how good it is.
BA: Because of my aforementioned lack of cinematography skills, I would say for me editing is definitely a bigger part of the process. Having said that, I’m in no way diminishing the importance of the shot or shooting - there’s only so much saving an edit can do to something that looks shit. Narrative filmmaking is about the most collaborative thing you can do and I genuinely think that one person’s part to play is as important as everyone else’s when it comes to making a good film. It’s interesting that you mention photography though because in that case I think the act of shooting takes precedent for me. I guess it just comes down to where I feel the most creatively free - in video that’s the edit, in photos it’s the taking.
AW: Who are your influences and how have they affected your path as an artist?
BA: My biggest influences in filmmaking are Mike Mills, Wes Anderson and Greta Gerwig. I adore Greta’s storytelling as a writer and director. I love Wes very dearly and his influence in film is too often overlooked because people see it as based in aesthetics. Mike Mills is my favourite filmmaker. The overall vibe that I get when watching 20th Century Women is the closest I’ve ever felt to seeing myself on screen - not in a particular character but just as an energy. Both that and Beginners have massively influenced my editing style. Other influences beyond film would be Edward Hopper, Stefan Zweig, Amor Towles, Phoebe Bridgers, Dodie, and Rusty Clanton.
AW: What makes a successful film for you? Personally what makes you say “this is good”
BA: Ooooo what a question! I think that’s really tricky to answer, in that for me it’s all about feeling. All sorts of things go into my opinion of a film: whether or not I had a good time is in no way synonymous with whether or not I think it’s good, for example. But I guess to boil it down it would be - did it make me feel something strongly? Did it keep coming back to my mind in the days after seeing it? Essentially, did it have an impact.
AW: What types of stories are you drawn to telling?
BA: We’ll come onto this now when we talk about music but my storytelling tends to coincide with whatever outlet I need at that point. So the stories I’m drawn to telling are the things I know or am currently going through. I’m very aware of this limitation - especially as someone young who has had a very specific type of life. But I also think there is value in my experiences and in my telling them authentically. I guess that’s what’s holding me back from venturing beyond what I know - I would hate to tell a story from a different perspective and get it completely wrong, or make people feel misunderstood.
AW: You also make music and you just came out with an EP recently which I love. How is music a different or similar outlet for you?
BA: For me, where editing and photography are more of an intentional art form, music is at its core a therapy outlet. I have a tattoo of a Rusty Clanton lyric that I feel sums it up pretty well: “It only hurts until it rhymes”. Ever since I was a kid I’ve used songwriting as a way of getting things out of my head and making sense of them. Songwriting to me doesn’t feel as much like telling a story as just a necessity.
AW: What made you make your EP? Had you always wanted to make one?
BA: So I’ve been writing songs for over a decade and even though I’ve kind of always known that it would never be something I’d pursue professionally (literally the least cut-out-for-the-music-industry person you could meet) I’ve always wanted to do something more concrete with my music. The idea had been floating around half formed in my head for a while, and then when we went into our second covid lockdown last January (2021), and all my work stopped again, I decided to just do it.
AW: When you’re making music what is your process? How do you create a song?
BA: I guess I start with a theme, a thing I wanna process or write about. Sometimes these just demand to be written and sometimes I have to pick something specifically. I’ve never been able to write music without lyrics or lyrics without music like some people can - it all has to happen together for me. And then it just happens, sometimes in one sitting, often over a couple. And any song will shift and change right up until a final version is recorded - individual words or full verses can change a year after a song was first written
AW: Have you always been into music? I know everyone likes music but have you always known you wanted to make your own?
BA: Again, music and playing music has always been around me. Growing up we played a lot of music as a family and listened to a lot more. That created a great foundation for me to then discover and build my own musical style. Once I started making music I knew it would be something I’d probably do forever. It’s time consuming and can be emotionally draining, and I go through periods where I won’t pick up my guitar for a month - and then I do again and it’s like rediscovering a limb.
AW: What musicians have influenced you?
BA: As a teenager I was hugely influenced by songwriters like Dodie and Rusty Clanton. I definitely picked up on Dodie’s acoustic style and tendency towards brutal honesty made pretty with words. More recently I have been HUGELY inspired by Phoebe Bridgers’ music and songwriting, along with other people like Samia and Lucy Dacus. I admire their ability to write openly about the people in their lives. That’s one new hurdle I struggle with now in my songwriting, ever since releasing Honey. I’m terrified to write anything less than flattering about someone who might hear it, which as you can imagine is a bit stifling. Other honourable mentions go to Taylor Swift, Young the Giant, Troye Sivan, Father John Misty, The 1975 and The Paper Kites.
AW: Do film and music inspire you in similar or different ways? Do you see them in the future going hand in hand with your work or do you see them existing as different parts of who you are?
BA: I think film and music are very much intertwined for me. Good music definitely inspires me in a very visual way. I guess because the way I measure a film is through how it made me feel, music can be very similar to that. Music is a huge part of my filmmaking as well, since it is less focused on narrative and more on rhythm and emotion. I would say they definitely go hand in hand.
AW: What art other than your chosen mediums inspires you the most. I ask this question a lot and I think it tells me a lot about someone. I am inspired mostly by books. I think a lot of my ideas come to me when I am reading as opposed to in a museum or gallery.
BA: I would have to agree with you there - reading is a huge inspiration for me. Even though it’s not my chosen medium, I think that reading a book is one of the most intimate artistic experiences, because what you’re imagining around the words is entirely based on the rest of your brain. No one’s showing you what you should be visualising or giving you a soundtrack - it’s all you, and informed by your unique experiences. I’m also a very visual person - I’m obsessed with renaissance sculptures and modern ceramics, I love fine art, illustration and interior design. I think animators are literal miracle workers. I’m a bit of a type A perfectionist so I’m still working on being OK with not being great at everything I try, but I’m increasingly finding the pleasure in watching people be amazing in their own field, without it making me feel inadequate.
AW: What is your hope for your future career?
BA: I’m very lucky that my job is in editing, but obviously most of what I do for work is not the type of editing that fulfills me artistically. I kind of enjoy this separation though - the idea of depending on my creativity for income is terrifying, and more relevantly impossible at the level I’m at right now. I think if I’m honest the big dream is to make films. To work alongside talented directors and actors on high-profile films; Films like Portrait of a Lady on Fire and 20th Century Women and Little Women that I come out of thinking… I wish I made that. Having said that, and despite what I said earlier, a part of me will always dream of being a musician.
I don’t know if it makes me strange but I really don’t think that much about the long-term future. Things like 5 year plans freak me out. My parents are very spontaneous people - I am not, I’m a planner. But maybe their dislike of over-planning slipped into whatever part of my brain looks at the big picture stuff. As long as I enjoy what I do professionally, and it allows me to do what I want personally and creatively, I reckon I’ll be alright.
I think I’d just say, don’t let wanting to be 100% unique hold you back from creating. There are only so many chords, and so many colours, and our art is bound to reflect our influences sometimes. But that’s ok! Working though that is how you find your own voice. It’s worse to never start for fear of copying someone else.
To see more of Beth’s work you can find her here:
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