Music Editor

“I worked with the sound people creating the backgrounds for the radio station, commercials, and newscasts-it opened my eyes to post-production. That’s when I realized I’d like to be a music editor.” – Bill Abbott

In this conversation, Richard Chew and Curt Sobel talk in detail about the process of music editing and how they’ve worked together to tell a story with music.

Film editor Richard Chew and music editor Curt Sobel talk about how digital technology has affected their jobs, the recent trend toward shortened schedules, the difference between tracking and working with a composer, and more.

Music editor Del Spiva chuckles when asked how he explains the job of a music editor to the uninitiated. For Spiva, explaining the job can be a Socratic experience; he throws challenges at his questioners until they comprehend the nature of his work.

Motion Picture Editors Guild retirees are goldmines of information; they are walking encyclopedias of the industry with priceless experience and wisdom to offer. While the technology may have changed, the necessity of navigating through the challenges of the craft and the politics still remains.

There’s a revolution going on at JJ Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions and it has nothing to do with aliens, plane crashes or spies. It’s a change in the way music is being integrated into post-production.

The idea for Not Fade Away had been in David Chase’s mind for a long time, though it took the buzz following the end of The Sopranos for him to be able to make it his debut as a feature filmmaker.

CineMontage explores two contrasting teams of music editors and the differing ways they worked together with their composers and music supervisors.