Seasons Greetings
Leave a Comment
Zalika awarded special screening
Short film Zalika will be awarded with a special screening at this year’s Valencienne Film Festival. The screening will be followed by a press/Q&A session with the film’s main actress Valerie Kaprisky. Dates TBC.
Assistant Editing at Shed Media
I’ve just enjoyed a very good week assistant editing at Shed Media. Working on programmes like The World’s Strictest Parents, Who Do You Think Are, Mayday Mayday and Ben 10, I gained invaluable experience using Avid Media Composer in a fast moving broadcast environment.
Shed Media were voted the 7th best indie TV production company this year by Televisual magazine. They are owned by Warner Bros.
Editing New Short Film Coda
From the end of September till the end of November, amongst other projects, I will be editing a new short film called, Coda. The film will be shot on location in Budapest on 16mm.
Plot outline: The story of a classically trained Violinist travelling through Eastern Europe in search of a deeper connection to music and to her own life. She has chosen to live as a full-time Traveller and Street Performer (Busker) leaving behind the rigid confinement of her Classical formation in order to push the boundaries of her life and her music. She plays with exquisite technique, but her style is as varied as the stamps on her passport. She is particularly inspired by Jewish Folk music, known as ‘Klezmer’. Whether it’s expressing joy, sadness or anger Klezmer is as intricate as it is emotional. One morning, while playing in a busy train station in Budapest the Violinist encounters two characters: A Young Girl and an older woman. The Girl is enamoured by the Violinist’s performance and by her proud and strong presence. The Older Woman watches the performance too, but she appears resentful of the Violinist who has decided to play on the exact spot where the Woman comes to beg for money. Passing men and women drop coins into the violin case, but take no notice of the Beggar. After the concert the Violin is stolen and the Violinist’s self-sufficient, carefree life quickly spirals out of control as she desperately tries to reclaim the instrument of her inspiration.
Visit the website to find out more:
Zalika Selected For Raindance 2011
I’m pleased to announce that Zalika, a short film that I edited this year, has been officially selected for this year’s Raindance film festival!
http://www.raindance.co.uk/site/index.php?id=552,8024,0,0,1,0
Zalika is a short drama starring French actress Valérie Kaprisky (Breathless, Any Human Heart) who plays Elise, and Anthony Debaeck who plays Gaspard, a Caucasian French couple living in London have recently adopted a 22 month old Malian girl, Zalika. Click below to read more about the film on my website:
http://www.michaeljfreedman.com/posts/zalika/
Once Upon A Time
I watched Sergio Leone’s masterpiece, Once Upon A Time In America last night. Some say it’s Leone’s best work, unfortunately it was his last before his untimely death in 1989. I’m fascinated by all things mob related so from the get go I was biased, however, from start to finish the film demonstrates mastery from it’s masterful director. It deserved the fifteen minute standing ovation it received at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival. My favourite scene which brings together top-notch acting, directing, editing and sound is about 2hr 49mins in, just after Noodles (De Niro) has raped his childhood sweetheart Deborah (Elizabeth McGovern) he returns to his friends at their speakeasy. The tension mounts as he is served a cup of coffee and then begins to stir continuously as his friends nervously look back and forth between him and the boss, Max (James Woods). The timing of the edits of the reaction shots along with the monotonous sound of the spoon scraping the bottom of the china cup heightens the tension felt between Noodles and his friends, and is so symbolic of trouble brewing amongst the gang. The tension is cut when Noodles decides enough is enough, stops stirring and lightly taps the edge of the cup with his spoon. It’s brilliant.
Films from the Archive
I’ve dug out some old films from my archive and have been reminded what classics they are. It all started a few nights ago with Oliver Stone’s, Platoon. Starring Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger and Willem DaFoe among others, it’s probably the best war film of the eighties. This little beauty picked up 4 Oscars, including best picture editing for Claire Simpson at the Academy Awards, 1987.
Oliver Stone is probably one of the most important film makers to have emerged from Hollywood over the last 30 years. Having written the screenplay’s for Midnight Express and Scarface, and directed films such as Salvador, Wall Street and JFK, it’s his political edge that interests me and what I think gives his films a strength of character.
What’s going on
September 2011: Blog has just gone live! Hello peeps 
August 2011: Enjoyed another editing gig at award winning advertising agency, Dare. Thanks guys, always a pleasure!
Avid kicks ass!
Having recently moved from editing with Final Cut to Avid Media Composer, I can already see why 90% of everything you watch on TV or in the cinema is cut on Avid. From the moment go you feel like a professional film editor with it’s array of trimming tools to state of the art media management, the program is a work horse for no matter what type of project you’re working on. Check out this video on the Phrase find feature from the Avid website (7 mins in), an absolute time saver once in the throws of post.
http://www.avid.com/US/products/family/Media-Composer/top-features
Please feel free to email me with any questions on Avid, Final Cut or any other film related questions. I also offer one-to-one editing and software training, please get in contact to to discuss my availability.
Performance Editing
Just read a fascinating idea about performance editing from Karen Pearlman’s book, ‘Cutting Rhythms’.
‘Throwing energy is what the editor is doing with cuts. An editor chooses the first shot’s duration and frame to throw a certain kind of energy. This shot is then juxtaposed with another shot. The second shot receives the energy the first shot throws. The editor is creating an impression of cause and effect, an impression that the energy and action in the first shot causes the responsive motion seen in the next shot. Because the energy thrown creates a cause-and-effect relationship with the energy. For example, if a character smiles gratefully in one shot (the gratitude being the energy or intention
that propels the movement of the smile), and another character shrugs awkwardly in the next shot, the gratitude appears to have caused the awkwardness. The timing, pacing, and trajectory phrasing of this exchange are a little piece of emotional rhythm built from the rhythm of the performance.’
Still one of my favourite editing pieces, I would say this scene between Al Pacino and Robert De Niro from Michael Mann’s film, Heat, has some great examples of energy being thrown back and forth between characters. Heat was co-edited by Paquale Buba, William Goldenberg, Dov Hoenig and Tom Rolf. I have used this following clip with fair use and do not intend to gain any monetary value from it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QIWdNRkH0Q
