We managed to get a cut down to the required 7:30. Huzzah. We’re at the pretty annoying point right now that we’ve watched our cuts over and over again in such a variety of different configurations that it’s getting hard to tell just how well the jokes are working.

Today was mainly reviewing the 8 minute cut and working from that. The opening of the film has been reworked yet again, making it a little longer and adjusting the story slightly, but it works a lot better now. It’s pretty good when you can take a chunk of footage, shift it around, and effectively repurpose it.

We also did some more work on the escape sequence. Since starting that sequence it’s been a process of just cutting it down further and further, making it faster and faster. Part-way through this process we got some music from Dane, which prompted an even faster sequence of cuts. The music changed the tone of the edit, I believe in a good way. Without the music the nature of the sequence is a little ambiguous - the character is running for his life, but how exactly is the audience supposed to respond to this? The music really helps make the response clear. I’m pleased with this segment, it being the first time I’ve really attempted to create a fast-paced edit. In doing so I’ve tried to keep in mind Murch’s comments, as well as quick-cut sequences such as that in Raging Bull (though of course, this scene is not as intense as the fight scenes in that film).

In making these quick cuts, one of my main considerations has been in the treatment of spatial relationships on either side of each cut. In particular I’ve tried to avoid what the director and I have called “student film” cuts. Really what we’re talking about are jump-cuts, where character(s) within the scene move substantially, but the viewpoint does not. For the bulk of the escape sequence we could avoid this pretty simply and effectively, as the different takes were shot from vastly different angles. When assembling the two viewpoints I typically tried to keep the actor’s motions coherent, not overlapping but trying not to make the cuts jump too far. Later in the alternate takes, the shots became too similar to apply this technique to the same effect. Rather than invoking a sense of freneticism, the technique just ends up looking showy in a fashion not consistent with the tone of the film.

By my original timetable, the final cut should be cut by end of work tomorrow. I think we’re pretty close to that point, but I’m not sure I’ll be satisfied with locking off tomorrow. This won’t be a huge problem, as my timetable allowed an extra week, ostensibly for grading, but also for added cutting time.