Today was a shortened day, since there was the class in the morning to discuss the end-of-year screening. That’s going to be a lot of fun.

With the assembly out of the way it was time today to start making each scene perfect. The incremental nature of the cut confounds me sometimes. I try to get every cut right, sure, but I always feel like everything is going to be revised in the near future anyway. Especially at the start of the edit, when so much of the cut is still up in the air, much of it feels vaguely inconsequential.

That aside, I’m pretty happy with where things are at the moment. To work with the project I’ve split it up into the previously mentioned 5 segments and I’m working with those separately. I can see already that the bulk of my work will be in getting part 1 just right. It’s the longest segment of the film, so there’s the worry that poor pacing will just turn off the audience straight away. There’s a lot of dialogue, but nobody wants it to end up all talking-heads. The scene also features all of the characters in a small room. This is also where the characters really get established, and where the film tells the audience exactly what kind of story it’s telling.

Part 1 isn’t much past the assembly point yet. I did some work on the prologue (which is so simple I’m afraid I’ll break it), but most of my work was on part 3, the death scene. It takes place in a very confined space, so I tried to reflect this with the shot selection, avoiding the wider shots, and sticking with extreme-low or -high angle shots. I liken this segment as a little dream on the way to death, and as such it takes on an odd feel. I think the sound design/music will be particularly important here. I cut it to an Angelo Badalamenti track from Twin Peaks.

Part 2, the chase, presents an interesting challenge. It features easily the most frenetic sequence of the otherwise languid film, and so I’ve consciously tried to cut it differently to the rest of the film. I kept in mind what Murch said about the relationship between the cut and the thought. Throughout the film Dougie is dull-witted and slow and the cuts reflect that. Here though his mind is abuzz with activity and energy. The action shot was filmed multiple times in long takes, so I’ve spliced the takes together to up the energy and distinguish the sequence from the rest of the film. It can still do with some adjustment but I’m pretty happy with it so far.