Old-school film editors cut with razor blades and splicing tape — that’s why the blade tool icon is a razor in Avid, Premiere, and FCP… I share that with assistants because remembering those slower roots nudges us to build deliberate pauses between passes so we don’t burn out and your judgment — and career — keep getting sharper.
I mapped the Razor in Premiere to a modifier + C so every cut makes me pause — a little nod to the tape days — my rule: “touch the blade, take a breath,” then I nudge back and play a couple seconds to confirm before committing. Caveat: on selects pulls I skip slicing and drop markers so I don’t swiss-cheese the timeline.