Monday, January 30, 2012

It's All in The Edit.

My love of movies began at a young age. My father managed several small-town Ohio movie theaters and I grew up watching (and re-watching) whatever was playing. Film was my babysitter. Dad was also a journalist. As his career in newspapers took-off, he left theater management behind and became a film critic. I often accompanied him to screenings and back to the paper's offices where we would discuss the film. I owe my critical eye to my father. Our debates over films challenged me to look at cinema in a new way. Initially, I chose acting as my creative outlet and performed in dozens of theater productions throughout central Ohio. However, I continued to spend all my free time at the movies.

In live theatre, the emotional impact of a play and the understanding of the characters’ relationships, motivations, and desires are conveyed primarily through the performances of the actors. In film, numerous other elements work simultaneously to convey this information and to invoke an emotional response from the audience. For me, film editing is the most fascinating and most important aspect of film production. The meaning and emotion of a film can often be found in the edit from one shot to the next. Individual shots convey their own specific information, but when placed together, new information develops. The edit has an enormous influence on the audience’s emotional response to the film.

Influenced by the work of Thelma Schoonmaker and Walter Murch, and informed by my experience as an actor, I seek to discover and create emotion through editing. I work to find the perfect balance, rhythm, and relationship of shots within individual moments and within the film as a whole – to make the audience feel; to create an experience that remains with them long after they have left the theater.

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