Comment my editing…

[Enzo Tedeschi]

Hello again, David!

It’s always a really good way to see how something is communicating an idea by watching it mute. This works for drama, but I don’t think it will always apply to documentary – especially something built entirely out of archival material.

As for soundtrack being an editor’s curse – most definitely not!! You can tell you’ve come from a stills background! 🙂 Kidding, kidding…!!

The soundtrack is yet another extension of the toolset you have available to you when you are cutting. The right piece of music, or the right inflection in someone’s voice can lift a good scene into a great scene. Sadly something that is often overlooked, especially with music – it has often become simply filler for when a scene feels empty, rather than a tool to enhance a scene.

IMHO, the same way a director should be listening to input from his or her heads of department when shooting, an editor should be paying close attention to what is happening in the soundtrack. Not just adding what they think should be there, but letting the sound that IS there speak to them just as much as the images.

I recently attended a Q & A with Director / Editor / Composer John Ottman, where he lamented the poor use of score in a lot of flims today. His was a fascinating viewpoint, being both the editor AND composer on a lot of his films. Possibly the standout moment in his dual career is “The Usual Suspects”.

I think this chat might need to spill over into an new thread….

e.

[Enzo Tedeschi]

https://forums.creativecow.net/cgi-bin/new_read_post.cgi?forumid=27&postid=854904

Perfect example of what can be achieved by omitting the right things and using the right music. Hilarious!

e.

[Antelope]

Hi Jemima

Good to see a brit posting here…I’m investigating entering the intriguing, and obviously complex, world of film editing as part of a career/liestyle change and and wondered if you hcould point me to any resources similar to creativecow but which caters for us in the UK.

Any pointers would be appreciated.
Tks
David

[Antelope]

One of the problems with this area seems to be that it’s hard now not to listen to a piece of music and keep imagining how it could be applied to some scene or other! I see that music is a fundamental part of the mix. I imagine that it plays a greater part in the generation od atmosphere and message than possibly any part of the overall mix. It must be hard to know how to blend one into the other though. And unless the music is custom written for the film, in which case I guess the visual comes first and the music is written to suite. But if it’s the other way round, and one doesn’t have the resources available to write and create music, presumably the editor’s skill comes into it’s own stretching and compressing the visual to fit the rhythm and feel of the music…this is what I’ll have to do if I go for this climate change clip competition. I suppose this is what I was getting at….where the visual is subject to the music. Is this a problem?

[Antelope]

sorry, you’re right, this should be a new thread…

[Enzo Tedeschi]

David,

I don’t think music poses a problem – I find it a really interesting challenge. I cut for a travel show here in Australia, and we are always using commercial music. The challenge is to find a piece that works for message / mood, and the cutting to suit. Don’t forget that when you’ve got a piece of music into the NLE, you can cut it like you cut images. I am forever trimming bits out of the middle of music to make it suit the piece I am cutting. At the end of the process, it’s almost like a score. Recently I cut a story that was about 5 and a half minutes, and had 7 different pieces of music through it!

e.

[Michael Thomson]

Hey David,

I too am in the UK, and i haven’t seen much on the net to support UK editors, except for the COW, but that is a truely global cow-munity.

There certainly aint anything in Scotland !!

[Antelope]

Hi

Well I’m just starting out on my new, third ‘career’ in editing and so far have found a small local group of film makers in a local community centre and nothing else. I’m in the Midlands. Nothing online either. Theres a job in TV related thing at https://www.tvfreelancers.org.uk/standard.htm but that appears to be it. Pretty damn sad really. Makes it very hard to get started, especially as its an industry that depends so much on networking. If I find anything else I’ll post it.
Cheers

[Michael Thomson]

Hey

Yeah its not great.

Im staff editor with a corporate prod house.

The broadcast market here is bad to break into. but if your midlands, you may be wise to look for a facilities house and get in as editors assist. Its a good way to make contacts and a CV.

Good luck !