Film Editor Wang Inspired by Storytelling through Editing like Cornetto Trilogy’s Director Edgar Wright

Who knew that behind the scenes, film editors are making fast cuts, scene extensions and manipulating various elements, such as sound, graphics, dialogue, and camera footage to further a film’s storytelling?

In fact, so much so, that most Best Picture nominees are also nominated for Best Editing, and many of them win both awards, indicating that strong editing is often viewed as a hallmark of a great film. 

Film Editor Zekuan Wang, who edited the award-winning feature The Skin which earned the best foreign language feature at the Hollywood Horror Fest, is one of those magicians behind the scenes. And, he notes that movies like Oppenheimer, which recently won both Best Picture and Best Editing Oscars, reveal how connected overall storytelling and editing are: “A well-edited film often enhances the quality of acting, cinematography, and writing, making it a key factor in a movie's overall success. In fact, a film editor’s choices contribute to the narrative, emotions, and overall flow of a story.”

Wang’s own choices helped another film, the short movie Washed Up, get officially selected by the Burbank International Film Festival, Panic Fest, and Chattanooga Film Festival. Along with the honors that The Skin earned, Wang has displayed a number of strengths that he brings to the table. One director that Wang worked with, Chang Ge, once told him that even though he didn’t provide any images, his work added depth of emotion to the film.

As a result, Wang says of his strengths, “I’ve been told I have a strong understanding of story and structure, which allows me to analyze issues and offer multiple solutions when a story needs to be restructured. Another strength is that I can keep my emotions in check, creating a safe space for directors to navigate their own feelings and creative challenges without added pressure.”

With degrees in filmmaking from the Beijing Film Academy and the American Film Institute in Los Angeles, and varied experience in feature and short films, and vertical series, Zekuan Wang talks about his love of collaboration, how his editing contributes to better storytelling, and what he’s learned from award-winning directors that he applies to his own editing.

How do your collaborative skills appeal to producers and directors?

Collaboration, to me, means getting my part of the job done efficiently and professionally. I always meet deadlines, even when the requests or timelines seem unrealistic. I keep my complaints to myself and maintain a professional attitude towards my team members. My goal is to ensure that people feel confident and safe entrusting their projects to me, and I work hard to uphold that trust.

Why do Best Picture Oscar winners often also earn Best Editing nominations, and do you strive to earn a Best Editing award, yourself?

For me, an excellently-edited film is recognized as a key component of an effective overall narrative, meaning that a movie considered "Best Picture" usually reflects exceptional editing that contributes significantly to its storytelling power, pacing, and impact on the audience. I feel a film can't truly be considered the best picture without strong editing that seamlessly ties together all aspects of the production. As for being honored by your peers, I believe anyone who has worked in a creative role on a film dreams of winning an Oscar at least once. One of the strongest motivations pushing me forward is the recognition from others, and the Oscar represents one of the highest forms of acknowledgment in this field.

What have you learned and can apply from directors you admire?

I admire British director Edgar Wright, best known for his comedic “Three Flavours Cornetto” film trilogy consisting of Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and The World's End. In these, he boldly uses editing to shape storytelling and his visual approach to humor. Typically, editors are supposed to hide their work so the audience forgets they’re watching a film and gets fully immersed in the story. I partially agree with this because watching a movie is like dreaming: the moment you realize you're in a dream, you wake up. But I don’t believe this is the only way to craft a film, and Edgar Wright is a perfect example. In his early work, he made cuts and camera movements very visible, like the flash cuts in Hot Fuzz and the opening scene of Shaun of the Dead. This not only condensed a lot of information but also created humor and content that could only exist on screen, rather than just translating jokes from the script.

What can director Tarantino teach us?

As for Quentin Tarantino, (Pulp Fiction, Inglorious Basterds, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood), I appreciate how he defies expectations, and I take that to heart. For example, I love how he builds tension in a scene without dragging it out. He makes the cut. Story-wise, he plays with the audience’s expectations, subverting what they think will happen based on their prior movie experiences. His stories constantly defy expectations but still make sense. In a way, it’s all about manipulating expectations. He raises tension by breaking or or editing the expected end of a scene, and then he plays with the audience’s sense of where the overall story will go. As editors, our job is to make decisions about what to show and when to show it.

How does good editing impact an actor’s performance?

In real life, the way we communicate goes beyond the words we say—it’s about how we say them. Are we speaking fluently or stuttering? What happens in the moment we stutter? When we’re listening, where are we looking, and for how long? These subtle details reveal so much about a character, and as editors, we need to capture these moments from the actors’ performances and choose the right ones to show at the right time. These choices help build the characters and their relationships. Done well, we enhance an actor’s performance.

When did you know you wanted to have a career in TV/movies?

It started when I joined our small TV station in high school. In China, most high school students focus on getting into university rather than thinking about what they want to do with their lives. I found it frustrating to study without knowing why, and it bothered me that people seemed to follow a set path when there are so many possibilities out there. So, I thought, why not make movies for a living? Even though you might do similar tasks each day, the stories you work on are always different and unique. With each project, you get to experience a whole new world. And when someone asks you what you do for a living, you get to say, “I build stories”—how magical is that?

Check out Zekuan Wang on IMDb.