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Hi, my name is Tony, and this[br]is Every Frame A Painting

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The other day, someone asked me[br]to describe my editing process

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So I started talking about organizing[br]footage and doing selects

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And she said, "No, your actual process;[br]like, how do you know when to cut?"

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And I couldn't[br]describe it at all!

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Like a lot of editors,[br]I cut based on instinct

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(Kahn) "Nothing gets in[br]the way of the editing process...

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It's the process of your thinking.

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I don't cut from[br]what I call 'knowledge'.

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I have to come into it[br]and I have to feel it."

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It's the same way for me. I have[br]to think and feel my way through the edit

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So today, I'd like to talk[br]about that process:

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How does an editor[br]think and feel?

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The first thing you need to know is[br]that editing is all about the eyes

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More than any other factor, the eyes[br]tell you the emotion of the scene

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And the great actors[br]understand that they

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Convey more through[br]their eyes than through dialogue

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(Caine) "I said, 'Well, I[br]haven't got anything to say,'

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So he said, 'What do you mean[br]you haven't got anything to say?'

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He says 'Of course you've got things to[br]say! You've got wonderful things to say!

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But you sit there and listen, think of[br]these extraordinary things to say...

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"Elliot, sweetheart!"[br]"Mhm?"

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"Have you tried these?[br]These are wonderful!"

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...and then decide not to say them![br](Laughter)

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That's what you're doing!'"

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And when I'm watching footage,[br]this is what I'm looking for:

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Moments where I can see[br]a change in the actor's eyes

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Like when he's[br]making a decision

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Shots like these are powerful because[br]they work so well with other shots

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For instance, when we cut from[br]his eyes to what he's looking at

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It tells us, without words,[br]what he's thinking

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The next concept was[br]really hard for me to learn:

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Emotions take time

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When we watch people on screen,[br]we feel a connection to them

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And that's because we have time[br]to watch their faces before they speak

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(Speaking Chinese)

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(Door shuts)

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And time to watch[br]them afterwards

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Editors have to decide: "How[br]much time do I give this emotion?"

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So let's try an exercise:[br]look at this shot

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What do you feel[br]while watching this?

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Now let's try it again

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What do you feel[br]while watching this?

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Was it a different emotion?

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Editing is full of[br]decisions like these,

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Where four seconds[br]makes a big difference

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And these choices are difficult.[br]There are no right answers

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Some emotions play better if you[br]see them in a single, continuous shot

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(Speaking Chinese)

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But other emotions play[br]better over multiple shots,

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So you can build up[br]and come down

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Consider this scene, where[br]Luke Skywalker tests his skill

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(Breathes out)

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To make this simpler, let's just focus on[br]how long each shot is held for

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Notice that as we build, each shot gets[br]shorter and shorter towards the climax

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(Inspirational music playing)

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(R2 beeps)

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But after five shots, we hit[br]the peak and start coming down

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(Yoda sighs softly, sadly)

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Not only are the shots getting longer[br]again, they're actually held for longer

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than they were[br]the first time

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And this whole sequence spends about 15[br]seconds going up, but twice that amount

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coming down, so that we, the audience,[br]have time to feel Luke's failure

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(Breathing heavily)[br]"I can't, it's too big."

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But what happens if [br]you shorten this timing?

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Let's take a look at a very similar[br]scene, done more recently

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See if you can feel[br]the difference

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(Hank) You can do[br]it Scott, come on!

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(Ant laughs)

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(Scott) They're not[br]listening to me!

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Did you believe[br]that emotion?

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Because in this scene, Scott's[br]failure took 30 frames

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By comparison,[br]Luke Skywalker's failure

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Took 30 seconds

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People aren't machines,

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We need time to[br]feel the emotion,

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And if the movie[br]doesn't give it to us...

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We don't believe it.

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(Schoonmaker) "And I'm finding[br]in movies, recently, that I've seen,

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A lot of things[br]I don't believe.

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I think people are[br]sticking stuff out there

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And asking you[br]to believe it,

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But they're not making[br]you believe it."

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And making it believable[br]is really hard.

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(Man) "Let Red go."

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Because timing is not[br]a conscious process,[br]

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You're just responding[br]to the fact

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That every shot has[br]a natural rhythm

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(Three gunshots)

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(Wood breaking)

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(Murch) "There's an in-built relationship[br]between the story itself and

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How to tell a story, and the rhythm[br]with which you tell it,

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And editing is...

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70% about rhythm."

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(Man yelling at woman)

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Sometimes the rhythm[br]is obvious,

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Like when the actor is doing[br]something really physical

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(Music intensifying)

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But other times[br]it's quite subtle

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For instance, the rhythm of[br]people walking back and forth

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Or the rhythm of a restaurant,[br]with cooks, customers, waitresses...

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These rhythms are closer to[br]what we feel in everyday life,

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And, I actually think[br]they're harder to edit

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But if you watch anything over and over[br]again, you eventually feel the moment

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When the shot[br]wants you to cut

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Classical Hollywood editing is[br]all about cutting with the rhythm

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And this is what we mean when[br]we say that editing is invisible

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The cut happens[br]so naturally

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(Man) "Now is there anything else[br]you'd like to know about me?"

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That you don't[br]notice it.

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(Man) "Would you like[br]to go over to my room?"

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But you don't always[br]have to be invisible

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Some emotions play better[br]if you cut in a jarring way,

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Like if someone[br]is agitated

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(Heels clicking on floor)

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And other moments[br]play better

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If you actually cut to make[br]the audience uncomfortable.

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(Water sizzling)

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(Schoonmaker) "One of the things Marty's[br]always encouraged us to do is to

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Sometimes hold just[br]a little bit too long...

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(Water sizzling)

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And then make a cut,[br]if it's justified."

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What really matters is, what[br]reaction you want from people

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(Two gunshots)

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Because sometimes, you can[br]only get that with an unusual cut

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And that brings me[br]to my last point:

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If editing is so instinctive,[br]how do you learn it?

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I only know[br]one way:

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Practice.

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(Murch) "And editing is very[br]similar to dance in that way,

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You can explain the[br]rudiments of dance,

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But to really learn how to[br]dance, you have to dance."

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You have to cut.

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And as you cut, you'll develop[br]a sense of rhythm and emotion

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That's unique to you.

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I've been doing it for ten[br]years and I'm still not there

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But whenever I'm frustrated by an edit,[br]I think about something Michael Khan said

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(Khan) "The beautiful[br]thing about editing is,

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I guess maybe[br]writers feel that way,

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I see all that film up there, doesn't[br]matter, I'm doing one piece at a time

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One scene at a time,[br]one cut at a time.

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And there's a lot of film,[br]I just do one thing at a time."

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So take it one shot[br]at a time,

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Because if you watch[br]any image,

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(Man) "You really care?"

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You'll see it has an[br]emotion and a rhythm

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(Woman sniffing[br]and breathing heavy)

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And you have[br]to feel...

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When...

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To...