Blog 4

After reading “In The Blink of an Eye” by Walter Murch it is clear to see how incredibly passionate and dedicated he is about editing. This isn’t necessarily a how to edit book it’s more of Murch’s techniques and perspectives on editing. To back up his point’s Walter used personal experiences as well as examples of films.

One of my favorite things that he says is how he responds to someone saying editing is just about taking out the bad bits. “It is much more than that. Editing is structure, color, dynamics, manipulation of time, all of these other things, etc.” (10) This is true because outsiders aren’t really aware of how hard editors actually work. Editors are the ones that make the actors and actresses look good after all.

Regarding the rule of six he says “Emotion, at the top of the list, is the thing that you should try to preserve at all costs. If you find you have to sacrifice certain of those six things to make a cut, sacrifice your way up, item by item, from the bottom.”  He explains that emotion is more important that spatial continuity.  In the rule of six he says emotion, story, and rhythm are the most tightly connected. The other three eye-trace, two dimensional plane of screen, and three-dimensional space of action. Always try to have all six but if you have to give up one then don’t let it be emotion. The book continues on saying that as an editor you must put yourself in the audience. You must be like a magician and create wonder in the cut.  I very much enjoyed the chapter called “Team Work: Multiple Editors” because while I’d rather work alone sometimes collaborating with other editors is a good way to work.

So overall cuts overall work and are very important to film. This book is a great book for anyone who is interested in the world of editing. I thought it was a very helpful especially because I’m majoring in production. Aside from the book I really enjoyed the class and I wish there were more editing classes.