'Cutting Edge' brings film editors to forefront
When "Schindler's List" won Academy Awards for best picture and best director, most people agreed that director Steven Spielberg had created a masterpiece. Most people believed the film was his singular vision. They were wrong.
Like every director, Spielberg had help with the final cut of the movie. His editor, Michael Kahn, provided invaluable advice and artistry to create a film that touched the heart.
"The editor has the most objective eye in that creative environment," says Spielberg.
Film editors are one of Hollywood's biggest secrets.
Encore's new documentary "The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing" reveals one of the last movie-making secrets -- editors play a tremendous role in the movie process. Editors may never step foot on the set or meet the actors, but they are responsible for how every scene plays in the film.
"What makes a movie a movie is the editing," says Zach Staenberg, who has edited "The Matrix" trilogy.
"The Cutting Edge" includes an impressive array of interviews with editors and directors who have worked on films throughout the last century. The special discusses the role of D.W. Griffith and Sergei Eisenstein in leading the development of cutting together frames of film to create a cohesive story.
When the editing job was first created for silent movies, women were hired to handle the tedious work. Women were preferred because editing resembled knitting or sewing, which is the piecing together of materials to create something whole. That always seemed to be women's work. Once sound became a standard part of filming, men decided they had to take over the editing jobs because now the work was technical.
"The Cutting Edge" explores how editing evolved from seamless cuts that the audience wouldn't notice to the brazen work done by French directors in the 1960s. Today editing requires quicker cuts because of the audience's short attention spans and ability to absorb a lot of knowledge very quickly. Editing has become highly technical, with digital technology allowing directors to create an entire movie at a computer.
"Editing is like poetry," explains director George Lucas. "It has to do with rhythms. It is visual poetry."
Not only do the editors explain their work, they show examples from their films. The movie clips range from the 1915 "The Birth of a Nation" to 1960s films "Bonnie and Clyde" and "Easy Rider" to current movies "Basic Instinct" and "The Matrix."
Editor Walter Murch allows cameras into his editing suite to watch how he edits director Anthony Minghella's "Cold Mountain." He explains step by step how he strings together thousands of frames to form one scene that will induce a certain response from the audience.
"Editing is manipulation," says Kahn. "That's all we do is manipulate."
The show explores the close relationships directors develop with their editors. For several months, the two will work closely together, often with no one else around. They will see each other more than they see their families.
Director Quentin Tarantino has such a relationship with Sally Menke, who has edited "Kill Bill" and "Pulp Fiction." Tarantino admits he would like Menke to read his mind 100 percent of the time instead of 80 percent.
"We work very intensely together and it's amazing we still like each other," says Menke.
It takes 24 frames for one second of film. Each frame is so important, that the addition or removal of only one frame can change a scene entirely.
Director James Cameron recalls how he agonized over how to shorten the length of "Terminator 2: Judgment Day." He tried removing one frame from each second of film and discovered it would be a disaster. The motion was jerky and not registering to the eye as a seamless story.
"The Cutting Edge" blends technical explanations with favorite movie scenes. The best part is listening to people like Spielberg and Kahn who are so passionate about their work.
"The more invisible we are the better we do our job," says editor Craig McKay, who worked on "The Silence of the Lambs."
Thanks to "The Cutting Edge," editors may not be so invisible anymore. Additional Information:
Details
'The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Making'
8 p.m. Dec. 12, Encore
