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Editing
Making Movies with Marty
Gangs of New York marks Thelma Schoonmaker's 16th collaboration with Martin Scorsese
The three-time Oscar
nominee (and winner for Raging Bull) Thelma
Schoonmaker gives us the lowdown on life in the trenches
with America's reigning master and their latest collaboration,
Gangs of New York.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
One thing I learned in my very short career as an assistant was that there aren't too many editors prepared to give up the big chair without a fight, so you've got to make your own luck.
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The Showoffs Get the Attention
Hard work paid off for Chicago editor Martin Walsh, who just nabbed his first Oscar nomination
Scoring the gig as editor of the most highly touted cinema
musical in years didn't come easily to Martin Walsh, but it
was a cakewalk compared with the editing itself. In a film
with this much constant motion, the months of laboring through
the labyrinth of editorial decisions was literally mindboggling.
But with his first Oscar nomination to show for it, Walsh
now knows that it was all worthwhile.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
Robert Duvall played both Adolph Eichmann and Stalin, yet he found in their characters a sense of humanity and created performances that weren't cliches.
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Quality over Quantity
Robert Duvall's "personal editor" on his career and famous collaboration
Unlike Robert Duvall, his close collaborator, editor Stephen
Mack's career in feature films has not been what one would
call a prolific one. "I hope Assassination Tango
will receive some well deserved attention and that I'll be
recognized as a major feature film editor who happens to have
only a couple of credits in 33 years," Mack jokes about
his latest project, a film starring, written, produced and
directed by Duvall.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
The one piece of advice that I would impart to anybody who is looking to be an editor or any other aspect of this business is always remember that making movies is about investigating all possibilities. You should always be open to different options. If you get focused into making something one way, you may not make the best film.
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Life with Spike
Moviemaker Sam Pollard puts his money where his mouth is
Though he's best-known as a frequent collaborator of Spike Lee, both as editor and producer, Samuel Pollard isn't afraid of wearing the hat of writer or director, either-or putting his money where his mouth is.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
I am very respectful of the relationship between the director and the DP. I have never inserted myself into the discussion of the look of the film, but I have, of course, requested specific shots.
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The “Image Processor” as Unsung Hero
An Interview with Kristina Boden
Having worked consistently with Michael Almereyda (on Happy
Here and Now and Hamlet) and Paul Schrader (including
Auto Focus and Light Sleeper), editor Kristina
Boden maintains an open mind when any new project comes
up-even after a very full decade of experience.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
If someone wants to be an editor, I would tell them to cut anything and everything that they can-whether it's their parents' wedding videos or a music video for their friend's garage band. Just get in and cut as much as possible.
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Shooting in the Comfort Zone
Editor Jeff Betancourt on the importance of building strong relationships
Every editor's career path is different. For Jeff Betancourt,
it all started with a phone call. Still a student when he was hired to cut his
first film, Miguel
Arteta's Star Maps, Betancourt has gone on to make quite a name for himself
in the indie film world, working again with Arteta on both Chuck & Buck and
The Good Girl. From the cutting room of the comedy Harold and Kumar
go to White
Castle, Betancourt spoke with MM about his career and The
United States of Leland.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
Show the rough cut every week or two to a bunch of people who haven't read the script. Then listen to their feedback about what isn't working and what isn't clear. It may be painful to hear the critiques, but get over it. Then take all the info back to the edit room and figure out what to do.
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Confessions of an Indie Editor
The Station Agent's Tom McArdle discusses his career
He's a veteran of such indie classics as Laws of Gravity and Star Maps.
But sometimes, locked away in the cutting room, unaware of the outside world
and surrounded by fiction and fantasy, Tom McArdle says "you do whatever you
can to keep things feeling real." Here he discusses his latest project, Tom McCarthy's
critically acclaimed The Station Agent.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
If I'm lucky enough to choose, and I am at the moment, I'm going to choose what I like. That just sort of makes sense.
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Editing Samurai
Steve Rosenblum takes on Edward Zwick's new epic
One might have a tough time envisioning a path to Hollywood from a Connecticut
department store, but that's exactly where editor Steve Rosenblum's
improbable career began. With 20 years and more than a dozen feature films
under his belt, Rosenblum's latest effort, The Last Samurai, is about
to hit theaters. He recently spoke with MM about his longtime
collaboration with director Edward Zwick and the nature of what he calls
"musical storytelling."
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
When you first put an assembly together, you put in everything the director shot. You don't try to give it too much shape yet. Then, you attack it in the second cut. So, it's like a first draft of someone's writing.
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A Cut Above
Editor Thelma Schoonmaker celebrates in Seattle
Just weeks before scoring her second Oscar for Best Editing for The Aviator, editing legend Thelma Schoonmaker made time for a group of film fans--and an MM writer--at Seattle's Scarecrow Video to discuss her craft, collaborations with Scorsese and what it's like to have spent countless hours with the likes of Jake La Motta, Max Cady, Henry Hill and Bill the Butcher.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
Nothing is done until it's done. If you're satisfied with something, look at it again.
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Finding 100 Ways
Editing is never boring for veteran Norman Hollyn
hen it comes to the craft of motion picture editing, Norman
Hollyn is one of the masters. In addition to his work in the editing
room (both as a sound and film editor), Hollyn's found an entirely separate career
teaching the dos and don'ts of his job. A current professor of film editing as
USC, Hollyn has also taken to the classrooms of UCLA and the American Film Institute—as
well as penned the book The Film Editing Room Handbook: How To Manage The
Near Chaos of the Cutting Room (the title says it all).
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Things I’ve Learned as an Editor
Top editors sound off on what it takes to make it in the cutting room
This month's Editing "Best Of" includes
thoughts and quotes from some of our most acclaimed editor
interviews: Steve Rosenblum (The Last Samurai),
Tom McArdle (The Station Agent), Jeff Betancourt
(The United States of Leland), Kristina Boden (Auto
Focus), Stephen Mack (Assassination Tango),
Martin Walsh (Chicago), Thelma Schoonmaker (Gangs
of New York), Carol Littleton (E.T.), Jeffrey
Ford (Shattered Glass), Dody Dorn (Memento),
Tim Squyres (Hulk), Mary Sweeney (Mulholland
Drive) and Anne Coates (Lawrence of Arabia)
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
Let the eyes guide you. People are watching the eyes of a character. Eyes are also a link to subtext. You can create your own visual conversation between characters as they have [a different] one on the surface.
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Film Composer
John Ottman prepares for Superman Returns
While he considers himself a composer, it’s hard to ignore John Ottman’s achievements in film editing. But he edits only for director Bryan Singer, whom he met at USC Film School. Ottman has cut all Singer’s films—except for X-Men (due to a scheduling conflict)—including The Usual Suspects, Apt Pupil, X2 and the upcoming Superman Returns.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
Start it as soon as you can and be as thorough as possible before you ever even think about shooting. Any problems before production will only be magnified-and more expensive-to solve once production starts.
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From Idaho to Kiliminjaro
Jeremy Coon takes reins as producer and editor on Napoleon Dynamite
USC, UCLA and NYU may still get most of the glory. But when it comes to producing some truly talented—and independent-minded—teams of moviemakers, BYU is giving even the top film schools a run for their money. Following in the footsteps of Neil LaBute and Aaron Eckhart, writer-director Jared Hess and producer-editor Jeremy Coon have taken their collaboration from the mountains of Park City, Utah to theaters across America with this summer’s Napoleon Dynamite.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
Film editing is a grueling process. There's no glamour in spending months at a time shut up in a dark room with a director who's spent years struggling to bring their story to the light of day. An aspiring editor has to be realistic about what the process entails: Does the minutiae of editing work actually inspire you? Are you content to rake through countless hours of footage and piece it together into a coherent story? For me, this meticulous, rigorous form of problem-solving is the reward in itself. I get tremendous satisfaction being in the editing room, looking at the same footage over and over-and seeing something different every time.
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In Search of the Story
Indie editor Meg Reticker discovers something new with each viewing
Fresh off the Sundance screening of Joey Lauren Adams’ Come Early Morning, Meg Reticker’s latest editorial effort and ninth Park City premiere, she sat down with MM to talk about her editorial philosophy, what attracts her to the indie side of the business and why it pays to enjoy the process.
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Things I’ve Learned As A Moviemaker
If you're lucky to be cutting the film while they're still shooting, and you feel like you're missing a shot that would help you to make a scene or transition better, go and ask the director for it. Nine times out of 10, they'll be glad you did. Cutaways and establishing shots are usually the first things to get scratched off of the day's shot list as time grinds down, but if you really feel you need something, go for it.
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Stuck in the Middle
Amy Duddleston balances the demands of the editing room
Duddleston has collaborated with some of the independent world's most well-known names, including Gus Van Sant and Lisa Cholodenko. Here, Duddleston speaks with MM about the misconceptions of the profession, how to play the industry game and how it all started with Revenge of the Nerds.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
Don't over cut. If a project goes on too long in post it gets a smell on it that won't go away.
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Everything is Unlaminated
Editor Chris Tellefsen likes to keep it spontaneous
From rap music to survivalists, bullet-proof clothing to porn conventions, you name it and moviemaker Chris Tellefsen has probably edited it. Fresh off the success of Capote, and finishing up James Foley’s Perfect Stranger, MM talked to Tellefsen about his place in the independent film movement and why less is always more.
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Things I’ve Learned as a Moviemaker
If you're not too tired, it can clear your mind and get some frustrations out. You also won't feel so bad about sitting in front of a computer screen all day long!
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Reflections of a Puzzlemaker
Editor Dana Glauberman believes in the power of images
Making movies aside, the most important job of any film school student is to forge strong relationships in the business, so that once they’re out in the “real world,” finding a place in the industry won’t be such a daunting task. At this year’s Cannes Film Festival, 50 film school students were lucky enough to get a little networking help from one of the biggest names in the moviemaking software business when Adobe paired them up with some of the biggest names in the world of editing—for a week-long celebration of all things editing.
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Things I’ve Learned As A Moviemaker
You have to choose your battles, so to speak, when doing lower budget films.
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The Importance of Intention
A Conversation With Heist Editor Barbara Tulliver
There's something to be said for being in the right place at the right time. Barbara Tulliver made her move to the cutting room quite by chance, starting in commercials and eventually assisting directors David Mamet and Milos Forman in the late '80s. When Mamet's regular editor was unavailable to work on Homicide, he offered Tulliver the job. Since then, she's edited a steady stream of films for the prolific director, including last year's State and Main and this year's Heist.
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The Peak Experiences of Pip Karmel
He will talk me through the rushes when we're having screenings at the end of the day but it's either pretty self explanatory; when you look at the material you can see what he's intending.
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Posted 05.15.08 | News/Commentary | 1 comment
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