Films that are harder to edit

[tremault]

This is something I was talking to my brother about yesterday. I had showed him my Man of Steel edit and while watching I was seeing how jarring some of my cuts seemed (to me, he didn't notice) and I was being pretty hard on myself... Then I remembered how hard that film was to edit! The soundtrack seemed fairly complex and difficult to mix without completely replacing it. I've certainly learnt more techniques for sound editing since then, but I think some films are just inherently harder to work with, would you agree?
Which films do you feel are harder to work with and are there other reasons why a film would be more tricky?

 

[ParanoidAndroid]

Can't think of any specific films at the moment, but can imagine that anything with dialogue spoken over unbroken long takes would make trimming more difficult.

 

[DigModiFicaTion]

Star Wars is hard. Everyone knows it, it's musically driven and isn't the easiest to isolate audio/dialogue.

Movies and shows that are already edited with the "faster, more intense" approach are likewise hard as they don't allow for much wiggle room without edits causing continuity issues.

Long form edits that turn shows into movies or movie series into shows are likewise difficult as it requires a ton of preplanning to make sure the narrative works and continuity issues don't arise form the editing choices.

Anyone who has done a R to PG-13 edit could tell you those are a beast as well for many of the same reasons listed above.

Hardest of all is the movie that one doesn't care about when coupekd with a lack of interest in the editing itself. Editing for the sake of editing is one of the worst for me.

 

[MightyAttackTribble]

Hardest of all is the movie that one doesn't care about when coupekd with a lack of interest in the editing itself. Editing for the sake of editing is one of the worst for me.

That's the killer for me. I only edit movies and shows that I have an affection for, because no matter how challenging the edit becomes I at least like the source material I've chosen to spend weeks or months with.

Obviously, some people edit things they actively dislike or are ambivalent about to try to make them more palatable, but I just can't do it.

 

[Ender]

Movies like the first Jurassic Park where every cut is thematic are a real nightmare to edit. For example John Hammond asks what's for dinner and we immediately cut to dinner. These transitions are baked in liked the narrative equivalent of a wipe. Every one of them you lose feels like a great loss.

 

[Bobson Dugnutt]

Just like Star Wars, films where the music is such a big element can be hard to edit. When everything is cut to the beat, it can be hard to unbind it if you want to cut things. Sometimes not just on a technical level but the rhythm and pacing can be off if you start to cut or move things.
Films that are already fast, hard and tight can be tricky too, since it might feel to short when you remove things. Pacing is always the hardest thing to get right for anyone since its not a technical problem, its just a feeling, and feelings are subjective.

 

[Editzilla]

Any animated film honestly. Shot and edited differently than live action films and cuts come across differently.

 

[WilliamRedRobin]

When I started editing BvS I'd planned to edit a lot of Lex Luthor's dialogue to make him less outwardly insane, but something about the way he speaks and moves around during his dialogue makes it really difficult to interrupt the flow. The only parts I ended up changing were the speech at the library and the Jolly Rancher scene which was really difficult to cut around, but I felt that I had a moral obligation to😅
Hanz Zimmer's music is really difficult to edit as well because of all the slow rising Bwahs. It's very noticeable if you cut one of those short, so you either have to cut between then or combine two together. And then you have to worry about the rhythm which doesn't feel that important because of how slow it is, but you'd be surprised how noticeable it is when it slips out of the proper timing.
On the other hand, jazz soundtracks are super easy to edit. You can pretty much do whatever you want, and if people don't like it just accuse them of not knowing enough about music theory.