Advertisement
John Ottman Goes to Editing Jail for Valkyrie
(Page 2)
MM: A lot of people say that about editing as well, that the less you notice it the better.
JO: Absolutely. And both tasks are, of course, telling the story. I always say the best film scores are scores that, away from the movie you can sense that they’re telling a story and the best film editors are those that are concerned with story. I think the best film editors are closet composers. They may not know how to write music, but I think they have a musical sense because they both kind of interplay with each other.
MM: It seems composing scores is your passion, more so than editing.
JO: Yeah, I love writing film scores. I love writing music. It’s like literally giving birth to something. It’s coming from within you completely. Editing is the most important job on a film bar none, however you’re still manipulating material that’s been provided for you. Not to say that you’re not literally creating a story, sometimes from horrible footage or making performances. Nevertheless, as a composer, I think it’s more personal.
MM: Was the plan always to make Valkyrie the thriller it turned into?
JO: From day one we set out to make a thriller. That was the bottom line. But I would say we got very consumed by the history and very consumed with accuracy, historical accuracy. Living in Berlin and being around the Germans and a lot of people who were very, very, very familiar with the story, it started to become a paranoia we all had—to make sure that we weren’t taking too many liberties and that we were being true to what happened. This is a very, very important story to them. So that became something that really… I wouldn’t say it crippled us, but it often gave us a lot of.. It did at times, maybe. (laughs) It crippled us at times.
It’s hard to make a thriller about an emotional, historical event and not belittle the historical event. And I think that’s why the Germans were really freaked out when they heard Tom Cruise was playing this part because this is one of their national heroes and I think they immediately thought this was going to be Top Gun or something. And it took us to convince them and show journalists there, and fellow filmmakers there, that no, we were being very true to the material.
MM: As an editor do like being on set during shooting?
JO: I hate going to the set. I end up going there quite a number of times because inevitably there are shots I want or I need to let them know if I’ve got all the footage I need so they can tear down a set. So I end up going down there sometimes to do little pickup shots of inanimate objects or hands picking up things, connector shots. And that can be late-night stuff you can do.
But yes, the set is one of the most god-awfully boring places to be on the planet Earth. (laughs) You think watching footage is like watching paint dry, at least something’s going on; when I’m watching even the most boring footage it’s more exciting than being the set.
MM: Do the jobs of editing and scoring ever get in the way of one another?
JO: They always get in the way. If I had a [separate] composer on the films I’m editing [he or she] would have gotten a much longer head start than I ever get. The editing, of course, never ends—especially on a complicated film like this. So I’m literally torn into two people.
When I’m doing both tasks, I really have much less time to actually write the score. On Superman Returns, to anticipate that, I brought on another editor [in Elliot Graham], but on this one I wanted to do the whole thing myself because we were going back to our roots [with] the same team as The Usual Suspects. And I’m a control freak and I really work better being the sole editor, but I knew that would add a lot more hardship to myself. Again, my own fault. (laughs)
MM: What are your plans for the near future in terms of projects?
JO: I don’t have anything lined up. That’s part of the damage that occurs when I’m on a film this long; I don’t have time to go pound the pavement or look for anything. I’ve got to just concentrate on this film. Then part of me is so exhausted when I’m on a film for so long. My agent called the other day and said, “I’ve got something for you.” And rather than my initial reaction being glee, it was like, ‘Ughh.’ I felt my pulse rising for anxiety reasons, and so I realized I need to relax for a couple months.
MM: Sounds like a plan.
JO: Of course then there’s the mortgage and I start freaking out. (laughs)
Digg
StumbleUpon
Facebook
Del.icio.us
Reddit
YahooAdvertisement
COMMENTS | POST A COMMENT 
- Comment by Vida on 12/29/08 at 12:18 pm
Valkyrie is a very intellectual film. I watched the film after Christmas. It’s done with taste and class. All the veteran actors who participated to make the film possible have performed their roles very convincing. I like the plot, music and timing, overall it is excellent movie. It brings us back to the reality where greed for power should not be tolerated in our society. It is really sad that most people would rely on the internet for negative reviews, as some editors would think the film Valkyrie as not such a good movie. I take it as lack of understanding about the film and history, and part of it because of Tom Cruise (who until now is not forgiven by some movie moguls and other editors who continue to make an issue out of his jumping on some sofa). But, people are not easily fooled by these hate propagandas and write-ups. We move on and forgive. In fact, the continuing support of the intelligent moviegoers makes the Valkyrie maintain its position in the box office movie hit. The film is excellent and it’s worth every dime to watch it.
- Comment by Kate Noelle on 12/29/08 at 4:08 pm
Well I did see the movie. Valkyrie was a poor to average film and I can explain why.
Tom Cruise’s American accent was very distracting around all of those European dialects. He was incredibly miscast in the role.
He has a bad habit; Producer Tom Cruise alters history and condenses the roles of his fellow actors to keep the spotlight on himself.
His supporting cast of brilliant thespians was virtually underused and they were carrying this film.
This is the same mistake he continues to use and he has way too many “yes men” around him to learn that.
- Comment by Gatweni on 12/30/08 at 12:02 am
I’m going to see this sometime this week and judge for myself. But I’ve heard the score is good and I bet that is part of what helps build the suspense.
- Comment by Bedava Oyun indir on 12/24/09 at 9:45 am
hmm , nice article
- Comment by kral oyun on 4/28/10 at 5:41 am
Good article
thanks..
- Comment by oyunlarz on 4/28/10 at 5:42 am
good news
thank you for informations.
- Comment by car coloring on 4/28/10 at 6:29 am
Thank you
Betty
- Comment by jimy on 9/15/10 at 1:08 pm
WOw, this sounds like a great cooking class/vacation! Anyone gone and want to share their experience on here?
Banner Prints- Comment by albert on 1/18/11 at 9:09 am
Does anyone else think he bears a resemblance to Quentin Tarantino?? just me then.
- Comment by Tony on 5/04/11 at 5:41 pm
I can totally see abit of Tarantino in this guy.. must be the chin! haha! computer repair braintree
posted 05.25.12
posted 05.22.12
posted 05.15.12
SITE DELIVERY OPTIONS
