Review by Philip French.

Numerous directors and a fair number of cinematographers have written autobiographies, but although there are useful books on the art and craft and editing, the only memoir I’ve come across by a film editor is the eye-opening When the Shooting Stops… the Cutting Begins by Ralph Rosenblum, the New York editor who saved Mel Brooks’s The Producers and Woody Allen’s Annie Hall from catastrophe.

It appeared in 1979, and towards the end of it Rosenblum says of his trade: “The profession selects in favour of caution, timidity, self-abnegation, tact, ‘a diplomacy’, says British editor James Clark, ‘which would normally put us straight into parliament’.” Now in retirement, Jim Clark has put aside his diplomacy to write a revealing, funny, devastatingly frank account of a lifetime spent editing film.

Read the rest of this article from The Guardian.

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Press Release

American Cinema Editors and Manhattan Edit Workshop bring editors, filmmakers and moviegoers alike the biggest blockbuster event of the summer; the only thing small about this year’s EditFest NY is the price tag.

The American Cinema Editor’s (ACE) EditFest NY, the east coast version of ACE’s popular EditFest series originally launched in 2008 as ACE EditFest LA, is gearing up for its return to New York City as the blockbuster editing event of the summer.

Set to kick off on Friday, June 10 at the Director’s Guild of America Theater in New York City, ACE EditFest NY, co-produced by Manhattan Edit Workshop (Mewshop), presents the editing and filmmaking community with two action-packed days of discussion, discovery and behind-the-scenes excitement, straight from the cutting room floor, with the industry’s most talented and well-respected editors of both feature films and television.

Read the rest of this release from PR Log.

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This article was written for Escapology.

“At the end of the day it’s all about editing, isn’t it.

I’m editing some spots at the moment. I have to say, in all immodesty, that I have always been pretty good at editing. Because editing is true storytelling. The best part of filmmaking! and I love that bit.

There’s a old movie expression: in film you write something three times. you write when you write it. you write it when you shoot it. and you write it when you edit it.”

This article was wrtten by Alan Edit.

“Starting a career in post? already in post? good. Here are 5 things I learned, practically. I’m still learning.”

Read this article from Looking For the Right Image.

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This question comes from one of my subscribers to “The Director’s Chair”. If you have any answers or comments for Victor, please post them in the Reply box below and I will make sure he sees them. Thanks.

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“I seek your advice on how to edit my footage on my first directed television l told you about. l am using Adobe Premier Pro and I intend on getting an external hard drive and would like to confirm if it is a great idea to dump the entire footage on the ext. drive or should l capture and edit as l go? What would be the best way to work out my bins and the footage as I edit?

Should l edit episode by episode or work as per scene or work it as per daily shoot then compile it at the end of the edit?

All these questions reflect that this is my first massive footage edit, so hey l have a bit of goose bumps and anxiousness. Please advice before I go crazy. Victor.”
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The feature article this month is called “Prodding the Drunken Elephant” (The Film Editor’s World) by Rick Benwick.

“What we learn as Editor’s of movies is that we develop a very close relationship with the film image. Each movie production shoots and hands us many hours of material. We look at this material first as independent shots of different sizes and angles. We look again as it is being digitized onto the hard drives.”

If you are not a subscriber to this free monthly ezine for filmmakers, (packed with hundreds of filmmaking articles, tips and techniques) you can sign up at: http://www.actioncutprint.com

This arrticle and video is from HD Film Tools.

“Today we present Part I of a multi-part series with award winning film editor Chris Dickens. Chris is the recipient of this years “triple crown” of editing awards for his work on “Slumdog Millionaire”, for which he took home the American Cinema Editor’s (A.C.E.) EDDY Award, the British Academy of Film an Television Arts (BAFTA) award and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Academy Award.” Read rest of article and watch video.

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1. cut (a straight transition to a new shot)

2. wipe (a gradual transition to a new scene)

3. dissolve (a gradual double exposure transition from one image to another)

4. fade in/fade out ( a gradual increase or decrease in picture brightness)

5. focus in/focus out (a transition shot using focus)

6. match cut (when two camera shots are linked visually – the foreground is the same but the background changes)

7. freeze frame (a shot that gives the illusion of a still photograph)

8. split screen (a visible division of the screen used to combine two or more actions filmed separately)

9. slow motion (time has been slowed down)

10. fast motion (time is speeded up)

11. jump cuts (the middle section of a shot is removed to create a jump in time)

12. cross-cutting (suggests that actions are occurring at the same time)

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Want to Learn More Film and Television Directing Tips and Techniques? Check out Peter D. Marshall’s 2008 multi-media reference guide for filmmakers, “The Art and Craft of the Director 10-Day Audio Seminar“ – a 162 page eBook packed full of insider film directing tips and tools supported by over 500 film making reference links, 26 mp3 audio files, 28 video links and 23 pdf special reports all designed to help you become a successful, working film and television director.
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According to Walter Murch, (an Academy Award–winning film editor/sound mixer) when it comes to film editing, there are six main criteria for evaluating a cut or deciding where to cut.

Here they are in order of importance:

1. Emotion – Does the cut reflect what the editor believes the audience should be feeling at that moment?

2. Story – Does the cut advance the story?

3. Rhythm – Does the cut occur at a moment that is rhythmically interesting and ‘right’?

4. Eye-Trace – Does the cut pay respect to “the location and movement of the audience’s focus of interest within the frame?

5. Two-Dimensional Place of the Screen – Does the cut respect the 180 degree rule?

6. Three-Dimensional Space of Action – Is the cut true to the physical/spatial relationships within the narrative?

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Sign up for your own FREE subscription to “The Director’s Chair” filmmaking ezine, packed with hundreds of film making articles, tips, tools and techniques. This FREE monthly Film Directing ezine is read by over 2700 filmmakers in 100 countries around the world. http://www.actioncutprint.com/ezine.html

“Thank you for your ezine. It is a amazing resource!” James Sutherland, South Africa
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As a director, making a movie is not just about the scene you are filming now – it is also about how to structure the pace of the film by the way you create your scene transitions.

Here are 4 steps you should know in order to create good scene transitions: (“X” is the scene you are shooting now)

1) what is the scene that comes before “X”
2) what is the scene that comes after “X”
3) what is the last shot of the scene before “X”
4) what is the first shot of the next scene “X”

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Want to Learn More Film and Television Directing Tips and Techniques? Check out Peter D. Marshall’s 2008 multi-media reference guide for filmmakers, “The Art and Craft of the Director 10-Day Audio Seminar“ – a 162 page eBook packed full of insider film directing tips and tools supported by over 500 film making reference links, 26 mp3 audio files, 28 video links and 23 pdf special reports all designed to help you become a successful, working film and television director.
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