An often overlooked aspect of filmmaking is editing. Take scissors and glue to raw footage and put it together in a way that looks and feels absolutely beautiful. The sequence of events in a film can change how you think about every single thing. If I dropped a cup of tea on myself, stepped into a puddle on my way to college, and then discovered my classes had been cancelled, I would probably not be in a great mood. This may or may not be based on a true story. But, if I made it with a clean outfit, and learned the same information, I would probably be overjoyed.
Editors make magic by putting things in the right place. It could be as simple as intercutting reactions. Let’s take a look at some of the best-edited films. A marvel of editing would be Robert Zemeckis’ Forrest Gump (1994), where videos of presidents, football games, universities, and so much more have been integrated seamlessly into the film by Arthur Schmidt.
Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction (1994) is another example of great editing. The plot of this film deviates from the usual linear structure, using editing. An example is when we meet Yolanda and Ringo in the diner at the beginning of the film, switch to completely different characters in the movie, and only see them again at the end. The use of shoddy timelines is exactly what makes it ‘pulp’ fiction. That is evidence that a story’s beauty does not just come from actors or dialogue.
A different kind of editing is seen in the political epic, JFK (1991), directed by Oliver Stone. Stone brought in Hank Corwin, a TV commercial editor, to edit the film. Owing to the nature of the plot, it was a requirement to cut between different video formats, may it be the powerful Zapruder film of John Kennedy being shot, or the black and white flashbacks from a conversation with Mr X. All of these formats were transferred to and edited on videotape.
A more recent example is Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash (2013). The film was edited by Tom Cross, a frequent collaborator of Chazelle’s. When Nieman cues Caravan, and breaks into a fantastic drum solo, building up to a long-winded drum roll using all of the cymbals, Cross displays his genius by cutting fast between hi-hats, toms, crashes, and rides. It becomes even more compelling when we see Nieman and Fletcher exchange tense glances.
Another spectacular example of editing is Pixar Studios' Up. In particular, the montage where we see the main characters grow into adults. It is a joyful journey and in around 5 minutes, you're left in love with the protagonists as they move from one stage of life to the other, all centred around one beautiful home.
Regardless of the genre of the film, where we come to face what event transforms our experience of watching it. The way we think about it changes.
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