Brit cutter Jonathan Scarlett of London's The Quarry credits film school with giving him the courage to resign from the civil service. "I was hypnotized by the power of slicing," he explains. "It captured my imagination."

Scarlett worked in the British government for six years, making Super 8 movies while learning the craft of editing in his spare time. After entering the Soho scene as a runner at The Quarry in 1997, Scarlett spent a further six years absorbing the intricate techniques of film editing.

"I consciously focused [on learning] for so long because every aspect of the craft had to be down before I could fully commit to editing."

This patience has clearly paid off. In his first big spot, the 2002 "Rush Hour" for BBC One through Abbott Mead Vickers.BBDO, Scarlett paces the action in such a way that it advances the storyline and steps away from simple stunt sequences.

The spot features stunning footage of an athlete leaping 23 feet from building to building in order to traverse a gridlocked city to catch his favorite program at home on TV. It was helmed by director Tom Carty of London's Gorgeous, who gave Scarlett extra time to work on the piece over Easter last year, a move that Scarlett says enabled him to breathe life into the spot with his own subjective eye before Carty returned to flavor the piece further.

"Obviously the director has their own vision on the job," Scarlett says, "but an editor can assist by building up visual ideas.

"An extra couple of days can completely change a spot. No matter how fast the delivery of a spot can be, you still need time away from the machinery to think about [the work]."

He and Carty realized that the strength of "Rush Hour" lay in the storytelling, not just the stunts performed. "People get a sense of the guy's journey because we didn't resort to simply cutting around his stunts. That helped shape the feel of the spots."

He feels fortunate to have worked with Carty. "There is a certain grammar to editing, the challenge of telling stories in a short period of time, but there's no magic formula in attracting directors."

One consideration Scarlett believes should be foremost in an editor's mind is the oft under-appreciated element of sound. Without this, "storytelling is nothing. A spot that's cut well to a piece of music just flows, and it never jars the viewer. It has the right feeling, instead of following a set of rules or copying what others have done."

If this technique is done well, of course, the audience won't notice the editor's hand in the piece. "It's only noticeable when you're specifically trying to make a point," he says, "otherwise it's bad because it's not succeeding in enhancing a story."

Scarlett is about to cut a spot for the Financial Times, directed by Stuart Douglas of @radical.media in London, and remains dedicated tohis craft.

Unlike many aspiring feature flick editors, Scarlett sees no need to step away from the advertising arena just yet. "I don't look at it as a means to something else," he says. On the contrary, he anticipates working in advertising for years to come, honing his skills further.

"I'm happy with the medium," Scarlett says. "I'll keep enhancing stories and exploring as many different opportunities as possible, and see where it leads me."

He's also undaunted by what many see as a strained UK commercial economy. "There's always the doom-and-gloom merchants dragging themselves around but life goes on, and some houses are really busy."

WEBFILES:
The Quarry> http://www.the-quarry.co.uk