IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE NEW EDN: New Edition

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In a conversation for example, blinks fall naturally at specific moments. Sometimes it’s a longer period, others a short one. People blink when they understand what you are saying and film editing is no different. Much like the conversation, the rhythm must be found and this will dictate whether to hold a shot or cut sharply. When we understand it as an audience, we can blink (i.e. cut). Lewis, Alex (December 23, 2015). "Harry Potter director and Godfather technician visit Hatfield's University of Hertfordshire". Welwyn Hatfield Times. Why do cuts work? The instantaneous displacement achieved by the cut is not anything that we experience in ordinary life. The images in dreams are much more fragmented, intersecting in much stranger and more abrupt ways than the images of waking reality. We accept the cut because it resembles the way images are juxtaposed in our dreams. There may be a part of our walking reality where we actually do experience something like cuts, the blinking of our eyes. The blink interrupts the apparent visual continuity of our perceptions. People don't blink in continuous intervals, depending on the grip of a thought. People blink to segregate thoughts if multiple tend to be happening at the same time. The blink is more geared to the emotional state, nature, and frequency of our thoughts, than to the atmospheric environment. A blink could happen in real life, where a cut could happen in a film. An idea, or a linked sequence of ideas. We blink to separate and punctuate the ideas. Similarly, in films, a cut is made where we want to bring an idea to end and start something new. The cut by itself does not create the blink moment, but if the cut is well-placed, the more the effect of the punctuation will be. Originally released in 1894, Murch's restoration was completed in 2000. One of several attempts to marry the archival film's sound and picture. It was later shown to be incomplete and has since been re-synchronized by professional motion picture archivists. [41] Axmaker, Sean (2008-10-07). " "A tremendous piece of filmmaking" - Walter Murch on "Touch of Evil" ". Parallax View . Retrieved 2023-02-05.

Originally released in 1958. Murch's restoration and re-edit was completed in 1998 for the film's forty-year anniversary re-release. What do I mean by that? Well, if you learn to speak a foreign language, you will find that there is a gap between how well you can speak it and how well you can understand it when it is spoken to you. A human being’s ability to understand a foreign language is always greater than his ability to speak it.Try to do the most with the least — with the emphasis on try. An attempt to produce the greatest effect in the viewer’s mind by the least number of things on the screen. Because you want to do only what is necessary to engage the imagination of the audience — the suggestion is always more effective than exposition. The audience should be participants, not just mere spectators. Originally published in 1992, a decent portion of the In the Blink of An Eye text is devoted to Murch’s opinion on film vs digital and his literal process for working on different film cutting machines.

Wise, Damon (November 17, 2015). "Camerimage: Walter Murch on Editing, Cinematography and the Change to Digital". Meaningful Character: Writers focus on developing a few well-rounded characters instead of crowding the narrative with many underdeveloped ones. Each character in the story has a distinct purpose, whether it's driving the plot forward, revealing key themes, or contributing to the protagonist's journey. Murch won three Oscars. With almost 50 years of picture editing experience, he’s one of a few people who managed to thrive in his role for most of his career. Originally In the Blink of an Eye was a lecture given by Walter Murch in Sydney, Australia, in 1988. It’s still 100% relevant today. Trimming Excess: During the editing phase, writers look critically at their work to remove any elements that don't serve the story. This might involve cutting redundant scenes, streamlining dialogue, or even removing characters that don't add significant value to the narrative.In 2018, Murch was awarded an honorary doctorate of arts by the University of Hertfordshire, for his contribution to the film industry in the county of Hertfordshire [36] and his contribution towards The Elstree Project and the Film and Television Production degrees. There is a dedicated post-production lab on the Hertfordshire campus named for Murch which opened in 2015. [37] [38]

The first edition was published in 1995. The second edition, which accommodates for developments in digital editing, was published in 2001. F ocusing on Key Themes: Economy in storytelling is also about ensuring that the central themes and messages of the story are clear and not diluted by too many diverging ideas or motifs. This is a nice little book on film editing. Walter Murch has edited many films, Apocalypse Now, The Godfather Part II, and The Conversation. He writes about his editing process and somewhat the history of cutting films. One of the things I found most interesting is that Murch says its not obvious that film cuts should work as well as they do. Most of what we experience visually from the moment we get up is a continous stream of linked images. The "cut" would seem to go against and one would think would be more jarring. But not only are cuts a pragmatic tool for the filmmaker, they can actually enhance the experience - be a preferred tool of choice. The only thing we experience like it are dreams, and Murch surmises this is where the link is established. We can say to a young scared child, it was only a dream. Likewise, we do this with scary movies as well: it's only a movie. Due to this, their opinion is powerful and useful as for examples, the director, will often remember it differently. They ‘see’ what they saw on the day. The mountain vista. The sunset in the distance. But in reality this wasn’t all captured. This gives the editor freedom as they are don’t feel that certain shots must go into due to the difficulty or cost of the image, merely what is creatively useful and interesting. 🔮 Scenes Create Themselves

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Impactful Storytelling: Ultimately, the goal is to tell a story that is impactful and engaging. By being economical, writers can create a narrative that maintains the audience's interest and delivers a powerful message or experience in a concise manner. Murch has a chapter on all the new software out on editing film and he is still a bit skeptical it can deliver on all its claims. With the older technology, it required you to sift through alot of material, and sometimes you would come across footage that was just what you needed - footage you may have discarded before. He thinks the new technology will probably,in time, bridge the advantages of new and old. But as of his writing, he still felt the older editing machines were better.