One of the best ways to express passion for a particular fandom of something is to create art of it.
Whether it’s drawings, storiesor other forms, art is a unique expression of fandom culture.
But with social media, a new art form has emerged: fan edits.
People put together video clips with transitions and audio behind them and have an edit that showcases a movie, a show or another form of media.
Cosmopolitan magazine sat down with various TikTok editors, and they shared how the process of creating fan edits can take on the low end, “no more than an hour to edit," said Junella, who goes by @shoshannashapirostan on TikTok.
On the other end, it can “usually take a minimum of two days to complete,” editor @p6uge said.
It seems to depend on what sort of style the editor is going for.
Edits range from some audio and lyrics going over media clips to precisely edited clips to tell the story of a piece of media through a new lens.
These edits capture something that long-form pieces often cannot by isolating certain ideas, moments or characters.
One of the edits that kicked off the current wave is one of the movie “Creed” by @areq aep.
While Creed is a quality movie on its own, this edit emphasizes the work the main character, Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan), puts in throughout the movie.
This has set the framework for a wave of edits about working hard and making a name for oneself.
Often, edits that go viral don’t sit alone in virality. The audio becomes viral, and edits with a similar format also go viral.
Even though edits go viral and gain some traction for the creator’s account, making edits isn’t about virality.
Putting time and effort into something like an edit is a sign of love and care for what the creator is making an edit of “. . .these fans are out here creating for the pure love of the game,” Annabel Iwegbue wrote for Cosmopolitan.
This creation can create a community. Claire Youker, a sophomore studying publication design at Ohio University, goes by ginger_queen_ on TikTok, where she makes edits of the Marauders characters from the Harry Potter franchise.
“When you create a hashtag on a TikTok, it’ll show up to people who are also on the fandom’s page, then it kind of just builds a community within the fandom,” Youker said.
People are willing to make edits to anything because of their passions.
No two edits are the same. While scrolling, one could encounter three edits of the same movie in a row, but they each emit different emotions and focus on unique aspects.
The sequencing of clips, the song used, the specific lyrics pulled out, all require a uniquely human touch to be thought-provoking.
As generative AI becomes more integrated into social media, human creation becomes even more valuable to fans. AI can give an outline for an edit with carefully planned-out steps, but it cannot capture the same feelings.
Companies have started embracing these edits in their own marketing.
Chief among those is Lionsgate, the company that owns the rights to the Hunger Games and Twilight film franchises.
The company has realized the potential of these edits to advertise their products to first-time viewers and returners.
Lionsgate’s head of worldwide digital marketing embraces this as a way to reach fans “If we’re trying to have a conversation with fans online, we need to be able to speak their language,” Briana McElroy said to Variety.
It seems companies are embracing the way the fans appreciate the media produced. Fans feel more empowered about shaping the narratives around these pieces of content.
However, there could be a downside to companies taking something so grassroots and fan-oriented and turning it into a product of a corporate chain.
Yet it feels the potential for more engaged fans and the chance to draw in new fans is far more appealing.
Social media continues to affect fandom in new ways, both good and bad. Edits seem to be a part of the good, with real human creation and effort.
