Rough Cut Service is not only about consultancy but also about promoting and supporting the art of editing. We have therefore collected a list of links to videos, articles and books focused on editing.
VIDEO RESOURCES
Werner Herzog editing insights
5 lessons on film editing from Werner Herzog collected by Piotr Toczyński from No Film School.
Joe Bini and Laura Poitras on the art of editing
A short discussion between Joe Bini and Laura Poitras about the art of editing filmed during the 2015 Sundance Film Festival.
Editing Masterclass with Rupert Houseman and Yan Miles
Rupert Houseman (editor of documentary programmes such as Life and Death Row and Bedlam) and Yan Miles (drama editor known for The Crown and Sherlock) share tips on becoming an editor. Recording from the Royal Television Society’s 2016 Student Craft Skills Masterclasses.
Walter Murch on the art of editing
Recorded at the 2017 Sheffield Doc/Fest Craft Summit Walter Murch discusses his body of work.
Recorded at Sheffield Doc/Fest 2013 Walter Murch talks about his work from The Godfather to Particle Fever, which screened at Sheffield Doc/Fest that year.
Panel on “Anatomy of a Scene: Deconstructing Documentary Films”
Panel with editors Bryan Chang, Ann Collins and Matthew Hamachek, moderated by editor and producer Garret Savage.
Documentary editing with Steve Audette
Conversation on editing with Steve Audette TV documentary editor for the PBS series Frontline.
Thomas Kufus and Anne Fabini on More than Honey
More than Honey (Markus Imhoof, 2012) is produced by Thomas Kufus and edited by RCS member Anne Fabini. (In German)
Ollie Huddleston & Kim Longinotto: Editing Masterclass
RCS member Ollie Huddleston and director Kim Longinotto discuss their partnership and working method. DocHouse 2012 Editing Masterclass.
5 editing tips from Ollie Huddleston
5 quick tips from Ollie Huddleston recorded at IDFAcademy Summer School 2017, where Ollie was one of the tutors.
David Charap Editing Masterclass
Editor David Charap (In the Land of the Free…, All White in Barking, The Islands and the Whales) discusses his work, experience, approach and processes. DocHouse 2012 Editing Masterclass.
Joelle Alexis on editors and editing
As part of ESoDoc’s resources platform ESoDoc Tube RCS member Joelle Alexis talks about the role of the editor and editing working methods.
Joelle Alexis and Maya Daisy Hawke on cutting room insights
RCS members Joelle Alexis and Maya Daisy Hawke share stories from their recent work and talk about the collaboration between director and editor. Recorded at the Sheffield Doc/Fest 2019 Craft Summit.
Editing Masterclass with Mary Stephen
RCS member Mary Stephen speaks about structuring and enhancing storytelling in documentaries and provides hands-on experiences.
Dialogue with Mary Stephen – Part 1 & Part 2
Mary Stephen in conversation with Ruby Yang. Between Part 1 and Part 2 the documentary The Apology (Tiffany Hsiung, 2016) edited by Mary Stephen was screened.
Karen Schmeer on the use of stylization
Editor Karen Schmeer talks about a scene from Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr. (Errol Morris, 1999).
Every Frame a Painting: How does an editor think and feel
Video from Tony Zhou, Every Frame a Painting on the instinctual and individual in film editing.
Panel on Editing to Develop Characters
Panel with editors Alla Kovgan, Toby Shimin, and RCS member Per K. Kirkegaard, moderated by editor and producer Garret Savage.
Anatomy of a Scene: Deconstructing Documentary Films with Jean Tsien & Carla Gutierrez
Panel with editors Carla Gutierrez and RCS member Jean Tsien, moderated by editor and producer Jeremy Workman.
RCS ONLINE SESSIONS
In May 2020 RCS conducted a row of online sessions on Zoom on the art of editing. Below you can watch 4 of these sessions in full lenght.
How and Why Rough Cut Service and the Most Common Problems of Rough Cuts
Iikka Vehkalahti and Joelle Alexis. Moderated by Cecilie Bolvinkel.
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Dramaturgy, Scenes and Narration
Anne Fabini and Yael Bitton. Moderated by Iikka Vehkalahti.
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Work with Archive Material
Joelle Alexis and Audrey Maurion. Moderated by Cecilie Bolvinkel.
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Psychodynamics of the Editing, Emotional Editing and the Relation Between the Director and the Editor
Niels Pagh Andersen and Mary Stephen. Moderated by Jakob Høgel.
ARTICLES/BOOKS/PAPERS
5 Editing Tips from the Documentary Edit and Story Lab
5 takeaways from editors M’Daya Meliani and Steph Ching after taking part in the Sundance Institute’s Documentary Edit and Story Lab.
Susan Korda discusses secrets from the editing room
Editor Susan Korda shares insights from her career as well as golden rules from Walter Murch (the rule of six) and William Faulker (“kill your darlings”).
Editor Joe Bini on trailers, filmmaking processes and editing of documentary vs. fiction.
Interview with RCS member Anne Fabini focused among other subjects on her work with Talal Derki’s Of Fathers and Sons (in Spanish).
The Doc Life: Editing Documentary Film, aka an Exercise in Patience
Film Independent blogger Anthony Ferranti looks at editing for documentary film featuring insights from filmmakers and editors on project scheduling, collaboration, and narrative structure.
15 Lessons You Can Learn From Thelma Schoonmaker About Film Editing
Thelma Schoonmaker has been Martin Scorsese’s editor for over 50 years. This article dissects her working methods.
Complicity Through Montage – A Call for an Intercultural Approach to Ethnographic Filmmaking
In this article, Alexandrine Boudreault-Fournier proposes that the adoption of interculturally conscious forms of montage techniques in filmmaking has the potential to create new meanings that challenge Western modes of representation and re-imagine the gap between Self and Other.
Editing the Past: How Eisenstein and Vertov Used Montage to Create Soviet History
This study by Douglas Michael Priest examines how Sergei Eisenstein and Dziga Vertov made conscious choices about the structure of their films that led to historical revisionism both before and after the Cultural Revolution.
Montage Against All Odds: Antonia Majaca and Eyal Sivan in Conversation
Art historian and curator Antonia Majaca and filmmaker and curator Eyal Sivan discuss Sivan’s 2010 four-part program of screenings and encounters Documentary Moments and his 2012 follow-up program Montage Interdit.
Articles on the art of editing from p.o.v. – a Danish Journal of Film Studies
10 articles on the art of editing published in 1998 in the Danish Journal of Film Studies.
Mary Stephen on her collaboration with DU Haibin
Mary Stephen on structuring DU Haibin’s documentaries, especially focused on A Young Patriot from 2015. (in French)
FURTHER READING
Can Film Show the Invisible? The Work of Montage in Ethnographic Filmmaking by Christian Suhr and Rane Willerslev
Visual Alchemy The Fine Art of Digital Montage by Catherine McIntyre
The Technique of Film and Video Editing by Ken Dancyger
Cannibalizing Montage: Slicing, Dicing, and Splicing in Bryan Fuller’s Hannibal by Tara Lomax
On Film Editing by Edward Dmytryk
Research on the Montage Technique in The Film and Television by Xiaoshu Li
Eisenstein on the Audiovisual: The Montage of Music, Image and Sound in Cinema by Robert Robertson
Towards a Theory of Montage by Sergei Eisenstein
The Impact of Continuity Editing in Narrative Film on Event Segmentation by Joseph P. Magliano, Jeffrey M. Zacks