Why is film editing not a film director's job? Director knows exactly what he wants in the final cut, right?

* Is it because there is some technical expertise required to physically make a "cut" and a "join"? But with the advent of software based editing, one would think this reason does not exist anymore.

* The director is the person who knows the content best. So he should be the person who can best decide the flow of scenes. So why is the film editor required?

* I have read the wiki article on film editing and understood things like the 180 degree rule. But I think most of it is common sense and still think the director would be the best person to do the editing.

Editing is a specialized skill. It's difficult to explain if you've never seen a real editor work. A real editor is not just a pair of hands that physically cuts the film.

A director has an idea of what the scenes will be, but he rarely has the timing and rhythm of the cuts down to the frame. A quality editor is able to look at all of the film shot and create the best scene from the material. A director will cover a scene from numerous angles and the editor is crucial in finding the best way to put the coverage together.

A director will often not even look at the film until a trusted editor has gone through and made a rough cut. Then the editor and director work together to create the best film. What he director had in mind during filming may not be the best final version and it's the editor's job to help him. Often editors can make multiple cuts of a scene that have different effects and flow and the director can choose and refine with the editor.

Behind every good director is a good editor. Some even use the same one for their entire careers (Scorsese and Schoonmaker for example).

Because, they might not want to spend all the time reviewing scenes. So, they hire people to do it for them. The director gives them a good idea about what should be kept, and what should not. SOME directors, do edit their movies. Back then, this was common. Not now though.....

a lot of times its another way for the studio or producers to make sure the final version of the film is what they want and not what the director wants...the studio usually gets the final say...and that ruins a lot of movies. That's why you often see "directors cuts" come out later on DVD. But some directors that are in demand have final cut privileges written into their contracts.

directors are busy people. they have money to spend, premiers to attend, oscars to accept and more money to spend. so i suppose they just delegate someone to fiddle around on a computer for a number of weeks/months. done.

It is the directors job to decide what the editing is and how the film goes together. They not simply sit around with a megaphone and yell at actors.

However a director might TECHNICALLY not do the editing but he will still decide what the editing will but someone else types it in or what ever.