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.
We absorb the way that this actor reacted toward an insult, or
that actor struggled to deliver his lines in a believable
manner. How the light hit her face perfectly. How his sneer
could overpower the scene.
We know that the power of the image in drama is in the close
ups. That eyebrow screams “I don’t believe a thing he’s
saying”. Those squinting eyes hint at a potential explosion.
The relationship between editor and image becomes intimate.
The editor starts cutting the scenes together. It’s a matter
of like and dislike. The way the camera moved up her dress to
her face, opens the scene in a tender moment. The editor pops
the shot into the recorder.
He decides on the next shot. It flashes in his mind first.
It is transmitted down through his finger tips into the
console/keyboard. The cut is made. The two images are bonded
together instantly. The editor reviews the cut; fine tuning
the flow of the movement. Only 5,000 more cuts to go and the
movie will be ready for the Director to view.
Editors of movies, who decide to become Directors of movies,
calculate that we know what shots are needed; what shots cut
together; and what performances are worth circling. What
Editors soon realize is that we are not in a ‘one to one’
(Editor and Image) relationship any more. We are in a ‘one
and many’ relationship. The Editor/Director and the Crew.
The Crew needs to know many things. They have a thousand
questions, all at the same time. Their questions are endless
and overwhelming. “Where’s the location? What’s the camera
position? Lens size? Lighting look? Color scheme? Costume
ideas? Hair colour? Shooting schedule? Blocking? Motivation?”
Personality clashes. Ego inflations. The relationship is
physical. It’s psychological. It’s emotional. But above all
it’s ponderously slow. We answer, we compromise, we plead, we
push, but the drunken elephant won’t perform. It leans and
sways and stumbles and dumps. Where is the intimate bonding?
Where is the flow? Where is the editing room?
So we return to that climate controlled suite soothed by the
hum of the computer. We expel a sigh of relief. We enter
again into that world inside the screen where the images react
instantly to our every whim. What a wonderful world; no
straining; no grinding; no pleading; no drunken elephant.
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Rick Benwick is a film editor who lives in Vancouver, Canada
and has been editing films for over 35 years.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0073083/
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Copyright (c) 2009 Peter D. Marshall / All Rights Reserved
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