By: Sarah Gouldrup

Humor Editor

El Gato readers, I have a confession to make: I am a film buff. I know you’re wondering, “Wow, Sarah, how can you make yourself MORE pretentious than you already are?” but yes, I managed to outdo myself. Goodbye books — you’ve definitely been good to me, but I’ve moved on. With that addressed, allow me to explain the types of media that have effectively pushed me to join the other side. It wasn’t critically-acclaimed films (though they definitely deserve the same amounts of praise) or indie films that everyone applauds for their cinematography (I’m looking at you CMBYN — everyone conveniently forgets the grooming). Alas, I’m talking about the creme de la creme, the cream of the crop if you will: TikTok edits. 

To start with a little background, TikTok edits typically take the form of a 30-60 second video featuring a compilation of either a tv show or movie. Sounds pretty basic right? Wrong. There are tons of criteria for making the perfect edit, including song choice, scene choice, and caption. A lot of people forget about the caption, but sometimes after I watch a particularly brutal edit, nothing feels better than getting punched in the gut by an even more traumatizing caption. For example, I recently watched an edit of Ellie and Joel from The Last of Us; I’ll leave out the specifics of the edits since the episode just came out. Anyways, the edit was incredibly sad, but it was the caption that forced me to physically exit the app and put my phone down. I don’t know who @mitskiedits is, but they do not mess around when it comes to ripping people’s hearts out. 

Moving back to the song aspect, TikTok edits typically utilize the same 3-4 artists when finalizing their masterpieces. I like to refer to them as the holy trinity: Phoebe Bridgers, Hozier, and the queen herself, Taylor Swift. I know that I’ve gone as deep into an edit rabbit hole as possible for a particular show when I’m graced with an edit to I Know the End on my For You page. Without a doubt, every show I’ve ever seen an edit for has one to that song; it is simply a rite of passage. Recently, however, Hozier is climbing the ranks of edit fame with his song Almost. Whether an edit of The Last of Us or Regulus Black (RIP, you will be missed), those stupid lyrics never fail to elicit a teardrop. 

While I consider myself a seasoned veteran of the edit world, it isn’t everyone’s area of expertise. Thus, I’ve compiled a small list for interested beginners that I believe positively represent this small, but mighty section of TikTok. Spots one through three have to go to any Reign edit that exists, ever, simply because they are rare, but each one is absolutely perfect. Close behind is definitely the edit of Panic to Supercut by Lorde — top tier, let me tell you. However, you really can’t go wrong with any edit out there, so the next time you’re on TikTok, search your favorite show + the word “edit” and get ready for your mind to be blown.