Re: Lets talk about Editing!
 

Fantastic editing.

Re: Lets talk about Editing!
 

As far as movies with a lot of cuts in them, Fight Club comes to mind. It's very slick, and maintains a rhythm that really infuses it's anti-consumerist message with a sense of irony. It's like an anti-commercial, commercial.

The musical scene in Delicatessen is also pretty impressive.

Re: Lets talk about Editing!
 

It definitely has a lot of cutting. :rimshot:

Re: Lets talk about Editing!
 

That actually is an example of some pretty solid editing. The film itself will probably fool people into thinking otherwise, but it actually takes a lot of hard word to make something so ridiculous, while also avoids the pitfalls of boring an audience. The editing for this piece actually reinforces the humor.

Anyway, I agree with the poster who noted Transformers 2 as one of the worst edited films around. It's a perfect example. There are too many excessive scenes that make little to no sense whatsoever -- especially when one considers how difficult it was to pin-point the designs of some of the transformers -- who was good or bad in half the scenes? I don't recall. I'm pretty sure I found the film to be one of the aggravating experiences from an editing standpoint that I have ever encountered.

An example of good editing (off the top of my head) would be anything by Sally Menke. I was just watching a scene from Inglourious Basterds this morning -- the opening scene with the farmer. It is an example of near perfect editing. The pacing is perfect. The tension is enormous. The cuts are incredibly subliminal and nuanced. The entire sequence ranks with the best. You have to see the entire scene to really get a full head-on realization as to 'why?' but if you've seen the film you will understand.

Re: Lets talk about Editing!
 

She did some solid work on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I'll agree with you there.

Re: Lets talk about Editing!
 

I will miss you, Sally...:(

This video even w/ it's hand cam recording...shows how good she was....fuck....who the hell is QT going to get now?!?!

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Re: Lets talk about Editing!
 

Tariq Anwar would be a good choice.

Re: Lets talk about Editing!
 

WHO?!?!?! *refusing to check the internet*

I think...he might just go a safe route w/ someone he knows like RR....I don't know if he actually knows how to literally edit...unless it's analog. Which...I guess he can still do....

Re: Lets talk about Editing!
 

RR knows how edit since he has his own suite in his house, he used to edit linearly from VHS as a kid, then linearly with film, and now I'm guessing with the suite probably in FCP or Avid. But I don't know if he would be suited for non-RR movies. :)

Re: Lets talk about Editing!
 

Didn't Tarantino edit Death Proof on his own?

Re: Lets talk about Editing!
 

Sally still edited it, but Tarantino did the cinematography by himself.

Re: Lets talk about Editing!
 

Bullitt's car chase scene is horribly edited. The same hubcap comes off of the same car several times and several cars in the background are seen multiple times.

Re: Lets talk about Editing!
 

....I was talking about QT editing...not RR...I know all about RR.

Re: Lets talk about Editing!
 

Okay well when you said "he might just go a safe route w/ someone he knows like RR." I thought you meant he would hire RR.

Re: Lets talk about Editing!
 

I did. I...just didn't separate the sentence w/ a comma to transition from getting RR and then talking about QT actually editing it.

Re: Lets talk about Editing!
 

We can further break this down into aspects of editing. Actually that might be easier than just to say what's good or bad "editing."

What film uses crosscuts really well?

What film uses smash cuts?

Long takes?

Rhythmic editing (set to music or something that can be tracked with a metronome)?

Reaction shots?

Inserts?

If I ever taught a film course, when it came to editing I would teach The Breakfast Club. Dede Allen made that movie watchable. It's a great exercise: five people sitting around talking. That movie just flies by.

Re: Lets talk about Editing!
 

Oh gothca, makes sense now. Yeah I don't know whether he knows the ins and outs either.

Re: Lets talk about Editing!
 

Adding to that NIMH, another example of good editing can be from good results from bad footage. Not that we would necessarily know that the original is bad though, if the job is good.

Martin Brest talks about the ending of Beverly Hills Cop, when the Captain is explaining how Axel and co. arrived on the scene. There are like 5 or 6 people reacting to different things and he said it was hard as hell to pull off.

Re: Lets talk about Editing!
 

I'm almost certain that he knows how to do analog editing....but...unless he's done some stuff for the hell of it..Sally was his gal for that.

Re: Lets talk about Editing!
 

Last year I streamed a great documentary about editing called The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing. It's not a how-to type documentary, but rather a presentation of how editors impact movies. I remember they spent a lot of time showing Walter Murch at work. If you've got a Netflix account, you can find it here.

I personally am not formally schooled in film, but have been working to learn about the various crafts and skills that go into the medium. I'm conscious of edits, but of course a lot of the nuances are still over my head.

I'll say there was one exceptionally great cut in Alice in Wonderland that wowed me. It's early in the movie as Alice and the guy who's about to propose to her take to the dance floor. They bow and then we see the people across from them bow, but it's cut in such a way that at first I thought we were seeing the same people from a different angle and wondered how his hair had changed color! I'm sure my description is horrific, but if you happen to see the movie you shouldn't have any trouble noticing it (at least, now that I've planted the seed of awareness!).

A recent example of editing gone wrong, I think, is The Green Hornet. There were several scenes that had a very choppy feel to them, as though whole passages had been excised that would appear on the DVD release later as either an extended cut or as deleted scenes. Not only were there few organic transitions, but within scenes there was a frequent abruptness that kept me from ever really settling into the movie. I suspect it was done to inject a sense of energy and movement to the story, but I think they substituted a cleaver for the scalpel that would have been more appropriate.

Re: Lets talk about Editing!
 

It's also on the BD for Bullitt...and it's a very good look at the history of editing and it's impact. In full HD too

Re: Lets talk about Editing!
 

Damn, thanks for that info guys...I have that BD, never really explored it.

Re: Lets talk about Editing!
 

QT should use Dylan Tichenor (PTA's editor) or just steal Thelma, she can't be that loyal to Scorsese.

Re: Lets talk about Editing!
 

Well considering that since Raging Bull all her films, except for one in 1996 called Grace of My Heart, all her work has been Scorsese....She might not be keen on moving beyond Scorsese. Though I admit...she'll probably never meet a bigger fan of her work than QT.

Re: Lets talk about Editing!
 

I'm probably the only person in the world whose interest in Bullitt on Blu-ray has actually been increased based entirely on this knowledge. Great to know; thanks!