Week 9

1. 1) What directors think they had isn’t always what they have. In other words, editors can only do so much and only have the footage provided to work with. Directors often have unrealistic expectations of what can be done with their footage. 2) Leave editors alone, which means they need time to experiment and go through their own creative process without interference to create the best final product. 3) Be specifically general, which is to say that nitpicking at tiny details is far less productive than giving the editors direction similar to what you would tell actors. Giving them statements about what needs to be changed without telling them exactly what to do allows them to use their creativity to solve the problem. 4) Do not touch the screen, which is simply saying that editors know what they’re doing and at no point need the director to take over the controls. 5) Editors sometimes get things wrong, meaning that sometimes they will need to be re-told the vision or given a new direction to try out before they find what really works.

2. An example of an editor taking initiative on a project for their director could be by heavily researching beforehand what type of work the director has put out before, giving them the necessary knowledge of what the director expects from an edit. This isn’t to say they should copy the style exactly, but that they would be better off knowing what is and isn’t within their acceptable results.

3. ‘Kill your darlings’ means that directors shouldn't be attached to certain takes or ideas they had going into the project. Whether it be due to the hard work required to attain a specific shot or the idea behind something being personal, directors tend to get attached to things that may not be effective in pushing the narrative forward. These parts are better off cut from the film, which is hard to do, hence the term ‘kill your darlings’.

4. It is wise for an editor to present the client’s vision before their own because it may show them that their own vision doesn’t work when they see a different version. If an editor only does it the way they believe it will work, the director may be left thinking, “but what if they did it my way?”, rather than having closure on that idea not working out.

5. The editor is looking at the slate for the scene, shot, take, and whether or not their is audio for that specific shot. This makes the editing process much smoother by saving them the hassle of hunting for clips and audio (that may not exist).

George Lucas and his first wife, Marcia, who won an award for her editing on his first Star Wars film.