Not many people, specifically those of the slightly older generation, have heard of Instagram editing. More so for the fact it is an activity pursued mostly by the younger culture. It’s almost a way of escaping the real world through transitions, colors and fonts.
So, what is it?
In the simplest form, Instagram editing is when one creates captivating videos, heavily edited with a special assortment of digital effects and colors, set to modified audios.
Although I am a part of the editing community, I am not as well-known as many of the other editors on the Instagram platform. There are many popular content creators, one of which happens to be who I’ve interviewed. Her name is Aliea. This 19-year-old from Virginia is better known on social media as “hessaculture.” Her popular account, with over 4,409 followers, is mostly recognized for all things pertaining to that of the After movies, as well as the actors portraying the main characters.
Although her account is mostly made up of edits dedicated to the After series, each video is completely different from the last. Her editing technique has a wide range of artistic styling. Two of which happen to be in the form of vent edits and plot twist edits.
“Vent edits are when a person is feeling sad about something and uses clips of characters or people who are feeling the same way they are,” Aliea said. “It’s a way of showing people what they’re feeling through an edit.”
Plot twist edits, she added, are a completely different story. “Plot twist edits are when you have a character or real person at the beginning of an edit, and then when the viewer is least expecting it, the plot twists to the character or the person the editor likes.”
From around the time she was 9-10 years old, Aliea became absorbed into the creative world of video editing. “I would watch fan-made trailers on YouTube about movies I liked and immediately wanted to give it a try.”
Doing this very activity, not only became a quick hobby of interest, but slowly seemed to also become a coping mechanism. “I edit because it takes my mind off of things and I get to escape reality for a bit. All I have to do is focus on what I want my videos to look like.”
Although this may seem like the simplest of hobbies, having meshed clips together with wacky fonts and transitions, along to the music of your choice through this particular style, is not as easy as it may sound. Even though, these edits last no longer than 45 seconds to a minute.
“It could take up to 3 days. It really depends upon the time, effort, and your style of editing.”
When asked whether Aliea saw this activity as just solely a hobby, or as potentially something she could see herself doing in the near future, for a living. She left us with this final statement: “At the moment, I consider editing a hobby. But because of my love for it, I am thinking of becoming a film major in college which could lead to a professional job.”
