[Sigia-l] Putting the "Graphic" back with"Designer"(was:thelesserimportance of home pages)

[Alexander Johannesen]

Hi,

On 1/10/06, Christopher Fahey <chris.fahey at behaviordesign.com> wrote:
> Almost
> no directors actually edit their own movies, although they do sometimes
> perch themselves over the editor's shoulders; this is a staggering fact
> given that a movie can be made or broken in the editing, and any movie can
> easily be completely transformed.

Hmm, in my experience (and I worked in the movie industry for a number
of years) the director use the editor because they can't control the
editing programs themselves, but when it comes to what is actually
being edited, they usually are in charge. I haven't met any director
who allowed any editor to edit it for them.

My take on the whole thing is that directors use the other people to
aid the director of his/hers vision of the film, but if what they're
doing is something the director didn't expect, it will get changed,
from editing to music to sound to makeup. I've seen it so many times
over and over, and it was one of the main reasons I left the industry.
Maybe this mostly applies to small to medium sized movies, but it sure
isn't easy to work with as you're left feeling that you're doing
labour more than artistic things, which is often why you started doing
it to begin with.

> This division of labor is not just because
> the editing room is where the studio and/or the producers can exert their
> evil powers, but also because most directors understand the valuable
> counterpoint a good editor will provide for their vision. It's part of the
> wild collaboration of the film industry.

It certainly is wild, and it seems to me that the best editors are
those who can move the mouse quickly enough and cut precisely enough
to please the director. Seldom have I seen an editor do anything but
small (yet sometimes important) changes, and I've seen quite a lot of
them.

Maybe I'm just bitter, though. Keep that in mind. :)


Alex
--
"Ultimately, all things are known because you want to believe you know."
                                                         - Frank Herbert
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