Ep9: Cut This Movie

Make This Movie: A Filmmaking Series

We’ve arrived at post production. More specifically, editing Counterintelligence.

The editing process was multi-layered, from cutting scenes throughout production as they were shot, all the way up to merging those scenes into a rough cut, and refining into locked picture.

Editing is where the film gets made: the final vision takes shape at this almost final step in the process.

It’s said that three different films are made throughout the filmmaking process: one on the page, another in production, and a third and final film in post.

This episode explores that process of sculpting the final vision through refining fragments, trimming fat, shaping pace and tone, and reviewing in stages with the braintrust through screenings for notes and input.

Editing can be all-consuming, demanding a fine balance between finely tuned focus and the freedom to experiment.

In this episode you’ll hear from Noam Kroll, host of the fantastic Show Don’t Tell podcast on editing efficiency. I also bring back Rachel and Marc from my braintrust to discuss their notes on early screenings, and co-producer/art director Dre Tolbert on those notes and balancing work and relationships.

This episode is primarily geared toward those producing and directing filmmakers who choose to edit their own work, but it carries over to anyone responsible for editing feature films.

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EPISODE OUTLINE

• Editing efficiency using the 80/20 principle
• Trimming the fat off your story
• Integrating improvisation into scripted scenes
• Experimenting with tone and structure
• Adding new texture
• Playing off current events to enrich a film
• Screening for notes
• Work/life balance through the editing process