ACE EditFest Is My Coachella
It really is…. The American Cinema Editors (ACE) always delivers year after year on a great event that allows us to see the process behind editing. What a treat this year was with such talented Editors sharing their craft and being extremely giving with their advice. I always write down a couple of quotes whenever I attend ACE EditFest but this year, I literally was just so engaged with the panels that I chose to forego it and be present/listen in the moment.
After the show however, I did write down one main idea that sort of encompassed what every panel was getting at and it was this… The audience matters the most.
It rang true after reflecting on what everyone on the panels said.
In the first panel, “From the Cutting Room to the Red Carpet”, Editor Cindy Mollo, ACE spoke about how she dealt with a very pivotal scene in her Netflix show, Ozark. In this particular moment, she refused to use music score or sound drones to heighten the tension - she thought it was too cliché. Instead, she thought it would be creative to use the crying of the baby in the scene to raise suspense and be the underlying score. Watching it back, it totally worked and you could see her process of why using music in this moment just ruined the tension, but the baby carried it through the right beats. Decisions like that are so crucial and it was nice to hear Cindy share that moment in her process because she’s artistically fine-tuning and maximizing our experience as an audience member.
Similarly, Editor Robert Fisher Jr., ACE explained his process during the epic montage of Spider-Man Into The Spiderverse, when Miles Morales embraces his superpower and makes the “leap of faith”. During the first version of the sequence, Fisher was met with the Producer note, “We like it but make it look better”. Almost immediately, this got a laugh from the audience as if we all have gone through this similar note ourselves.
Fisher did just that when he explained that the answer to this problem was to slow down the reveal of the montage. Build up the momentum and let the audience crave the “leap of faith” and at that moment, sting the music during the jump and hit the montage with a ton of fun cuts as well as slowing down the jump.
I learned a lot from this because this is a perfect example of breaking the rules in Editing. Montages are supposed to be snappy and quick but in this sequence, Fisher did just the opposite. He let this one breathe and build. Check it out below. Pay attention to the “jump” and how Fisher slows it down for us and times it so perfectly with the music.
Awesome right? I love this sequence even more now that I heard Robert’s intention and process behind it. Also, I currently have Blackway & Black Caviar’s -What’s Up Danger? on repeat in the background as I’m writing this haha, such an awesome song for a well done montage.
I have to also mention that the other panelists, Heather Capps (Portlandia), Nena Erb, ACE (Insecure), Eric Kissack (The Good Place), and Margot Nack as the moderator - all shared such great advice and techniques in their respective scenes as well. Heather explained that there are some comedic moments in Portlandia where she used the “Looney Tunes” as inspiration for her editing. On the other hand, Nena’s scene for Insecure put us in the forefront of Issa Rae’s character via voice-overs. It worked well as the narration acted as her thoughts during the scene when she was stalking her ex-boyfriend. And lastly, Eric gave us a very humanistic scene from The Good Place that challenged human behavior/morals. It all rounded up to be an extremely informative panel. Hats off to everyone for such a great first panel.
In the next panel, Reality vs. Scripted Editing, Editors Maura Corey, ACE, Tom Costantino, ACE, Jamie Neilsen, ACE, Molly Shock, ACE, and Matt Feury as the moderator gave us such a well-done conversation about demystifying the difference between Reality and Scripted Editing. Spoiler alert: There is no difference. Editors are Editors and CAN do both genres.
First of all, I loved that EditFest created a panel for this because it helps start the conversation that…
Editors should not be pigeon-holed into one genre.
These 4 Editors are proof that you can work in both fields and be successful in them. They even said that their Reality experiences helped them solve a particularly difficult edit in their Scripted gigs. I believe that wholeheartedly. Reality Editing is extremely difficult and having all of that experience under your belt will help you immensely.
It really was an interesting conversation because ever since I started, I always had it engrained in me that I had to choose one venue, and making the jump to different genres was near to impossible.
The good news is that with conversations like this, everything will start to change. Their hope is for people to have an open mind and to try out different genres as an Editor or Assistant Editor. Who knows, you might like one over the other so much more. You just never know.
I’m all for that. Thank you to these panelists for such a great conversation about this topic. I wasn’t expecting this to be my favorite panel but it truly was.
After the lunch break (had the Roast Beef sandwich by the way, so good), everyone was treated to such a great 1-on-1 conversation with highly acclaimed Editor Joe Walker, ACE. The conversation was moderated by audience favorite, Bobbie O’Steen.
If you’ve never listened to Joe Walker talk shop about editing, you are missing out. Stop what you’re doing right now and go watch a Joe Walker interview. Actually, in fact, I’ll put one right below here…
I wish I could show some of what he said during EditFest too because he really speaks so eloquently about his process. He was kind enough to bring in a sequence that showed us the stages of his editing during Blade Runner 2049. This one stood out to me out of all the films he talked about because of how he handled the notes.
The scene was when Ryan Gosling’s character meets Harrison Ford’s character in the futuristic theater with the 3D projections of club dancers, band members, and the Elvis impersonator.
In the first several passes, Walker explained that the 3D projections along with their musical performances were taking a lot of the attention away from the tension between the two lead characters. He went at it in the editing room and came up with such a surreal scene. He managed to keep the sleekness of the futuristic projections along with building up the suspense between his characters. The decision to mute the music and bring it back on certain points made it so much more stronger. I just couldn’t believe it. It really was a Master at work here. Check out the final scene below.
After Joe Walker’s conversation with Bobbie O’Steen, we honored Editor Norman Hollyn, ACE who passed away this year. It was such a heartfelt tribute as panelists Ashley Alizor, Reine-Claire, Saira Haider, and Thomas G. Miller, ACE shared their “Lean Forward Moments”.
If you never met Norm, he was the epitome of a Mentor. He was a talented Editor, a teacher at USC, and such a huge part of the ACE community. His loss was really felt here during EditFest because he always moderated this last panel. The Lean Forward Moment - the title of his book he wrote on film editing.
It was the moment in which the audience “leaned forward” because of a specific scene or pivotal moment in the movie.
Jenni McCormick, the Executive Director of ACE, even started the panel with Norm’s favorite opening. He would ask the audience, “Who here are Assistant Editors? Who here are Editors? Who here are Directors? Who here are Directors that also Edit their own films?” Then he would cut everyone off and say “Don’t do that!”
He really was missed. But, he will always live through us at these events and this last panel showed how much he impacted all of us. It was the most heartfelt tribute.
I seriously can’t thank the American Cinema Editors enough for putting on events like this for us. Thank you to Jenni McCormick and your incredible team for allowing us to meet and listen to these talented Editors. I had another incredible time attending it this year and always look forward to the next one.
EditFest is truly my Coachella.
-Alfonso