In my first job in the industry I had the chance to
work with a great editor. He taught me something I still
remember almost on a daily basis.
He had made the transition from physical film-cutting to
non-linear editing systems, and had this opinion about the
many benefits that non-linear editing brought to the table.
"It's obviously great and makes my job so much easier, and
I wouldn't want to ever look back. However, it is now so easy
to make a cut that a lot of editors/directors never commit to
one. They'll cut on a certain frame, then try a couple of
frames later, then a couple of frames earlier, then one more,
then leave it there temporarily to revisit later.
When you're physically cutting a reel of film, there's
something permanent about it that urges you to THINK why you
want to cut on that frame and not on any other, and then
COMMIT to that decision."
I firmly believe that the analogy applies to many
technological advances in our industry.
There is a growing belief that some changes in post are
fast/cheap enough that the exercise of THINKING and COMMITTING
just keeps getting delayed. The process then becomes reactive,
with clients/supervisors spending more time reacting to what
they're seeing than directing what they would like to see. And
with it comes the frustration when, iteration after iteration,
they're still not seeing something they "like".
We've all seen it:
- I don't know what kind of look I'm going to want for
this, so I'll just shoot it as neutral as possible and choose
between different looks later.
- I want to keep the edit open as you guys work on these
shots, so I can make the decisions on what should be in or out
LATER, because it's so much easier to do once I see how these
shots are coming together.
- I can't judge this animation until it has proper motion
blur, lighting, and I can see it integrated in the plate.
(This one is particularly infuriating, and makes me wonder how
are these people able to judge storyboards before they shoot
the whole thing)
Studios have learnt to protect themselves a bit
against this, managing client's expectations, planning staged
deliveries, etc. But ultimately, our line of work is very
subjective, so it always takes someone with a strong vision
and the ability to convey that vision for things to go more or
less smoothly.
The most successful projects I've ever worked on
have a few of things in common:
- A clear vision from a very early stage.
- A strong leadership
- Very little or no micromanaging.
Every once in a blue moon, those 3 line up and you
are reminded of how much fun this job can be.
