If you weren’t on the west coast this past weekend then you probably didn’t attend Edit Fest LA. In fact you may have been right there in Los Angeles and not able to attend either. But via the wonders of the Internet, and more specifically the wonders of the Twitter, we can see random thoughts and tweets from the event in near real time (but you can read a review of the opening night here). Of course if you’re reading this now the event is over but there’s still some great nuggets of wisdom that came from the panelists. Thanks to all those who tweeted Edit Fest LA!
It was a bit tough to try and curate all these tweets and twit pics coming out of Edit Fest LA but here goes (sorry if I missed giving the right credit to someone):
Opening Night Panel
These tweets and photos below all came from Monica Daniel @monica_edits:
Jeremiah O’Driscoll “bluffed his way through” his first jobs.
Pam Martin “if you can afford to do it, always take the cutting job”
Nick Fletcher, an editor on Who Framed Roger Rabbit got his start in commercials, used video conferencing to work w/ Jerry Seinfeld cross country on Bee Movie
These tweets below come from Jamie Cobb @jamiecobbeditor
Pam Martin: when cutting comedy play it as real as possible. The comedy will come through naturally; Pair it down to the crux of the scene. Be as economical as possible to the point before it falls apart; re Staying objective – watch it with new people, it comes alive again.
The Assistant Editor – The Soul of the Cutting Room panel
These tweets below were all from @jamiecobbeditor were from the Assistant Editor – The Soul of the Cutting Room panel:
Shoshanah Tanzer: Luck paired with right attitude = success as an AE.
Carole Kenneally: need to care about the project & the people to create the right environment as an AE.
Lori Coleman: best to look for your next job while you still have one; Embrace new technology….Nobody’s learning Final Cut X.
Tyler Nelson: don’t be afraid to take an educated risk. Hold out for the project you care about.
Cuts We Love Panel
(or at least that’s what I think it was called as it’s not on the Edit Fest LA web schedule)
From Stacy Pietrafitta @PietariCreative “I learn something new everyday” ~ Nancy Hurley
Below is a panel photo from the Cuts We Love panel by Adam Bedford @adamtheeditor:
Carol Littleton, A.C.E. (E.T., The Rum Diaries) & Richard Halsey, A.C.E (Rocky) speaking:
This is a great line from that panel about editing digitally vs. editing actual film: Moderator: “Art of editing on film is tactile” Carol Littleton: “So is watching Dishes. But I still use a dishwasher”
Thanks to Tim Wilsbach @twilsbach for these tweets:
Carol Littleton: Flashy, quick cuts are useless without progressing story
Richard Halsey: Rocky training montage scene- Song and lyrics were composed in the cutting room; “the best edit is the invisible jump cut” the sleight of hand There’s one in the opening fight scene of Rocky; After a scene is shot and performances delivered, nothing can change the tone of a scene more than the music.
And a couple more (via @jamiecobbeditor) from Carol Littleton: Sometimes what’s interesting is what you don’t use. by losing line, created more tension; Don’t be overwhelmed by lots of footage. You can’t forget what story is about; Selecting right music is intuitive. You know when it’s right.
This is a good line spoken by Carol Littleon and tweeted by Rob Wilson @robgwilson: “The point of watching dailies is to look at and evaluate your work. It’s extremely important!” -Carol Littleton
CineTechNews @CineTechNews had some great tweets coming from the Littleton / Halsey panel as well including this photo of the panelists being asked questions at the end:
You know it’s been a good discussion when the panel gets mobbed w questions at EditFest
Carol Littleton A.C.E. says she misses having assistant editors in the edit room. Says now to many other things for them to do.
Richard Halsey, A.C.E. misses watching dailies w director & assistants which helped him plan the edit.
Carol Littleton A.C.E. is getting so much more footage yet the movies aren’t necessarily better.
Richard Halsey, A.C.E. expressed his dismay w the practice of shooting rehearsals thanks to digital cameras.
Nicholas C. Smith: The “Brave” Journey of a Pixar Editor
Here’s some tweets from the Nicholas C. Smith: The “Brave” Journey of a Pixar Editor panel that was moderated by Bobbie O’Steen @bobbieosteen:
This image of the panel comes from CineTechNews:
Eric Brodeur @ebrodeur says: Brave and Avid MC 6 … FTW.
CineTechNews: Rumor has it that at one point Pixar had more computer power than NASA. Fun tidbit from #EditFest
Monica_edits tweeted: “when you work on a film for 5 yrs, it’s hard to remember what was funny.” Nick Smith on editing Brave; “a lot of the stuff we’re showing is dirty laundry, it’s making me cringe.” Nick Smith on showing clips from rough cuts of Brave;
Brave stats. They are hurting my brain:
From @adamtheeditor: Post production on Brave took 5 1/2 years; Brave’s original title was “The Bear and the bow”
From @robgwilson: At Pixar, sometimes one frame can take 36 hours to render!!!!; Nick Smith ACE: “On an animated film, the assistant editor does very little.” Gets middle finger from his AE in the front row; Without production tracks, editorial needed to cut sound for every character’s movement and breath to give Brave life.
From @jamiecobbeditor: Nick Smith has AE’s search vocals for breaths, burps, coughs, etc to make it feel like a live track.
A good pic from @twilsbach: Timeline of Avid timeline from Brave.
And one more of the Brave timeline from @pietaricreatve on Instagram.
Feature Editor Panel – 3D
From @robgwilson: “Convergence is the 3D equivalent of depth-of-field. It can control where the viewer’s focus is directed.” -Steven Rivkin
Some good tweets from the 3D panel thanks to @CineTechNews: Tim Squyres, A.C.E. notes 3D matters most when things are close. Distant objects inherently have less separation; Tim Squyres, A.C.E. says if you’re a director who likes to shoot fast, 3D isn’t for you. At least not yet; Stephen Rivkin, A.C.E. points out some of the best 3D, like editing, doesn’t draw attention to itself; Stephen Rivkin, A.C.E. notes Avatar run time was limited by max length of IMAX projection film reels.
And this pic of the 3D panel:
This one from Dan Wolfmeyer @dwolfmeyer: Rivkin: 2D, 3D…Bottom line, we tell stories.
From @jamiecobbeditor: Lisa Lassek finally saw Avengers in 3D at premiere. 3D department would pull back depth if cuts too quick.
Random other tweets
I love this observation from @dworfmeyer: What IS interesting is that I’ve only heard “Editing Room” & “Cutting Room” the whole weekend. Never heard “Edit Bay”
And a follow-up on that earlier comment from the assistant editor panel about Final Cut Pro X comes some commentary from @ebrodeur: Best quote of the day, so far, at #editfest: “no one is using Final Cut X.” Context: room of TV and feature editorial staff.
@CineTechNews sums EditFest up well: Hats off to everyone @ACEFilmEditors & all of the panelists for a fantastic #EditFest Now grab your favorite NLE & tell some stories.
Kelly Morris @birdswerds also summed up Edit Fest nicely: Great day at #EditFestLA- inspirational stories from Editors whose work I’ve watched all my life. Reason #291 I now call Los Angeles home.
And only in LA could parking for an event be so movie-centric as Ron Sussman @ronsussman shows us when returning to his car:
I am parked at Universal in Jurassic Park-ing. I kid you not #EditFestLA
Thanks again to all those who tweeted during Edit Fest LA!