Glamour Of Hollywood

After the dust settles in shooting a movie, it’s on to post-production.

A lot of people LOVE post. Because they get to see it put together. Usually I want to jump out of a window from the 12^th floor, because I’m constantly lamenting about what we didn’t get. I really should be focused on what we DID get. But that’s not my style.

The adage is that everyone loves their dailies and hates their first edit. When you string it all together, that’s when people hate their movie again. It goes up and down throughout the rest of the movie until you can’t stand working on it anymore. Yep, you never finish your movie, you just throw up your hands (and throw up really) and let the world decide how to deal with your child.

When a movie works, you can kind of tell if it works or not. The pacing seems to move at a nice rate and all the information is there. If it doesn’t, you dread ever beat in your movie. When I first began editing my student films, I remember being just fascinated with how you can manipulate action by cutting within action. For instance, picking up a cup in one shot and putting it down in another space, after hours of relighting. Seems like the thoughts of a simpleton, but it really did fascinate me. I use to make backyard spec commercials with the neighborhood kids. Then show them at the school room televisions. People were impressed at the shorts I made. But they were dumb kid shit. We were just farting around. I do remember how I felt when a spot did work. It’s a cool feeling.

Anyway, I’m sure a lot of you guys have edited movies in some form or another. Like on Adobe Premiere, Avid or Final Cut. You sit there for hours going frame by frame, analyzing the performance of an actor or wanting to slit your wrist over some non-essential set piece that wasn’t removed from the set before shooting. Yeah, this drives some filmmakers nuts. Not me. I just tell myself that if your story sucks, then they look for shit like that. I’m also sure you have your own way of editing your projects. For me, I sit at my IKEA desk and scrub through footage in my undershirt and gym shorts. While drinking from a Gatorade bottle of frozen water. I sweat a lot, for some reason. Then eat when I can. Whatever leftover is in fridge.

I’ve been in some professional editorial bullpens. And it’s not that much different. You just have to deal with some serious body odor (what’s the logic of eating spicy food when you share space?). But, yeah, this is the shit most people don’t like to see on entertainment t.v. Because no one wants to see a fat slob roll a mouse back and forth for hours.

Editorial isn’t a bad way to get into directing. It really lets you see all the parts you need. More importantly what you don’t need.