Old fashion editing

[Grinner Hester]

I guess the first and most obvious question is why?
I didn’t do alot of flatbed cutting. It was more of a novelty thing when I did it than a requirement. I found it to be very cool tho. Wasn’t hard. Nothing really technical about it. a couple of roller handles, a razor bade and some tape. There is an art to it, like every craft.

[Shane Ross]

There isn’t ONE video tutorial out there for this. This old fashioned editing style was handed down Editor to Assistant. There might be a book on it, in fact, I think the basics are in the FILMMAKERS HANDBOOK by Pincus. That was a college text of mine. Yup, there it is…BIG section on all of this.

But that’s not going to be the biggest issues. It’s getting all the equipment you need that will be the biggest thing. Sync blocks (different for 16mm, 35mm, super 16mm), get your audio transferred to Mag Full coat…then finding a working Moviola or KEM Flatbed editor, then a splicing block, tape, rewind wheels. All of this stuff still exists in a few film shops, but they are in NY and LA and not really used for this purpose anymore. Pretty much ALL film editing is done digitally for the offline cut, and then a negative list produced. But, if you are insistent, I am sure you’ll find some place somewhere that has all of this.

But as grinner asked…WHY? This really isn’t done anymore.

Shane

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[Joseph W. bourke]

I understand your interest in the craft. I’m a woodworker, and sometimes go out of my way to learn crafts which are less practiced (hand planing, for example). I took a look at Focal Press, and they seem to have stopped selling books on the traditional craft of cutting. I looked at Powells.com, which specializes in used and out of print books, and seem to have struck paydirt:

https://www.powells.com/s?kw=film+editing

A couple of these might help you out. Bear in mind that cutting 35mm film is a hugely expensive endeavor, when you consider processing and transfer. I worked at an ad agency in the 70s that shot 16mm color, then transferred to 1″ videotape, and we couldn’t make money on a budget under 20 to 30 thousand. Now I work in Illustrator, Photoshop, 3D Studio, and After Effects, and I send stuff to air right from my computer. Good luck!

Joe Bourke
Art Director / WMUR-TV

[Bluewingoliver]

I started out as a film assistant, and while I enjoyed doing it while it lasted, there’s no reason I would ever go back and actually edit film. If I were so inclined, I’d cut on an Avid, and maybe go make a work print for the hell of it. (Depending on length, etc.) Cost would very much be an issue when renting all the stuff you need, and it actually takes a little skill to make a clean splice, sync sound, and use a flatbed.

Oliver

[Duane Fulk]

It would be fun to run the film through your gloved hands again or hold it up to a light and see throught it, but to actully do it for production…no.
However, if you want a book try looking in a library. I found Lenny Lipton’s 16mm handbook after it was way out of print in the library and simply didn’t return it. (I did pay the fine!). As said earlier, I don’t think you are going to be able to find the gear in any usable shape. Good luck.