Sometimes you have to look back to go forward. Some wise words from Ferris himself.
Time to take a break from editing JOBS.
I have in the last year been involved in a few great projects but the volume of exciting/challenging projects has deminished. Leaving me a little "dry" creatively. Leaving me with just JOBS.
No, I am not retiring or moving on to greener pastures. I can't. Movies are the greenest pasture that I know but since my daugter has arrived, Laila, I have decided to take 6 months to really look back, rebuild and reasses my editing future's direction.
I have always been Boba Fett aka a Freelancer and after recently going on many job interviews in corporate/broadcast post. I realize that I will always be Bobba Fett; don't think that my creative energy fits in that box.
So, for the next little while I will be putting my Blaster up on the wall, rebuilding my Lair (office space) and keep my ears and eyes open for the next big Bounty (media project).
FYI. For the next little while my post will be updates on my rebuilding of my "BatCave", No Spoilers post and some of my regular film perspective rants about life on set since I will be doing some Film Union Lighting technician work to pay the bills during my Hiatus.
Any Tom, Dick & Harriette can continuity cut, takes a master editor/filmmaker to edit in a variety of styles. I stumbled on this great piece of filmmaking as I was digging throught the crates (aka DVD collections) as I prepare to re-design my home office and update my gear. POINT BLANK directed by John Boorman, edited by Henry Berman.
I won't pretend to remember all the different style names from my Film Aestetics Class I took in the 90's but POINT BLANK uses a mixture of techniques that should be watched again and again.
There is what I call a time-matchcuts that break the timeline of the film, smash-cut flashbacks and a great opening title sequence that echoes the main characters mood, imagine being in the mind of an angry Lee Marvin. My Favorite is the Time shifted editing; using dialogue or sounds from other scenes that span the movie timeline. Hard to describe but It's that Steven Soderbergh Limey style like montage sequences (which he admitily inspired the style of The Limey; haven't seen that one, that is another one to watch again and again)
I think this is one of the hardest techniques since it's like pig latin of filmmaking. It's a variation on the film language. So, you have to teach the audience the new languge code with limited time without loosing them. It is not for the faint of heart because your playing with fire. If you do it and it fails you lost your audiences trust and probably their interest. Point Blank succeds in not loosing you, as it jumps around aggressively, very echoing the protagonist.
I know your saying, this movie or that movie does that even better but this was before non-linear editing, made on a movieola or a Steinbeck. Imagine editing Momento, Pulp Fiction, The Limey... I takes a cetain determination and coincidentaly a Lee Marvin like resolve to introduce this style of filmmaking in those technical conditions.
I won't say that it goes on for the whole movie because it is doesn't. It is mostly a conventionally edited movie with strong composition and great late '60s style. Which is reason enough to watch this movie. However, watching how this type of editing techniques being used is like watching a tight rope walker, juggling, without a net. Bold.
PS. I haven't done one of these in a while but I have a feeling that I will in the near future, things are changing around the "old Republic" aka Gorilla Productions...
If your not listening to the Freakonomics Podcast your missing out on some interesting insight.
This recent episode of Freakonomics Radio was an interesting one about customer service which is what a good freelance editor delivers ontop of the technical and artistic skills. The Social scientist prove what most in our industry almost always fail to appreciate, cost and quality are related.
When I get request for a quote occasionally some potential clients will inquire, "why is your quote and rate higher than.." Then, I explain that it's usually a worst case scenario guestimate, factoring in some contengency time and trying to anticipate some problems that has occured in my past experiences.
About my rate, I use the analogy of a general contractor quoting for some work on your house. "Never use the cheapest quote, that guy is usually the problem/unexperienced craftsmen."
Unfortunatly, sometimes some clients don't take my advice and the outcome is usually not satisfatory and they inquire a few months later with a request for a Fix-this-mess-Quote.
The Guidestones project has been a getting lots of great reviews. If you haven't checked it out. Join. I give it my "Sopranos recommend", watch 3 epidosdes and if you hate it, stop watching. it's not for you.
My previous Blog post about the Guidestones postproduction got me some great verbal feedback (write something in the comments if you like this or hate it). People seemed to enjoy getting a behind the scenes look at the process. So, when I got an episode to post up on my reel I decided to go back through my notes and communications with the director about episode 35 (officially released as Episode 29 in the series) and give some more info on the Behind the scenes of a low budget post process, the story end of it anyways.
Because Jay Ferguson, the director/producer, was around the globe shooting, we used the email for notes/feedback. I would assemble and rough cut based on the script, try to sort out any tech or MIA footage with the post crew. Then post up a locked Vimeo version of my cuts for him to screen from wherever hotel/motel he was in the world.
So, I initiated my search for Guidestones notes episode 35 (released as ep 29)... "nothing". Curious.
I am an email hoarder, so I went my backup email program that I use as a catch all/archive... "nothing". Well, technically not nothing. This email:
Date 17 April, 2011 8:32:27 PM EDT
"This is cool....toss some dramatic music in and we should see what happens....do we need a couple feet / blurry running shots? At the end?" J
If anybody knows Jay, he isn't a man of few words. So, I looked at the early episode notes (ep. 1-8), to compare. There was lots of back and forth for the first 2 episodes but a significant falloff on volume after those episodes. The notes transformed or evolved into a more coach on the sidelines of a game style or even better it was more like a conductor of an orchestra; "Faster", "Slower", "Good".
At some point in the process most of my successful projects have had this type of relationship. Trust.
A good director/client after the "tonal" tweaks of the beginning starts conducting not micro managing a.k.a. "use this shot", "cut that head move out" , (insert your favorite post production cliche). They trust you to put forth the best shots, performance even reference music. Not Blind Trust but a confidence that your choices are valid.
I have been a little lucky and I realize now that I seek out that type off relationship and if my gut tells me that this is not going to be that type of situation. I walk away. And in all fairness, me and Jay have worked together for a while, so this type of Trusting collaboration happens a little earlier in the process. Or in this case, I can jump in as the process has already started. (see previous blog).
So, when you look at the evolution of the episodes cuts ,you don't see the obvious drastic changes in alternate cuts, but the more critical eye can see the subtle tweaks, push and pull in the story and pace. More importantly you still see that the essence of the episodes and its initial rough cut story. The tone is still in there (my responsibility on this project). The color on the walls of the house has changed but the support beams have not been touched.
A things that I thought were interesting: Final is 1 minute shorter than rough but pacing is the same, music tone changes feel of final scenes and reaction shots change interaction of characters (I think if you watch the series you'll get it). Here is the final episode.
As a filmmaker, I find this type of subtle comparison more helpful than the wacky scene that obviously doesn't work that was left on the cutting room floor (see Bill Paxton scene in Aliens).
I have had this Blog post in draft mode for the last few months now. As I was finished listening to Episode 53 of The Back to Work Podcast, I realize that I was listening to the "Return of the Jedi" podcast for freelancers editors.
Which means that Ep. 51 is "The New Hope" & Ep 52 is the Pana-ultimate-cast "Empire Strikes Back"! So if your only going to listen to one of te podcast's, you should listen to that one. My struggling with this post was finished. I am not a writter, so why not just leave it to the pros. They pretty much hashes out all my thoughts and more on the subject of what I like to call the "Invisible".
Please read at your own risk the draft of my thoughts on Freelance intagngable that most Productions don't take into account when picking someone to craft their project in the most important final stages.
(Begining of Draft)
I was recently chatting with a peer of mine about software (FCP X and 3D packages), post work in general and the state of working freelance in the film industry when I started to talk about that INVISIBLE factor. It is the invisible advantage that hiring someone like me (meaning someone with a certain level of experience) versus someone who can just operate a software package (Thanks Mr.Jobs you made my life easier but you made some people think that they don't have to "study" film to make film*).
I know that this is treading weird waters as I find it hard to write about this because it isn't a tangeble. Also, I don't think that there isn't a place for the "machine operator" as I call them. Moreover, I don't pretend that I don't opperate the machine and you should strive to know your tool to it's fullest so that it isn't stopping you or slowing you down from the task at hand. BUT, I know that most of my regular clients appreciate the INVISIBLE that I bring to the table. I think Malcom Gladwell touches on this on his book (which I haven't finished reading yet).
I don't really have to explain this to my current repeat offender clients but the new clients that come for a quote always seem to look at it from a dollar and cents perspective. Rarely do they look at how far their dollar spent is going to seen in the result of the footage.
One last thing on this I-Factor, the I might be for INSURANCE. What I always say to my clients, is that your paying for insurance that if there is a "road block" or something doesn't go as planned, you loose some footage,... any of the thousand of situations that happen on a film production. The more experienced, seasoned individual has that set of invisible tools to deal with that situation.
The sad and sometimes frustrating part of this is that the productions that don't run into a bad experience never really see the advantage of the INVISIBLE; since they completed the show, commercial or movie without the drama of a disater but one will never know how great it could have been if they hired someone with the INVISIBLE.
* What I mean by study film is not necessaraly go to schoold but read, eat sleep film. Really study it as a craft.
(end of draft)
The Invisible factor: Puppet elevate's the average actingfrom Good to Great.
I appologize if this isn't the most polished post, but like I said, I am not a writer. My stregth is writting with pictures, a soundtrack, ect... I am just "Shipping it"!
