Art of the Cut: Conversations with Film and TV Editors
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ART OF THE CUT Art of the Cut provides an unprecedented look at the art and technique of contemporary fi lm and television editing. It is a fascinating “virtual roundtable discussion” with more than 50 of the top editors from around the globe. Included in the discussion are the winners of more than a dozen Oscars for Best Editing and the nominees of more than 40, plus numerous Emmy winners and nominees. Together they have over a thousand years of editing experience and have edited more than a thousand movies and TV shows. Hullfi sh carefully curated over a hundred hours of interviews, organizing them into topics critical to editors everywhere, generating an extended conversation among colleagues. The discussions provide a broad spectrum of opinions that illustrate both similarities and differences in techniques and artistic approaches. Topics include rhythm, pacing, structure, storytelling and collaboration. Interviewees include Margaret Sixel ( Mad Max: Fury Road ), Tom Cross ( Whiplash, La La Land ), Pietro Scalia ( The Martian, JFK ), Stephen Mirrione ( The Revenant ), Ann Coates ( Lawrence of Arabia, Murder on the Orient Express ), Joe Walker ( 12 Years a Slave, Sicario ), Kelley Dixon ( Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead ) and many more. Art of the Cut also includes in-line defi nitions of editing terminology, with a full glossary and fi ve supplemental web chapters hosted online at www.routledge. com/cw/Hullfi sh . This book is a treasure trove of valuable tradecraft for aspiring editors and a prized resource for high-level working professionals. The book’s accessible language and great behind-the scenes insight make it a fascinating glimpse into the art of fi lmmaking for all fans of cinema. Steve Hullfi sh is a feature fi lm and TV editor, with credits including Coura- geous, War Room, Champion and the theatrically released feature documen- tary, Clinton Inc . He is the author of fi ve other books, includingThe Art and Technique of Digital Color Correction and Avid Uncut . He also trains editors and colorists around the world. ART OF THE CUT CONVERSATIONS WITH FILM AND TV EDITORS STEVE HULLFISH First published 2017 by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 and by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2017 Taylor & Francis The right of Steve Hullfi sh to be identifi ed as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice : Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identifi cation and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN: 978-1-138-23865-7 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-138-23866-4 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-315-29713-2 (ebk) Typeset in Avenir by Apex CoVantage, LLC CONTENTS Acknowledgments viii Introduction x Film Editor Biographies xiv 1 Project Organization 1 Cards on a Wall 2 Project Organization 2 Scene Bin Organization 8 Scene Bin Organization with JPEG Markers 16 Selects or KEM Rolls 18 Sequence Organization 18 Organizing a Timeline Layout 20 ScriptSync 22 2 Approach to a Scene 34 Screening Dailies (Rushes) 34 Watching Dailies Backwards 46 Finding a Starting Place 48 Fast and Rough to Start 57 Using Select Reels 60 3 Pacing and Rhythm 67 Pacing Is Musical 70 What Determines Pacing? 75 Letting It Breathe 83 Pacing Due to Screen Size 85 4 Structure 86 Length of First Assembly 88 Working the First Assembly 90 Hitting Beats 98 vi CONTENTS Structure 101 Intercutting 110 Killing Your Babies and Eliminating Shoe Leather 112 Screening 114 First Assembly in TV 116 5 Storytelling 119 Editing Is Foundational to Storytelling 120 Speaking into the Script 125 Character 129 Perspective 134 Structure 135 A Student of Story 137 6 Performance 139 Editing as Stewardship 140 Finding the Performance 141 Performance That Tells the Story 143 Shaping Performance 144 Editing Bracketed Performance 148 Using Audio from Different Takes Than Picture 149 Split Screen: The Invisible Weapon 150 Performance Needs Context 152 7 Sound Design 155 Sound to Sell Visual Edits 155 Selling the Environment 162 Collaboration with Sound Team and Assistants 166 ADR (Automated Dialogue Replacement) 170 8 Music 172 The Purpose of Temp Music 173 Choosing Temp Music 175 Cutting without Temp 180 Songs and Diegetic or “Source” Music 187 Temping a Franchise Film 188 Using Score 190 CONTENTS vii 9 Collaboration 194 Landing the Gig 194 Styles of Collaboration 196 Notes 212 Social Skills 213 Don’t Edit the Way You Think the Director Wants 217 TV’s Collaborative Environment 219 10 Documentary 225 Schedule 225 Approaching the Material 227 ScriptSync 237 Shot Selection 238 Pacing and Rhythm 240 Structure 242 Sound Design 246 Music 249 Collaboration 250 Notes and Revisions 252 Miscellaneous Documentary Wisdom 255 11 Miscellaneous Wisdom 259 How Did You Break into the Business? 259 Emotion 264 Geography 267 Learn from Your Mistakes 269 How Do You Judge the Editing of Others? 271 Online-Exclusive Chapters (available at www.routledge.com/cw/Hullfi sh Index 275 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Many people have been impressed with my ability to land interviews with so many Oscar winners, Oscar nominees and Emmy winners. I have to humbly state that perhaps the most impressive part of writing this book can’t be attributed to me at all. The credit for having the deepest “rolodex” in the business goes to Marianna Montague. Marianna is known by virtually everyone in the post-production business as a consummate “fi xer” and is an employee of Avid Technologies as Director of Online Communities and Forums and the Customer Advocate. For most Avid editors, she is the true beating heart of the company. I can’t have you read this book any further without knowing that it was Marianna who provided the contacts for 80% of the interviews in this book . maybe 90%. Marianna, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the dozens and dozens of emails you responded to throughout the last few years, requesting contacts for the most elite editors in Hollywood and throughout the world. I pushed the bounds of our friendship, and you were always happy to help. If you know Marianna, you probably love her as much as I do. But if you’re one of those elite editors that is angry that Marianna gave out your personal contact information, be comforted in the thought that maybe I tracked you down myself, so she didn’t give out your personal information. Writing a book takes a team. The head of my team is Simon Jacobs, the editor for Film and Video at Taylor and Francis—the parent company of Focal Press. Simon has been incredibly supportive of the idea since I fi rst pitched it and has guided me through the entire process with an unerring hand. I’d also like to thank the proofreaders, technical editors, and colleagues who provided peer review of the idea and of the text, as well as the book cover designer and layout artists. These interviews were originally done for Provideocoalition.com, a division of Moviola. Without their support, this book would not have been possible. The entire writers corps at PVC is made up of gurus in all kinds of production and post-production disciplines, and my fellow writers were very supportive and helpful in pursuing the series. I’d especially like to thank Jeremiah Karpowicz, Scott Simmons and Moviola’s Patty Montesion. Patty helped with interns from Moviola who did some of the transcription work: Mike Dudiak, Andrea Espinoza, Kent Ewing, Talya Joffe, Hanna Lancer, Daniel McNamara, Aneesa Nash, Katelyn Nelson, Victor Redman and Angela Robinson-Wheaton in Moviola’s Education Department. Also, some of these interviews were done for Manhattan Edit Workshop’s Sight and Sound Workshops, and for those connections, I’d like to thank Janet Dalton, their Director of Education. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ix Clearly, the most critical people to the success of this book are the fi lm and television editors who were gracious enough to talk for hours about their craft. Thanking them by name here in the acknowledgments doesn’t make much sense. As you read the book or check out the brief biographies, please consider that the wisdom that you’re reading is due to each of these talented professionals giving their time and sharing their knowledge selfl essly to further the understanding of the craft. To each of them, I am so grateful for taking my call and letting me be part of sharing their knowledge with the world. Finally, my family has always been supportive of my writing and has sacrifi ced to allow me to write. I thank my parents, who have always taught me the importance of writing well and have supported my pursuit of creative occupations my whole life. My brother, Brian—assisted by my dad—thoroughly edited the book. They graciously provided great insight and the keen eyes and ears of experienced and concise writers. My family provided me with the life lessons that allowed me to tackle six books while working full time as an editor. To my wife, Jody, and our children, Haley and Quinn, thank you for your sacrifi ces while I wrote.