And...cut
My editor was here in L.A. cutting while I was up in Calgary shooting and though we talked a lot on the phone and sent long emails back and forth during production I didn't meet him face to face until today. I had a great first day with him in the cutting room. He's a warm-hearted guy with a quick mind and excellent instincts, plus he's easy to work with, I.E.: he'll work an idea of mine until either we get it right or it turns out to have been a dead end.
Except I don't like the cutting in the first assembly of the film.
Strange ineffective ideas, odd pacing, a few things that make no sense at all. (I'm saying this apart from the errors I made on the set, which have become glaringly clear in the cutting room: that's another topic.) So basically as we work together I'm more or less completely re-cutting 80% of the scenes. I can only imagine how I'd feel if an executive sat in my office and directed me line by line through an 80% rewrite of a script. Auggghhh!!! I hope I'm handling this okay. Actually the nature of the set up, the hierarchy, the process, is that I don't really have to worry about how I'm handling it. I just have to say what I'd like to see. So why can't I move forward without worrying about his feelings? Am I afraid he'll do less good work if he feels offended? Not usually the case: people work extra hard to please if you tell them clearly what isn't working. Why do I so often forget that? Some of my own errors, mentioned above, came from not wanting to offend, I think--I could have been tougher on my actors in many moments. Well, live and learn.
On somebody else's nickel.
Make that somebody else's eight hundred thousand nickels.
Except I don't like the cutting in the first assembly of the film.
Strange ineffective ideas, odd pacing, a few things that make no sense at all. (I'm saying this apart from the errors I made on the set, which have become glaringly clear in the cutting room: that's another topic.) So basically as we work together I'm more or less completely re-cutting 80% of the scenes. I can only imagine how I'd feel if an executive sat in my office and directed me line by line through an 80% rewrite of a script. Auggghhh!!! I hope I'm handling this okay. Actually the nature of the set up, the hierarchy, the process, is that I don't really have to worry about how I'm handling it. I just have to say what I'd like to see. So why can't I move forward without worrying about his feelings? Am I afraid he'll do less good work if he feels offended? Not usually the case: people work extra hard to please if you tell them clearly what isn't working. Why do I so often forget that? Some of my own errors, mentioned above, came from not wanting to offend, I think--I could have been tougher on my actors in many moments. Well, live and learn.
On somebody else's nickel.
Make that somebody else's eight hundred thousand nickels.
posted by Tom at 10:56 PM
1 Comments:
I'm sure you 'could' have been tougher on your actors, or anybody else. The fact remains after many generations, you can catch more flys with honey. It is NOT a flaw to consider someones feelings when you are dealing with them. It's been my experience that when you deal with people in a professional, cordial and confident manner, what you want usually happens. Doesn't hold true for all of course.. there are lots of asses out there...but more often than not! The editor seems like a hard working, helpful man and it sounds like you are doing a fine job together. Put away the boxing gloves and move slowwwwwly away from the mirror...no beating yourself up! *Grins*
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