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Sitting in the dark, surrounded by friends and strangers, we gather around the campfires of our age, to hear the tales of the shaman. The films we watch in the theaters of our day are crafted by many individuals: producers, directors, writers, actors, film crews, sound crews, and on and on. These films really are, for better or worse, a major part of the history of our time.

Cutting Edge: The Magic of Editing takes a closer look at one of the final steps in the production of any film. From the reels and reels of film, hours of sound recordings and music, and any special effects, the film editor crafts the final product that is approved and released for public consumption.


Cutting Edge:... looks at the history of film editing ('cutting') and how it has evolved over the last one hundred-plus years. It is important to realize that this film is a documentary, a historical look at the art/craft of editing, rather than a 'how-to' guide. Only one editor is actually shown in detail practicing his craft. The many film clips we see demonstrate the results of the editing process rather than the 'how to' of the process.

Clips are show from literally dozens of films. The battle scenes of Birth of the Nation, Nosferatu, How to Marry a Millionaire, the famous shower scene in Psycho, the Bullitt car chase scene, Basic Instinct...yes, _that_ scene!, Cold Mountain, and clips from many, many more are used to illustrate the history of 'cutting' and how the basic principles and rules have changed over the years.


Cutting Edge:... serves as a history of film editing around the world. Directors and editors from Russia, Germany, France, Great Britain, and Hollywood have all introduced new techniques and overthrown old 'rules' as the art of editing has evolved over the years. How these new techniques and the breaking of the old rules were received and adopted is a large part of this film.

On-screen interviewees include James Cameron, Chris Columbus, Jodie Foster, George Lucas, Walter Murch (shown editing real-time a few scenes from Cold Mountain), Sean Penn, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino, and many more. While there might seem to be a lot of 'talking head' segments, I found most of them offered real insight into the working relationships of directors and editors and the actual practice of the art of 'cutting'.


A unique insight I brought from this film was the idea of how editors speak to the viewers of any film. While a writer uses words and a film score uses notes; a film editor uses frames, added or removed or rearranged, to effect the way the story of the film is told. The examples they show of this being applied are very enlightening.

One particular interesting story told how editors will often use frames from multiple takes to break-down and reassemble a scene that the actor(s) will swear was done in one take.



The Bottom Line
The next film (or even commercial) you see will be appreciated in a new light as you apply the insight about the 'reel magic' of editing you gain from viewing Cutting Edge: The Magic of Editing.



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Certified 'Lean-n-mean' review.
 
 

Recommended: Yes