By Plimun Web Design
After almost twenty years in the film and T.V. industry as a director and editor the question which still haunts me when viewing raw newly born footage is-which moment is worth it and for how long? It is widely circulated in the movie industry that movies are made on the editing table,a myth i am sure perpetuated by influential editors.At its sublime best editing is a synergical effort along with cinematographer and actors to capture,interpret and shape the directors vision to its full potential.Sometimes these branches of filmmaking do extend their mandate beyond the prescribed limits when one of the other branches is floundering or confused.I have heard of a case when editor has put footages found in between the camera rolling and before action is said on the sets for reaction of the actor as the new actor used to stiffen at the word action.The actor in question went on to get a national award.Similarly i have used silence by actors as thinking process on numerous occasions when they have forgotten their lines or shots taken by director for some other purpose to some other end.
Editors are not doctors but yes they do have a fair knowledge of the health of a film as they are not as attached as a director or cinematographer whose loving creation they assess much like a doctor on the editing table.It is great to give the final shape to a product on which hundreds of minds have worked for a sizeable period of time.I do rely on certain time-tested techniques developed on my numerous quests to convey the essence of a scene but every new film or new footage is always unexplored alien territory.What never ceases to amaze me is how some unplanned mystery and magic always finds a way in every footage and like every creatively inclined individual i can't afford to ignore them...till the next cut.
