Very well written and interesting infos on New tech like AI.

The first half of the book is sensational, and explores a lot of theory behind editing, which is great for any filmmakers.

The second half talks about the modern transition from analogue to digital editing, which is only useful or interesting if that’s what you’re into. For a handbook to help filmmakers on editing, this is only half useful.

This is a nice little book on film editing. Walter Murch has edited many films, Apocalypse Now, The Godfather Part II, and The Conversation. He writes about his editing process and somewhat the history of cutting films. One of the things I found most interesting is that Murch says its not obvious that film cuts should work as well as they do. Most of what we experience visually from the moment we get up is a continous stream of linked images. The "cut" would seem to go against and one would think would be more jarring. But not only are cuts a pragmatic tool for the filmmaker, they can actually enhance the experience - be a preferred tool of choice. The only thing we experience like it are dreams, and Murch surmises this is where the link is established. We can say to a young scared child, it was only a dream. Likewise, we do this with scary movies as well: it's only a movie.

Another interesting aspect of the book was his emphasis on paying attention to when actors blink. A good actor's blinks will in some way be tied to his/her thoughts and emotions. Murch noticed at some point in his career with Gene Hackman, that where Hackman blinked was often a good place to cut a sequence (just before the blink). A bad actor can often be spotted by the strange rhythmn of their blinking - it doesn't seem to be matching the emotional landscape of the story. They may be nervous or pre-occupied.

Murch has a chapter on all the new software out on editing film and he is still a bit skeptical it can deliver on all its claims. With the older technology, it required you to sift through alot of material, and sometimes you would come across footage that was just what you needed - footage you may have discarded before. He thinks the new technology will probably,in time, bridge the advantages of new and old. But as of his writing, he still felt the older editing machines were better.

It is a small book and a quick read. Well written. It's fun to come across a master of his field who writes so well about his craft.

If you are looking for techniques and tricks to edit film, you are looking in the wrong place. I bought this book expecting exactly that, but even when none of it came, it was a great experience, and I learned a LOT.
Mr. Murch approach is more of the zen type, teaching that editing is more like a dance, and an art, than a science, and how you can learn from that. The last part of the book is a bit obsolete, since is a overview of the then emerging digital editing process, but it only shows the accurated of Mr. Murch views, I guess I'll revisit this book again when I'm starting to apply his view in my work in a couple months.

I was scheduled to teach Introduction to Digital Video Editing during our Summer semester here at Texas Southern University. Suggested my students read this book as a way to understand not only the history of film editing but how it has evolved into the current non-linear mode of post-production. Since my career has taken the same path as Mr. Murch I feel it is necessary to explain the process of editing in film, video and audio.

Je recommanderai ce livre à quelqu’un qui s’intéresse au montage et qui ne s’y connait pas beaucoup. Ça se lit bien, c’est une lecture qui est fluide même si c’est un livre sur le montage et non pas un roman. Par contre, ayant déjà lu plusieurs livres sur le montage dont The Art of the Cut et The Conversations avec Michael Ondaatje, je n’ai pas appris grand chose. Le truc le plus intéressant du livre reste sa théorie sur les clignements de yeux qui est facile à trouver sur YouTube dans les chaines sur le montage comme This guy edit. J’ai aussi trouvé que la partie sur la différence entre le montage à la pellicule et le montage numérique était beaucoup trop longue et plus tellement d’actualité. Bref, ce n’est pas un mauvais livre, mais ce n’est pas la meilleure ressource sur le montage sur le marché.

Wow. Love u Walter Murch x

مهم جدا لكل مونتير أو حتى ممثل أو مخرج، فيه شرح لنظريات مهمة عن المونتاج، و ليه أصلا في مونتاج في الأفلام، الجزء التاني من الكتاب بيتكلم عن توقعات الكاتب لمستقبل المونتاج الديجيتال و الأفلام عامتا، ممكن اللي بيقراه دلوقتي يشوفه مش مفيد أوي لأن التوقعات دي كانت مكتوبة من زمان و بالفعل يقدر يشوف الحاجات اللي الكاتب توقعها موجودة، بس قرايته مش تضييع وقت برضو لأنه جزء ممتع كقراية في حد ذاتها و فيه كلام مهم برضو لأي مونتير (و إن كان قليل). و حاجة حلوة برضو إن الواحد يعرف الدنيا كانت ماشية ازاي قبل اللي موجود دلوقت.

informative, not much more to add except that Walter Murch is a great editor

La pregunta que motiva este libro es “¿por qué en el cine funcionan los cortes —moverse en el tiempo y el espacio sin aviso alguno— si nuestro cerebro está acostumbrado a ver la realidad de manera continua?” Murch se plantea dos posibles respuestas: la primera, que nuestros sueños funcionan a base de cortes que muestran fragmentos de imágenes, brincando de un espacio a otro, yuxtaponiendo rostros, ideas o lugares. Ver cine es precisamente representar sueños: editar es crearlos.

La segunda idea de Murch, que da el título a este libro, afirma que el corte en el cine es similar al parpadeo (blink). Cuando parpadeamos hacemos cortes para mirar de un lugar a otro. Y no sólo eso, también el ritmo de nuestro parpadeo varía en sintonía con nuestras emociones y pensamientos. De este modo, Murch le propone al o la editora un flujo de cortes que vaya de acuerdo con el ritmo de esas emociones y pensamientos. Al mismo tiempo, ese ritmo va orgánicamente en sintonía con el parpadeo de actores que resonarán a su vez con el parpadeo de la audiencia. El editor guiará y parpadeará por y para el espectador a partir de los cortes que elija.

A las dos sugerencias de Murch sobre por qué parpadeamos, yo agregaría una más: al igual que el pensamiento, la memoria también funciona a base de cortes. La abstracción nos permite sobrevivir al fujo continuo e ininterrumpido, sin ella enloqueceríamos o moriríamos de memoria como Funes el memorioso. Nuestros recuerdos o instantes recordados, al igual que los sueños, y que muchas veces significan o dan sentido a nuestras vidas, también funcionan a base de cortes.

Y recordar muchas veces también es una forma de imaginación que agrega o modifica elementos del propio recuerdo. Entonces, también podríamos decir que imaginamos en cortes. Así, cuando hacemos cine documental o de ficción muchas veces los/las creadores/as buscan plasmar lo imaginado o recrear algo vivido. Al hacer cine estamos intentando compartir de la manera más precisa posible —porque existen esos cortes de por medio— recuerdos, sueños, ideas en una experiencia colectiva que resuena en los recuerdos, sueños e ideas de la audiencia.

El cine no es tan distinto a soñar, pensar, recordar e imaginar pero, además, nos permite hacerlo con otros/as.

I am now a black belt in editing come at me

My first dive into film editing, and even though it’s a short read, Walter Murch blew my mind with his concepts of connecting films to dreams and film cuts to the blink of an eye. This book is an excellent introduction to the world of film editing and the psychology behind it!