Blog #4
"In the Blink of An Eye"and Sound in Film Editing
To make a excellent film one has to take into consideration the different components in its entirety on what make a film great. In the past there were silent films that did not need sound work. Thanks to people like Fritz Lang, who first directed a sound film, now we can hear what is being said or even background noise. This film landmark of making sound films or "talkies" as they use to call it brought about major changes in the film industry. Initially, the sound in a film was designed or mix by the film editors. However, in the change of time the emergence of audio engineers and technicians became a critical factor in film making or rather, successful film making. With the work of these individuals, the movies we watch became more fascinating with the range of fast paste sound that may be found in a action scene or a lingering sound of suspense in a horror scene. The sound in a film helps to create the mood of a scene. In a more complex sense the sound may help to trigger a emotional response that the editor is trying to achieve in a scene. As contemporary viewers we would be quick to file a film without sound under the most boring films to watch. However, with the technological advancements within the film and audio industry there are now sound components to film making that may give an edge to a film being successful.
In the perspective of technological development, Walter Murch's book, "In the Blink of an Eye,"was partially dedicated to the progress of editing machines. In the latest version of the book Murch added a section that is geared towards the shift from mechanical editing machines such as Moviola to the now digital editing such as Avid. Though Murch worked with the machines of the pre-mechanical age, he was very pleased with the development of digital editing system. He believes that the creation of digital editing was rather more efficient for film editing. The demand of production companies for films to be finish at a quicker time played a critical role to this development. However, digital editing was not what it is today. Murch mentioned how the digitalization of film had bad quality due to the expensive cost of memory or data storage space on a hard drive. In essence, as a editor, Murch sees the change as a positive effect to film but believes that better systems such Apples Final Cut Pro software will give Avid a run for its money.
In the same book Murch also gives his professional perspective on film editing. In particular I found the segment, "The Rule of Six," to be most beneficial to a young editor like me. As a editors we always want to get and emotional response from the audience while maintaining the story rhythmically. However personally I never knew to what degree is one component more important than the next. Through Murch and his logical reasoning about what makes a good cut I now believe that I will become a better editor. In conclusion, I must say that this class and its readings has benefited me tremendously. CUT.
Please take a look at my final scene with sound
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