Cutting edge

In our lecture this Morning we watched the documentary film entitled "Cutting edge", an informative description behind how editing is an important art. The principles of editing is what refines a film, brings it together and invokes the feel of the scene at hand. A successful simple cutt from one actor to another embracing in communication may work fluently by the addition or subtraction of just a few frames. Usually this art goes unnoticed to the untrained eye, yet what many dont seem to realise is that the editing is what "makes" the film. In some respects, the edit is an actor in itself.



The film includes some of the finest Directors and Editors in existance, discussing the power found behind the art of editing. The film includes the following Directors/Editors:

Zach Staenberg - Editor (The Matrix)


Jodie Foster - Actress/Director/Producer (Silence of the lambs)

Michael Tronick - Editor (The Scorpian King/Meet Joe Black)

Anthony Minghella - Director/Play writer/Screenwriter (The English Patient/The talented Mr Ripley)

Sean Penn - Actor/Director (Too many films to pick from and name!)

Walter Murch - Film Editor/Sound designer (Another master with too many to pick from!)

Quentin Tarantino - Director/Writer (Kill Bill)

Steven Spielberg - Director/Writer (E.T/Schindlers list)

James Cameron - Director/Screenwriter/Producer/Editor (Titanic/Avatar)


Within this film I came across several implications of why editing is so important, how it should be used effectively and why its such an exciting process for the visual story teller. I have created short films of my own before, usually finding the editing to be difficult without a structure planned beforehand: the editing can as a result distract away from the stories original meaning if not structured correctly. A strong editor can create the story from the acting given to him, and create a film to be smooth and run through scene to scene without visual hesitation.

Overall ive learnt a lot from this film, and funny enough I dont think i'll be seeing things the same way again!

Chris