I once heard a line that goes: Philosophy is a game with objectives and no rules. Mathematics is a game with rules and no objectives. When looking through raw footage and trying to imagine crafting a scene, I wonder if I'm a philosopher or a mathematician?
I don't feel as though I'm bound to strict rules when constructing a scene (guidelines yes, rules not so much), which is maybe the philosophy-game. However, I've always found a parallel in editing and math, in that one is looking to truthfully manipulate raw information to illuminate new and concise truths.