Genres

Visitors Review

2012-05-25 06:09:05

Power of the Cut!

This review is from: The Cutting Edge - The Magic of Movie Editing (DVD) There is much you can say about this except Awesome! It is great to see some of the behind the scenes that is needed to understand what an editor does. I have to admit, I didn't have any idea as to what the editors job was and now I do. Wonderful story told the way it should. There are some foul mouth parts but the message that it gives is worth it. If you are a video production instructor, this is a MUST HAVE resource.

2012-05-24 12:01:21

Excellent, informative, and entertaining

This review is from: The Cutting Edge - The Magic of Movie Editing (DVD) Great piece on the history and evolution of film editing. Invaluable short introduction to the importance of this process from some of the top filmmakers and editors.

2012-05-22 21:13:37

Hey! The camera moved!

Like "Visions of Light" before it, which celebrated cinematography, "The Cutting Edge" reveals the art of editing movies. And it truly is an art. For cinephiles and filmmakers, who know that what we see is what the editor wants us to see, this isn't news. For clueless moviegoers, however, "The Cutting Edge" may clarify misconceptions. David Lean didn't cut from that match to an Arabian desert. Stanley Kubrick didn't cut from a thrown bone to a spaceship. Their editors did.For Lean and Kubrick, auteurs involved in all aspects of their films, that stretches the point. But there's no doubt that an editor's sense of narrative, performance and pacing can make or break a scene, sometimes an entire film. As the top tier editors and directors interviewed here admit, a good actor or director is only as good as the film's editor. The clips from films, showing how scenes are shaped, are craft lessons easy and entertaining to absorb. Actress Kathy Bates narrates.This documentary is available singly or among the forgettable extras in the 2005 two-disc edition of the Peter Yates police procedural "Bullitt." That film is famous for its car chase over the hills of San Francisco. "The Cutting Edge" features the editing of that chase, as well as exciting sequences from other films, and alone is worth the price of the re-issue. It certainly is as interesting as anything in "Bullitt," which doesn't bear close scrutiny these many years later.

2012-05-22 09:27:05

Total waste... "F" bombs used alot in the DVD

This review is from: The Cutting Edge - The Magic of Movie Editing (DVD) Did not learn anything. Lots of foul language. Not a training DVD for sure.

2012-05-20 17:27:54

Just like film school.

This DVD goes over many examples used in film school. It has many good examples of films to review. And interesting takes on editing.

2012-05-20 00:07:05

Decades of Filmmaking Wisdom Crammed into One DVD

This review is from: The Cutting Edge - The Magic of Movie Editing (DVD) This is a must buy for any film fan, film maker or film editor. An extremely informative, if talky, exposition on the art, the craft, the science, the illusion, the storytelling, the magic, the importance of motion picture editing. You sit at the feet of the masters who happily share their philosophical and practical approaches to this ethereal subject. This is an unabashed, unapologetic appreciation of editing moving images. Yes, it is heavy on the "editing is everything" concept. But so are other videos on directing, acting, lighting, and cinematography. If you've never edited a project, a lot of this is lost. If you have edited, The Cutting Edge is full of "aha!" moments. Language and inclusion of the "Fatal Attraction" scene may limit school use.

2012-05-11 23:57:59

A Motion Picture Editors Delight

This is an Excellent review of film editing, it's history, techniques and a few of the main contributors in the industry over the years. If you love the art & craft of film / video editing, you'll love this. This is to Film Editing, what Visions of Light is to Cinematography.Yes.........it's worth it!

2012-05-11 20:24:49

A decent introduction to the importance of the movie editor

"The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing" is a 2004 documentary celebrating the first century of film editing. Those expecting a fitting counterpart to "Visions of Light: The Art of Cinematography" are going to be a bit disappointed because this documentary is not on that same level. What you will find is part history lesson on the development of movie editing and part introduction to the things film editors do. The emphasis at the beginning is all about cutting, but we will learn that film editors make a lot of other decisions and there are lots of film editors and directors appearing as talking heads to explain these things with accompanying examples from lots of classic (and not so classic) films. Quentin Tarantino speaks to the importance of a single frame and his reasons for deciding to work with a female film editor, and Steven Spielberg talks about the objectivity of the film editor. But you have to wish that this documentary could have let these points be made by the film editors themselves since one of the premises here is that film editors are often forgotten when people think about how a film is made. The history lesson begins with not only the creation of movie editing when Edwin Porter, one of Thomas Edison's employees, first cut scenes together to create a story in 1903, first in "The Life of an American Fireman" and then the more famous "Great Train Robbery." A theoretical distinction between the polar approaches of D.W. Griffith's seamless editing, as in "The Birth of a Nation," versus the more manipulative approach of Russian documentary filmmaker Dziga Vertov and his team in "Man with a Movie Camera" and later Sergei Eisenstein in "Battleship Potemkin." The history of film editing seems to come down to certain individuals who were in the right place at the right time, but there is also the interesting observation that originally women were film editors because the task was seen as being akin to knitting, and it was not until sound was introduced and the process became so "technical" than men started doing the job instead. Ultimately the goal in this documentary is not just to be informative but to persuade viewers that after the director and the stars the film editor is the most important person involved in the production of a film and in creating "the final script."Sections are devoted to the general idea of cutting action, suspense, or sex, as well as cutting for the studios or to make the actor a star. At one point "The Rules" are established, and then the documentary looks at how successful film editors have broken all of those rules. Specific examples of editing that look at the specific choices that were made are fairly rare in this documentary. There is a brief example from "Home for the Holiday" where we actually get to see some of the choices for cutting a scene where a turkey falls on Cynthia Stevenson, but usually all you get is the editor describing after the fact what they did, as with Walter Murch and the hotel sequence at the start of "Apocalypse Now." There are a couple of choice examples of how sound comes into play with Pietro Scalla in "Black Hawk Down" and Tina Hirsch in "Dante's Peak," that helps to expand our notion of film editing. Then you have the extreme case of Alan Heim convincing director Bob Fosse to cut 20 minutes following the climactic courtroom scene in "Lenny" to get to Bruce's death. The problem is every time you get one of these specific examples you want more and the documentary is more likely to get back to a general topic (I was waiting for a section on the concept of American montage exemplified by the baptism scene in "The Godfather," but that never came). Still, you do get a decent introduction to the topic.

2012-05-10 08:21:23

Great Insights

This review is from: The Cutting Edge - The Magic of Movie Editing (DVD) A wonderfully informative introduction to the crucial art of movie editing which uses examples from film history to illustrate its points. An exemplary documentary which gets one under the glittering surface of movie magic and shows how great a contribution the film editor makes to the realisation of a director's dream. A must-have for anyone interested in movies and their apparent "magic".

donf 2012-05-09 19:58:58

Great Documentary - shame about the historical inaccuracies

This is a remarkable documentary, informative, interesting andsuccessful in clarifying what is, for many, something of a mysteriousprocess. The contributions to film making of directors, actors,designers, cinematographers and sound recordists is self evident, butthe film editor's role has seldom been understood nor its importancefully recognised. This documentary is the first to give directors andeditors an opportunity to explain exactly what goes on in the editingroom and they have done it superbly. What a pity then, that referencesto the history of film editing woven into this story are cursory,inadequate and in some instances completely wrong. Martin Scorseserefers to Edwin Porters' 1902 film, Life of an American Fireman, as thevery first film to be edited using crosscutting as a structuringdevice, and the commentary supports this view, despite convincingevidence to the contrary that was discovered in 1978. In fact theearliest discovered examples of this practise date from 1906. Equallymistaken is the assertion, made several times in this prize-winningdocumentary, that D.W.Griffith originated the important editingpractise of action matching. In fact there is clear evidence of actionmatching in a British film made as early as 1903 and Griffith's firstfilm was not made until 1908. There is considerable evidence thatGriffith considered action matching to be of very little importance,and when used in his films it is often ill judged and clumsy. All thisis curious in a documentary that seeks to explain the history andpractise of film editing. One might have expected research on the topicto be as well informed as the comments made by most of thecontributors, particularly given that the scriptwriter is ProfessorMark Jonathan Harris of the School of Cinema and Television, Universityof Southern California.

2012-05-03 07:31:31

not disappointed

I wanted this DVD for my high school video class. It served us well! They enjoyed it, and learned some at the same time. I learned some aspects of edting that I didn't even know, including the history of editing. It was a great buy for me.

T Y 2012-05-02 21:20:06

Fairly Grotesque Comparisons

This documentary is seriously odd (More on that below). It's a study ofthe power of film-editing. None of the information these subjects shareis offensive, in fact it's all pretty interesting. Some terrificexamples include the dumping of two entire reels from the climax ofLenny with one edit. Snipping five short vignettes from a longer MartinSheen improvisation in Apocalypse Now. And a love scene assembled verycleverly in Out of Sight (Never heard of it myself) via moving theaudio track around, short frame delays and non-linear time sequencing. A personal problem I have with this, is that director Wendy Apple showsyou the inventor of a basic editing technique; and then (nine times outof ten) cuts to some loud, superficial action/effects movie that usesit. More than a few times, a technique that would be much betterhighlighted in a well-chosen clip where the edit can be studied almostin isolation, is instead buried under explosions, green screenrazzle-dazzle, car-chases and gratuitous knife.gun.martial artsbattles, where a fraction of the impact can be credited to the edit.The larger problem is that this approach continually results inEisentein, Reifenstahl, Griffith clips sitting in close proximity to,and introducing things like Terminator 2, Scream, Gladiator, Titanic,Top Gun, The Matrix, Star Wars. !??! Equating originators who believedin what they were doing to the depths of their soul (and devised thesetechniques themselves), with modern filmmakers who frequently just wantto increase viewer stimulation to increase their payday with a triedand true technique, is obtuse if not completely grotesque. Jumping fromthe ingenuity of a filmmaker devising an editing trick to rally peopleto a political viewpoint, to popcorn movies about surface stimulationand box office receipts is so reductivist as to be offensive. Which isI suppose a back-handed tribute to the meaning that editing can cause.This may be appropriate in one case; as when WW2 propaganda films areused to introduce Starship Troopers, because it's director (Verhoeven)is knowingly riffing on propaganda. But I was not watching thisthinking "Thank God Eisenstein invented X so that it could be used inBasic Instinct." Instead, I frequently had a pained expression on myface. One can imagine this dilemma arose out of the need to cut to living,breathing editors who pick up the story, but it imposes some realarrogance on those involved. It almost never chooses to cut to calm,modern art films by thoughtful directors where the spare use ofgimmickry allows you to appreciate what the editing tool actually does.In doing so it jumps almost completely over the middle years (60s-70s)where an astonishing burst of rebellion and experimentation occurred,from a second wave of originators. Tarkovsky, Antonioni, Kubrick,Resnais, Truffaut, Polanski..? All missing, to make room for peoplelike Joe Dante and James Cameron.

2012-05-01 16:11:10

An Eye Opener

This review is from: The Cutting Edge - The Magic of Movie Editing (DVD) The name says it all. All of movie making is a kind of magic produced by very hard work. Editing is sometimes overlooked when people see and talk about films -- unfairly so. This DVD gives valuable information about the history of film editing and opens the eyes and mind to the subtleties of producing what we see on the screen.

2012-05-01 07:38:00

cutting edge dvd

As a Media teacher, this DVD is an excellent resource for my students - it outlines the history of narrative through montage, from its earliest days, through 'important' developments of such directors as Griffiths and Eisenstein. It also explores the function of a variety of styles and techniques that have become conventions in specific genres. Perhaps most valuably it has some of the 'greats' of directing and editing discussing the editing process. While it is Amero-centric in terms of its subject matter, it is entirely appropriate for my students.

2012-04-28 16:50:41

The Editing Paradox

This review is from: The Cutting Edge - The Magic of Movie Editing (DVD) As an aspiring film editor, I felt almost obligated to pick up "The Cutting Edge". I know for too long film editors are due for recognition for the work they put into making a film work.The problem with "The Cutting Edge" is its presentation. While informative, it spends way too much time on the history and theory of editing rather that it's practice. This will leave newcomers to the art uninterested in the craft of editing, and the rest feeling as if they are the "converted" that is being "preached to".This presentation is great for film students, teachers looking to enrich their curricula and those generally interested in the inner workings of Hollywood. If you're looking for a documentary on par with Discovery or the History Channel. Look elswhere.

2012-04-28 02:31:58

Great Film

This review is from: The Cutting Edge - The Magic of Movie Editing (DVD) I had to order/watch this for a film class and was expecting a boring documentary, but this is not boring in the slightest!I was soooo interested in this movie. The directors/edittors were so facinating and they showed awesome clips/shots to give examples of the types of editting and what was done in scenes.My sister walked by as I was watching it and within 5 seconds she was glued to the screen too.I would recommend this movie for anyone who's a big movie watcher.

Grann-Bach 2012-04-25 18:46:29

There's power in juxtaposition

This is one of the two feature-length documentaries on the 2-DiscSpecial Edition DVD of Bullitt. With a running time of 95 minutes, itis the longer one, by about 12 minutes. It consists of interviews andfilm clips(old, new, fiction, documentary(including propaganda works),famous and unknown, and a little real life footage; note that there arespoilers for many of the movies) used as examples or such, and narratedwell by Kathy Bates. It is ironic that the invisibility and underratingof the role of the editor is somewhat shown by the fact that a coupleof the directors here are actors first(big names, of the kind that drawattention), but other than that, I can say nothing negative about this.Everyone here has something to say(no, I know, I didn't expect muchfrom Rob Cohen, the man behind xXx, either), and those who have themost to offer genuinely *are* the ones we see for the majority of this.Speaking as someone who *loves* the art of cutting, I can't say if thiswill be as compelling to those who aren't into the craft, however, thisis clearly made for said group, and if you find yourself in it, youwill not regret watching this. Before seeing this, I would not havedared suggest that one could successfully tell the history of itsdevelopment and cover this amount of ground on the "theory" of it(likethe line I quote in the summary, to give just one example) in a merehour and a half. The whole thing is extremely interesting andinformational. It has a great sense of humor without trying too hard.The numerous analogies and the like are excellent. As is fitting forthe subject, this is put together rather well. There is a little stronglanguage in this. I recommend this to anyone who wants to know more.8/10

2012-04-25 00:07:13

Nice intro to editing

This review is from: The Cutting Edge - The Magic of Movie Editing (DVD) It's NOT a technician's viewpoint of how to edit. It IS a great overview of the history of editing style and film. If you have never looked took film history classes, this may be the best intro to the art of editing I have seen. It is interesting for non-editors and editors alike. I watched the cable version several times, learning new things each time. It was especially interesting to see how and when editing broke the rules and forged new styles. It has made me much more connected with the art of my craft. WHhen I watch old movies now, I can place them in the correct "editing era" easily. I am now ordering the DVD since it supposedly has some extra material not covered in the broadcast version, and since it has already proven to be a good review for watching multiple times. The material on the relationships between director and editor are also very interesting to me. I would say that things I learned in this one video have improved my editing style by double.

2012-04-24 07:25:49

not disappointed

This review is from: The Cutting Edge - The Magic of Movie Editing (DVD) I wanted this DVD for my high school video class. It served us well! They enjoyed it, and learned some at the same time. I learned some aspects of edting that I didn't even know, including the history of editing. It was a great buy for me.

2012-04-23 13:49:06

Words can not describe

This review is from: The Cutting Edge - The Magic of Movie Editing (DVD) I am a big fan of film and the process of film making and when I found this DVD on amazon, I bought it immediately. When it came in I was really excited and watched it one late afternoon. The film covers everything: including the history of cinema (which was too awesome!) had interviews from directors, to editors, to screenwriters. But what I liked most about it was when they brought you into the editing room with some editors and directors and you got see them make their film. It is really fascinating how the hardest part of film making is not the shooting process but when you're making the film in the editing room. Words can not describe how good and helpful this film is.