Let's get down to the granular level of organization with naming your files. Filenames should be very specific without making a muck of the name itself. Try to keep the name short, but clearly identified. In a feature film, editors often mark filenames with scene number, shot number and take number. For example, a filename for Scene 5, Shot 14, Take 2 could look like clip05-14-02 or some variation of those critical pieces of information. It's not unusual to see different cameras represented as well, if it's a multi-camera shoot. Editors with this naming convention will have to return to their shortlists and storyboards to build the rough cut. As they become more acquainted with the scenes themselves, they can rely on other metadata to help identify particular clips. More professional video-editing applications will allow editors to add notes to clips, so that more information can be displayed along with the file name.

For short-form projects (especially those that don't have as much pre-visual planning), you might be better off with more conventional naming styles. If you're editing an interview, filenames could be as simple as breaking clips into different parts of the interview. For example, the introduction of the interviewee could be named Michael_interview_intro. Then, you can organize your B-roll clips in different bins based on the different parts of the interview and name the B-roll clips specific to the visuals.

Media management encompasses so much more than what we've discussed. We've just covered the basic principles of organizing your assets to maximize your editing uptime. Where you go from here is up to you.

If you're a freelancer, it's also wise to consider an asset management system for saving certain parts of your work for your demo reel. Create a file folder structure, and constantly deposit pieces of your work to this destination as your reach those creative milestones. Lastly, consider adding a media management system that deals with archiving your projects. A backup is a safety net for the work in progress. An archive is a system for saving your work for an extended period of time. All these things are very important. After all, we're not just editors, we're storytellers, and our data is our legacy.

Contributing Editor Mark Montgomery is an independent video producer and editor.