THE EDITOR'S DILEMA - COULD, SHOULD, MUST!
I'm now thru the 70 min barrier having polished the first half and locked it!
Not that this was not without its major issues. I moved over a dozen scenes around yet again, and switched around 3 major scene blocks coz I was not 100% happy about the narrative progression. That is resolved.
Another big issue was how I draw certain threads together and when should they collide and by how much.
These movies lend themselves to being retold in many many ways. I have chosen one path for now ( yes, there could be a second edit telling this differently yet again), but for now, I'm going to let this play out.
Which brings me to the editor's DILEMA....COULD, SHOULD and MUST.
I could do many things differently in this or any other edit. For instance, when Hedwig dances to his music in Split, it is a jarring, shocking, funny, surprising and frightening scene, showcasing McEvoy's talents, destabilising our viewing expectations and frightening the other protagonist, Casey. Could I cut this out? Yes, it is easy to excise. Should I cut it out? Yes, it serves no narrative purpose. Must I cut it out? Well, you will have to view the final product to find out.
What is abundantantly clear, is that for this edit, more than half of Split is padding. Surprisingly the same is true of Unbreakable and yet, the DILEMA here is to judge the balance between plot, character and narrative drive. In doing so, I am having to remove some choice moments, but in other cases, I'm retaining scenes for character development or insights, or the setting up of payoffs, and sometimes, coz the scene is just too good to remove, it stays (for now). This is a tug of war which has led to some surprises even for me , and I'm the one in control, sort of.
M. Nights narrative skill across these three movies has revealed itself to be far more consistent and disciplined than I imagined or recalled from memory. In fact, I'm convinced that Glass is likely to have been much longer in its first cut as is revealed by a deleted scene which I have used, albeit, trimmed down for pacing issues.
Which brings me back to where I am...the first act is locked. The second act, laid out. The third, tells itself. So I need to be as objective as possible and treat these as if they were raw cans of film which I am shaping into this new narrative. That means that certain threads and characters MUST go. There are also many moments that should also go. And so be it. But just because I could do something doesn't mean I should or must.
David Dunn has many choice moments in Unbreakable which in the context of this new approach are, amazingly, redundant. Does that mean I should remove all trace of them? No! Certain moments are there to draw us in, expand our sympathies (or in the case of Elijah) our antipathy. So, I am also approaching this technically. I did this for a number of edits, where I score a scene for its, plot, character, emotional and pacing impact. That's where a spreadsheet helps lay out an edit from an impact on the viewers perspective. What's interesting is that when you then actually lay it out,some things work even better than you expect, and others do not. At that point you ditch the spreadsheet and get out the paintbrush. This is after all an art form. Here is an analogy.
You need to hang a picture on a wall. The picture is 2 foot wide. The wall is 4 foot wide. So you place a mark on the wall exactly at the two foot point, slam in a nail, and bingo, the picture is perfectly cantered. Now consider a wall that is 2 inches wider at the top, than the bottom, and the ceiling is 3 inches higher on the right. This is where you dump the tape measure and hold the picture to the wall and ask a friend to tell you, as you move it around, to shout out when it looks right.
So, for this edit (and any other), it also has to feel right. No amount of planning and analysis can tell you that. You need to render and watch.
I constructed a new opening credit roll, with custom animation. I previewed it to two fellow editors. The feedback I got was good but both sequences did not feel quite right. I then created a longer version which was a hybrid of the two approaches and BINGO!. Perfect IMO. What was unexpected is that a hybrid was not on the cards, nor was any of the feedback suggestin it. But one previewer said to me "it depends what vibe you want" and they went on to describe the vibe they felt for each version. Well, I wanted to have both vibes, now...and that is how the hybrid came about.
So, I'm now 90 mins into this edit and it's shaping up to be a 3 hour movie, with about 50% being removed while hopefully not feeling like we lost anything. In fact, I'm hopin to actually add to the experience despite everyone knowing the plots. And that is the point; can the narrative be shaped to bring in some unexpected impacts? I'm certainly aiming for that. Even more interestingly will be when some of you watch this with friends and family (coz of course you own the three movies already) but they have not seen them and how they respond to the new narrative. That excites me.
So, without spoiling this, that was today's update.
As soon as the second half is locked, the full trailer (spoiler free) will follow.
Oh, and I had to purchase the Split Score today. I didn't think I would need it (I have the other two) but there are some cues which I deliciously need for some of my transitions....and oh, what a joy that is when you breathe life into a dead moment with music (judiciously of course).
That's it for today. Must rush, I have a train to catch (Eastrail 177)...
