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Film Editing - page 8

The picture and track are then synced, the codebook is entered into the digital database and the dailies are then sent to the telecine department. Telecine is the process of transferring film to video. Setting up telecine is one of the first and most important responsibilities on a digital show. The telecine house is responsible for syncing the audio. In most cases, the editorial department syncs the picture and track before the telecine process. After this process is completed the daily is now ready to be screened. This entire process occurs, believe it or not, on a daily bases (hence the name "the dailies") throughout the production of the film.

The truth that by the time the script appears on the screen, it is a product of the collaborative effort of writers, producers, directors, actors, cinematographers, editors, composers, and others who have labored for years to bring it to life. Feature filmmaking has become a collaborative art, a unique synthesis of artistic vision married to an unwieldy commercial marketplace populated by a volatile and fickle audience.

it can never be stated enough that the feature editor must find "truth" in the fictional work in order to make an emotionally rich film- although, as most editors admit, they can only work with the material (good or bad) that the director and cinematographer give them

Editor Carol Littleton (Grand Canyon, Body Heat) sees a similarity between her job and that of a musician. Dialogue, visuals, story all has rhythm. It's the editor's job to pick up on those rhythms that are internal in the scene and to make them play.

Like the musician, you're going over the same material again and again, finding the nuances, making the slight changes, working on it until you feel you've extracted the best technical interpretation and emotional tone. "My job is to enhance the writing and to make sure that everything is clear in the final version. I decide what to include and how much focus to give it. I think that writing and editing are very closely related. Both jobs are more monastic than social." Once again, like the writer, the editor labors alone in a room, a solitary world.

There is no common pattern for how long it takes to become an editor. Aside from the personality required for the job, everyone must master the tools of the trade. It can never be stated enough that the feature editor must find "truth" in the fictional work in order to make an emotionally rich film- although, as most editors admit, they can only work with the material (good or bad) that the director and cinematographer give them.

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