l a splicer does is aligns the sprocket
holes on two separate pieces of film and gives you a guillotine to cut the film with. Then
you take a piece of clear tape and splice the two pieces of film across the cut, aligned by
the sprocket holes in the film. You can make straight cuts this way. Most splicers allow you
to do both 8mm, Super8 and 16mm. You will need to be able to see the film you are working with. Some people look at it
against a smoked white glass with a light behind it. An easier way is to have a viewer
that displays the film on a small screen. These sometimes come with a pin that is used to
mark the film at splice points so you know where you want to cut later.
You will also need a way to move through your film. An editing bench often will have film winds, a hand crank that holds a split reel (a film reel that can be twisted apart). You
don't need this but it is highly recommended if you have very much footage.
When we refer to editors, is is usually a device that combines some or all of these features. They generally are not of high of caliber as the individual editing equipment.
If you have sound for your film and want to cut sound and pix at the same time whilst keeping sync, you will need what is called a gang sync and a squawk box. The gang sync
has sets of rollers and footage counters that you align for film and mag stock (magnetic
sound tape that is sprocketed just like your film) so that they do not lose their
association with each other. The squawk box is a small speaker with a magnetic head
that you drag the mag stock across so you can hear the sound of the clapper and what take
you have.