Deciding to work with an editor

by Gabriel Long

I started editing about two weeks after we wrapped, so at this point I’ve been working on the project two or three days a week for the past month and a half.  I’ve had several people look at successive versions and revised based on their input.  The film has come a long way as I’ve explored more and more options, but about two weeks ago I realized that I needed to work with an editor.  Cedar Daniels, (The Third Wave), generously agreed to work on the project.

I don’t find that I’m overly attached to specific material, but because I’m so intimately familiar with the story, my perspective of the film is distorted.  This realization came primarily out of my back and forth with different people who watched my film.  I would show a cut to someone and they would say, “You really should think about changing such-and-such,” and when I went back to look at the film, their comment would highlight something that now appeared as an obvious problem, but something I wouldn’t have seen beforehand.

In the opening scene, Nathan, the older brother, comes into the room and tries to get a book away from his younger brother Joe.  The film revolves around the relationship of these two boys as they learn to survive in an abusive home, and Joe needed to be really scared in the opening scene to set the tone for the film.  A friend of mine watched an early cut and responded to the first scene by saying, “One brother wants to get a book away from the other one and then they talk about football, so what?”  To me there was a strong sense of fear in the scene because I knew what was going to happen later on, but as is obvious from the description above, there is no sense of danger inherent in the action.  By going back and re-editing the scene I was able to create the tone I wanted, but I wouldn’t have seen the problem if not for my friend’s input.

This is one example of a problem that appeared in a variety of ways simply because I bring so much information to the film that the audience doesn’t have.

I could continue the editing process by going through the cycle of getting feedback and re-editing as many times as needed.  Even now that I’m working with an editor, I’ll still need feedback from people unfamiliar with the material.  However, the advantage of working with an editor is that I can shortcut the cycle.  In effect, he is a filmmaking-savvy audience member capable of correcting the problems I can’t see.  Not only will editing move faster, but I’ll end up with a better, more polished film.

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