Keith Reamer Cuts Amreeka

by Kyle Rupprecht | Published January 22, 2009

(Page 2)

Of course, at a certain point after production wraps, the director comes in, and in the case of Amreeka, it was the extraordinary and extraordinarily prepared Cherien Dabis. We continued on, even deeper into the material partially with the insight I’ve gained through working with the footage independently, and of course, everything that Cherien brought to the room as the writer/director (which was a lot!). Cherien and I worked together with the material, molding and refining it, until we reached the end state.

In terms of the subtitles, we began working on them well into the editorial process, after we were fairly happy with the state of the cut. Because the Arab actors took a very individualistic approach to the translation of their dialogue into Arabic, the subtitling itself turned out to be a very creative exercise. We would have sessions—myself, Cherien and our assistant, Eddie Nichols—where we would go through a reel, line by line, using the script as a departure point. At that point, Cherien would work on finding a more accurate translation of what the actors were saying on her own. I would pilot the Avid and offer my opinions as Cherien would translate and Eddie would take notes on the title-content and timing. Later, he would create and place the actual subtitles. At some point, in almost every scene, there would be a point where we would all take a shot at rewording a particularly tricky line or exchange.

Our little translation parties actually became a lot of fun and were relaxing for us all to do together. Eddie would later create a document for each reel, and Cherien would continue to revise the translations, make additions, etc., as we continued to cut. It was a very inventive, fluid process that went on until the picture was locked. Fortunately, the Avid system afforded us the flexibility to continue to make up-to-the-minute changes—it was very accommodating.

All of us wanted the titles to be the best they could be, to be as “finished” as possible—the idea being that they could be ported directly into the online, at Technicolor in Toronto, and later given to the laser titlers for print, thus eliminating some of their translation and spotting costs. Essentially, by holding these “translation parties,” we were able to forge a template for the extensive, complex subtitling of Amreeka that enabled us to save time and money down the line. And it all worked, beautifully. I am grateful that Avid systems make it so easy to customize

MM: What’s the best piece of advice you can offer aspiring film editors?

KR: Edit and edit frequently! Cut whatever you can get your hands on.

Don’t be proud. There is something to be learned from everything and, often the best, most useful skills of resourcefulness can be learned on the roughest material.

Develop your instincts. Try things; play with cutting rhythm, music, sound. Get a sense of what you like. Take things apart, even if only for yourself, rearrange them—learn how things work.

Last but not least, of course, see movies. And not just the ones that have come out in the last five years. Having a bit of a historical perspective on cinema, and the changes in editorial style, is a very useful thing and will put any young editor ahead of the pack. Sources such as Netflix, TCM and the local public library are very good tools for that purpose!

Way back when I was first starting I was, charitably speaking, an under-employed editor. I lacked confidence in my skills. I was frustrated with that, so I came up with a little exercise: Imagining a series of cameras were following my actions as I went about my day (i.e., going to the store, riding the subway, flossing my teeth, etc.). I would cut these scenes in my head daily as I went about my business, always trying to imagine the best angle, the best cut point for every action or non-action.

This exercise helped me, believe it or not, to develop my cutting chops. More importantly, it gave me a place to focus my desire to cut when I wasn’t cutting. It was a little silly, but it was also freeing and that, for any young editor with a desire to invent, is a very, very valuable thing.

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Comment by John Travers on 1/30/09 at 2:17 pm: I really enjoyed this excellent, extremely informative interview. Keith Reamer is not only an experienced editor, but a very articulate speaker, and we can all learn a lot from his many wonderful insights into the craft. Thank you so much, MovieMaker! I learned a lot from this piece. It was very inspiring...and I can’t wait to see “Amreeka”!
Comment by Michael Raadgep on 2/16/09 at 5:09 pm: As an active duty sailor and an aspiring editor I found this article to be inspiring and let me know that I probably am not editing enough even though I am waiting for a copy of FC Studio 2 I can still be practicing even if its just with iMovie. I love this craft!
Comment by criminal defense lawyer in denver on 6/02/09 at 4:08 pm: It takes years of experience and knowledge to edit a film that deals with a sensitive subject like immigration. Keith Reamer has those qualities and i am confident that he will do a perfect job of editing ‘Amreeka’.
Comment by Women's Electric Shavers on 7/14/09 at 1:22 am: What adds poignancy, to say nothing of dramatic heft, to this immigrant story is that it concerns a Palestinian mother and her teenage son, who leave their Israeli-occupied homeland for Illinois just as American forces invade Iraq. Few immigrants have been greeted with such fear and animosity as American “patriots” fail to distinguish between different Arab groups or to realize this family isn’t even Muslim.
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Keith Reamer Cuts Amreeka

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