Book Reviews

School of Doc

Jacob Bricca’s book on editing documentary film is a how-to that is firmly lodged in the digital technology of 2018. While new in many ways, it employs basic editing logic and draws on timeless, as well as current, examples to illustrate editing skills. […]

Columns

Bernardo Bertolucci’s ‘Last Tango In Paris’

I fell in love with Last Tango in Paris in the summer of 1973 when I was 20 years old. But now, decades later, I’m sorry to say I’ve fallen out of love with the film much as one eventually discovers that Old Spice aftershave (and the guy who wore it) wasn’t that cool after all. […]

Columns

The Long Journey to Overnight Success

I don’t remember exactly how I fell in love with storytelling. Perhaps it was because I was read to as a child — a lot. Editing is a different story. I first touched an Avid in 1999 as a summer intern in the creative services department at McDonald’s (yes, that one), and was hooked. I returned to Ball State University and would spend nights in the college editing bays, cutting anything I could, powered by Cherry Coke and Hostess frosted honey buns. […]

Columns

Beth Stiller on Los Angeles Lakers Road Telecasts

Beth Stiller is not a professional basketball player. She isn’t known for shooting from the three-point line or for scoring fast-break points. In fact, she prefers surfing to basketball. But, for about eight years in the late 1990s and 2000s, Stiller found herself on the road with the Los Angeles Lakers. […]

Book Reviews

Who Were the True Auteurs in Post-Production? Ask the Monitor Man

George Larkin offers a startling premise in the book Post-Production and the Invisible Revolution of Filmmaking: From the Silent Era to Synchronized Sound, one that may delight some readers while offending others. He states the fact that post-production work is critical to all filmmaking but takes that fact further, stressing that post is the major driver of film creation, eclipsing all else. […]

Columns

Gregg Barbanell on ‘Breaking Bad’

Like most Foley artists, Gregg Barbanell, MPSE, aims for his work to go undetected by audiences. After all, footsteps should sound like they are emanating from the shoes of the actor who appears on screen, not the Foley artist behind-the-scenes, right? […]