Art of the Cut

Today on Art of the Cut we speak with Sam Restivo and Oscar-winning editor, Claire Simpson about their editing of Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II. Claire and Sam have been on Art of the Cut previously for their work on Ridley’s Napoleon.  Claire won an ACE Eddie, a BAFTA and an Oscar for her editing of Best Picture winner, Platoon. She was nominated for another Oscar and an ACE Eddie and won a BAFTA for her editing of The Constant Gardener.  Along with Platoon, she’s edited two other Oscar Best Picture nominees: The Reader and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. In addition to Napoleon and Gladiator II, Sam was an additional editor on The Last Showman, The Last Duel, House of Gucci and Robin Hood.  The discussion today is about - among other things - re-organizing the film to find the best moment to reveal critical information, the difference between editing action and dialogue scenes, and the importance of experimentation. If you want to follow along with this podcast with a transcript and visual support including clips, trailers, and exclusive photos, check out the blog at: borisfx.com/blog/aotc

Today on Art of the Cut we speak with Oscar nominee, Juliette Welfling about Jacques Audiard's film, Emilia Perez, currently on Netflix. Juliette's been on Art of the Cut before another of Audiard's films, The Sisters Brothers. Her other films include The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, for which she was nominated for an Oscar for Best Editing. She also edited the films: Rust and Bone, A Prophet, The Past, Free State of Jones and Ocean's Eight, The discussion today is about - among other things - structuring a film for character, not allowing an editor's cut to go too long, and working with a naked director - metaphorically. This podcast is also available transcribed as a blog with great visual support at: borisfx.com/blog/aotc

Today, we’re talking with Myron Kerstein, ACE about teaming up again with director Jon Chu to edit the cinematic adaptation of the Broadway hit, Wicked. Before that they collaborated on In the Heights. And before THAT on Crazy Rich Asians - not to mention Kerstein's work with Lin-Manuel Mirandad on tick, tick...BOOM! and we’ve talked about ALL of those films here on Art of the Cut. Kerstein’s previous work as an editor includes the feature films Going in Style, Garden State and Glee: The 3D Concert Movie. He’s also directed an episode of the Apple Plus TV series, Home Before Dark. To go DEEP into the editorial archives he was once an assistant editor on the iconic series, Sex and the City. The discussion today is about how his directing work affects his editing, how he treats dance numbers like any dramatic scene, and the fellow musical editor - and fellow Art of the Cut guest - that Myron turned to for advice. If you'd like to see lots of video featurettes and trailers and exclusive images, check out the blog of this interview at: borisfx.com/blog/aotc

Today on Art of the Cut, we’re talking with Dreamworks veteran editor, Mary Blee about the film, “The Wild Robot.” Mary’s editing career began as an assistant editor on the 1991 animated film “Beauty and the Beast.” She’s worked in sound editing and VFX editing. Did additional editing on “Kung Fu Panda” and was an associate editor on “How to Train Your Dragon” and “The Croods.” She was Second Editor on “The Boss Baby” and also worked on subsequent “How To Train Your Dragon,” “Croods” and “Boss Baby” films. The discussion today includes Mary’s approach to cutting storyboards with feeling, the Rubik’s cube of story beats and how they sometimes need to be spun into proper alignment, and the magic response that a director can have to leave an editor “flying home on a cloud.” Today is a really good episode to READ along with the podcast because we will have exclusive storyreels for the scenes that are discussed in the podcast and you'll really want to see those, not to mention the absolutely gorgeous timeline screenshot in the blog and clips from the movie. Get it all here: borisfx.com/blog/aotc