This the second part of ‘film editing and movie editing’ by ‘Michael Robert Johnson’.
Every single cut should in some way advance the film forwards. Bad editing has a lot of “to-ing and fro-ing” going on, turning conversations into tennis rallies and action into spirals. Good editing always has a purpose, there is always a reason for going to the next shot, a reason for holding it the length it is, then a reason for cutting out when it does.
Take a look at the final stand-off in “The Good, The Bad And The Ugly”, all those huge close-ups between Eastwood, Van Cleef and Wallach as they build up to the shoot-out. Not a shot is wasted in the whole sequence; there’s always a little twitch of the eye, some tiny thought process, that carries each shot – that’s where the tension comes from (when coupled with Morricone’s incredible score), this sense of something happening at every moment in a sequence of shots which is basically just a collection of eyes and hands. But on a big screen the effect is incredible.
Another example is at the end of “Sideways”, as Paul Giamatti watches Thomas Haden Church as he’s welcomed back into the bosom of his girlfriend’s family after momentous lying and cheating. The shot on Giamatti’s face is held for an incredible length of time by contemporary standards, but it works because the thought process holds. Every ignominy that has been visited on him during the previous week is present during that shot, and to cut it any earlier – for time concerns – would have destroyed it.
And remember the (second) cardinal rule – KILL YOUR BABIES.
It may be the greatest scene you have ever constructed, but if it doesn’t fit into the wider picture of the film – maybe the purpose of the scene reveals something that has already been set up, perhaps it creates an unwanted red herring for the audience, whatever – it must, must go.
BE RUTHLESS.
And cut, cut, cut. If you can shave a few frames out, do it. There’s nothing worse than flabby editing (look at any TV movie). And remember to watch each cut of the film as an audience member, not as an editor. Would it work for you if you switched on the telly at one in the morning and started watching it?
If the answer is “yes”, then you’ve done your job. If the answer is “no” then it’s indulgent and you’re asking the audience to like it simply because you like it. Start re-cutting. Nobody’s giving you their time and money to watch good editing, they’re giving it to watch a good story.