The Invisible Art

I remember one of the first things Dawn Ford said back at the beginning of the year when all the DMA people had that meeting in the screening room. She said, "Editing is the invisible art" meaning that it's rarely recognized directly by an audience, but yet the editing process is an art form consisting of just as many creative people as the actors/writers/directors etc.

I loved the way she put that. A common misconception people had when I told them I was studying film in college is that I'm another wannabe Spielberg who wants to be a big shot director filmmaker. But I don't. As much as I enjoy directing, or even just filmmaking as a whole, as a professional I aspire to be an editor. Why? Because every time I edit a project together, I feel really good. I really enjoy it. I love the challenge, and I love the open canvas for creativity. I love how within hours upon hours of footage there's a movie. There's a movie within all that footage and I have to find it and make it.

It makes me think of Michelangelo's take on sculpting. He believed that the sculpture was already in the marble, and his job was only to find it and release it. That's what I see editing as. Within all that footage there is a film, and there is a message. Every great movie was at one time nothing but footage without a purpose. It's the editor's job to find it and weave it together.

So, as my last blog post, I just wanted to talk about the aspect of filmmaking I find the most interesting. As Dawn said, it is an invisible art. As I'm sure everyone has been exposed to at least once, bad editing can destroy a film regardless of how strong the performance/writing is. Filmmaking is a collaboration of talents, and I find editing to be just as vital as directing, producing, writing, acting, or working as crew.

I will say that editing for me has always been a time consuming and frustrating processing, but I learn so much every time I really work on anything. And the reward of finishing and exporting a video is the best. It's like the best feeling.

Anyway, this is, as I've said, my last post, and I hope everyone does great on finals and has a great Christmas. See you in the Spring!


- R.