“FilmCraft: Editing” by Justin Chang is an excellent resource and is one of the best cinema books out there when it comes to interviews with editors for some of the greatest film ever made. Educational, intriguing and overall, a wonderful book that is highly recommended!
TITLE: FilmCraft: Editing
BY: Justin Chang
PUBLISHER: Focal Press
PAGE COUNT: 194
RELEASED: November 17, 2011
The value of the editor’s craft to a finished film cannot be underestimated, and it’s no surprise that directors rely heavily on the same editor again and again. This book employs stills and screenshots to show how an editor created a scene with the filmmaker and explores the complex relationship between a director who has just shot a movie and the editor who must complete the director’s vision. Includes perspectives from Dylan Tichenor who has worked on Boogie Nights, Brokeback Mountain, There Will Be Blood and many others and Pietro Scalia, the great editor whose partners include Bertolucci, Van San, and Ridley Scott.
Each book in the FilmCraft Series focuses on a specific aspect of the filmmaking process, presenting a visually strunning look at the subject through the eyes of notable professionals in each field. Each book offers deep insight into the working practices of the world’s most distinguished professionals, covering their inspiration, collaboration, and work on set. Each professional has been interviewed exclusively, and goes into detail on specific scenes in their films to give concrete examples of their craft. The result is to provide readers with a fascinating inside look at the filmmaking art, and a wealth of knowledge that they can apply to their own work.
As a cinema fan and also a filmmaker, although I graduated from college, I did not major in film or attend a film school.
But despite not having majored in film, I do have a passion for cinema.
In fact, if one was to visit my personal library, you would see a plethora of film books. Books on theory, books on execution and books that focuses on various filmmakers. And also along with those books is a dedicated cinema shrine of DVD’s and Blu-ray’s featuring the work of the world’s talented filmmakers since the late 1890’s to present-time.
And having reviewed many films on Blu-ray and DVD and also cinema-related books, there is one area in filmmaking that is important is the editing process.
Filmmaking is a collaborative process and an editor is responsible for assembling the shots while the film is in production and through this, a director knows if an adjustments or additional shots need to be taken. But of course, for an editor, it’s the post-production phase that is the primary role of an editor and works with the director (and producers) for the final cut. A meaning of the film, the clarity of the film and enhancing the visuals of a cinematographer, it all comes down to the editing in post-production.
And for anyone who has watched a big budget action film, an artistic surreal film or cinema that required a good amount of editing that made us feel in awe of the film, in essence, we are seeing that collaboration involved in filmmaking but most importantly, cinema fans can notice how much editing plays a big part in a film.
“FilmCraft: Editing” by Justin Chang is a book which focuses on 21 editors from all over the world.
Featuring priceless interviews and article spotlights on the following editors:
- Walter Murch (USA) – Worked on “Apocalypse Now”, “Ghost” and “The Godfather” films.
- Anne Voase Coates (USA/UK) – Worked on “Lawrence of Arabia”, “The Golden Compass”, “Erin Brokovich”, “The Elephant Man”, etc.
- Richard Marks (US) – Worked on “The Godfather: Part II”, “As Good as It Gets”, “You’ve Got Mail”, etc.
- Peter Zinner (Austria/US) – Legacy spotlight on Peter Zinner’s career. Zinner worked on “The Godfather” films, “The Deer Hunter”, etc.
- Stephen Mirrione (US) – Worked on “Ocean’s Eleven”, “Babel”, “Traffic”.
- Dylan Tichenor (US) – Worked on “There Will Be Blood”, “Magnolia”, “Brokeback Mountain”, “The Town”, etc.
- Tim Squyres (US) – Worked on “The Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”, “Sense and Sensibility”, “Syriana”, “Godford Park”, etc.
- ValdÃs Óskarsdóttir (Iceland/US) – Worked on “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”, “The Celebration”, “Finding Forrester”, etc.
- Dede Allen (US) – Legacy spotlight on Dede Allen’s career. Allen worked on “Dog Day Afternoon”, “The Breakfast Club”, “Bonnie and Clyde”, “Wonder Boys”, etc.
- Virginia Katz (US) – Worked on “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part I”, “Dreamgirls”, “Gods and Monsters”, “Kinsey”, etc.
- Michael Kahn (US) – Worked on “Schindler’s List”, “Saving Private Ryan”, “Raiders of the Lost Ark”, “Jurassic Park”, “War Horse”, etc.
- Joel Cox (US) – Worked on “Gran Torino”, “Million Dollar Baby”, “Mystic River”, “Unforgiven”, “J. Edgar”, etc.
- Ralphe E. Winters (Canada/US) – Legacy spotlight on Ralph E. Winters who worked on “Ben-Hur”, “The Pink Panther”, “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers”.
- William Chang Suk-ping (China) – Worked on “In the Mood for Love”, “2046”, “Chungkind Express”, “My Blueberry Nights”
- Liao Ching-sung (Taiwan) – Worked on “Three Times”, “Millennium Mambo”, “Cafe Lumiere”, etc.
- Hervé de Luze (France) – Worked on “The Pianist”, “The Ghost Writer”, “The Ninth Gate”, “Carnage”, etc.
- Barbara McLean (USO) – Legacy spotlight on Barbara McLean, McLean worked on “All About Eve”, “Twelve O’ Clock High”, “The Snows of Kilimanjaro”.
- Angus Wall & Kirk Baxter (US & Australia/US) – The editing duo worked on “The Social Network”, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, “Zodiac”, “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”, etc.
- Lee Smith (Australia) – Worked on “The Truman Show”, “The Dark Knight”, “Inception”, “Batman Begins”, etc.
- Christopher Rouse (US) – Worked on the “Bourne” films, “The Italian Job”, “United 93”, etc.
- Sally Menke (US) – Legacy spotlight on Sally Menke who worked on “Pulp Fiction”, “Inglorious Basterds”, “Kill Bill: Vol. 1”, “Reservoir Dogs”, etc.
“FilmCraft: Editing” by Justin Chang is a book that shows us how these editor’s approached films that they were best known for. Rules that the follow when editing and the editing methods used.
But most importantly, while these editors have communicated with many viewers around the world through the film that they have worked on, through “FilmCraft: Editing”, it gives these editors a chance to communicate through their own words.
When it comes to editing, there are books that explain the concept of editing and the technique of editing but when it comes to editors in general, especially those who have worked on well-known films, there have been a few.
From Gabriella Oldham’s 1995 “First Cut: Conversation with Film Editors” to the 2008 book “British Film Editors: The Heart of the Movie” and books featuring on a sole editor such as “An Evening with Film Editor Chistopher Tellefsen” by Manhattan Edit Workshop or “When the Shooting Stops…The Cutting Begins: A Film Editor’s Story” by Ralph Rosenblum, there really has not been many editing books featuring editors worldwide.
But fortunately, Justin Chang’s “FilmCraft: Editing” does just that. While it does focus on mostly American cinema, there editors featured in this film who have worked on a variety of films ranging from big blockbusters with Steven Spielberg, those who worked on “The Godfather” films, those who worked on the visual Wong Kar-wai films, etc. This book is a wonderful resource to anyone who are upcoming editors or even a curious cineaste.
But before I get into the good, let me talk about any negative aspects…trust me, there are not that many. Interviews and articles on a collective are typically subjective and when it comes to cinema, especially if you watch cinema worldwide, one thing that you want to see is a good representation of interviewees from around the world. As mentioned, the book does focus on a lot of American filmmakers, two in Asia, one in France, Australia, Iceland, UK, etc. So, for those hoping for representation of editors who have worked on Italian cinema, Russian cinema, Japanese cinema, etc. You are not going to find them in this book.
With that being said, the representation of editors from many great films is quite appreciated and I also feel that for a book of this caliber, there is always room to feature more editors from other countries in hopefully a future volume.
But on this book alone, I found this book to be fantastic in many levels. For example, Walter Murch goes into his personal take of the “Rule of Six” with percentage values, Anne Voase Coates wrote about working on “Lawrence of Arabia”, Richard Marks talks about working on “The Godfather” films, Stephen Mirrione on the challenges of working on “21 Grams” and “Babel”, Tim Squyres working on Ang Lee films and using Avid, Virginia Katz talks about working on a Chinese film, “Fearless” after working on “Dreamgirls” but also working on action sequences. Michael Kahn talks about working on how he became an editor and began editing for Steven Spielberg, William Chang Suk-ing talks about working on Wong Kar-wai films, Liao Chung-sung talks about working on Hou Hsiao-hsien films, Christopher Rouse working on the “Bourne” films, Lee Smith on working on “Inception”, “The Dark Knight”, etc. and there are more interviews with talented editors that are featured throughout the book. And you also get a few “legacy spotlights” on editors who have passed away.
I can continue to gush about this book about why I loved it but this is one of those books that those who are interested in editing, will want to own. To learn from the best editor’s out there, their approach to film, how they took on challenges but most of all, just that opportunity to learn from these individuals.
The fact is that unless you spend a lot of money on Blu-ray or DVD’s which you can hope has an audio commentary track or interview with a editor, it really is awesome when you come across a book written by a writer who is passionate about cinema and really went out to gather considerable names for their book. And this is easily one of the best books on interviews with editors out there!
In fact, I recommend getting this book along with “FilmCraft: Cinematography” by Mike Goodridge & Tim Grierson which are similar in presentation but as Chang’s book focuses on editing, Goodridge and Grierson’s book focuses on the cinematographers.
Overall, “FilmCraft: Editing” by Justin Chang is an excellent resource for those who are considering a career in editing or just passionate about cinema and want to learn from those who worked on the editing of the film. If you are a film student, an observer of cinematography or just a cineaste who are passionate about the films and the people who edit these films, make no doubt about it… “FilmCraft: Editing” is highly recommended!