The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing (2004)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Wendy Apple

Writer:

Mark Jonathan Harris (written by)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

Documentary about the art of film editing. Clips are shown from many groundbreaking films with innovative editing styles. |

Plot Keywords:

Film Editor | Film Making | Film History | Old Movie

Cast

Kathy Bates	...	Narrator (voice)
Zach Staenberg	...	Himself
Jodie Foster	...	Herself
Michael Tronick	...	Himself
Anthony Minghella	...	Himself
Sean Penn	...	Himself
Walter Murch	...	Himself
Martin Scorsese	...	Himself
Rob Cohen	...	Himself
Quentin Tarantino	...	Himself
Steven Spielberg	...	Himself
James Cameron	...	Himself
Antony Gibbs	...	Himself
Mark Goldblatt	...	Himself
Sally Menke	...	Herself
Craig McKay	...	Himself
Richard Marks	...	Himself
Ridley Scott	...	Himself
Alexander Payne	...	Himself
Kevin Tent	...	Himself
Howard E. Smith	...	Himself (as Howard Smith)
Conrad Buff IV	...	Himself (as Conrad Buff)
Dylan Tichenor	...	Himself
Wes Craven	...	Himself
Carol Littleton	...	Herself
Tom Rolf	...	Himself
Pietro Scalia	...	Himself
Tina Hirsch	...	Herself
Frank J. Urioste	...	Himself (as Frank Urioste)
Peter Honess	...	Himself
George Lucas	...	Himself
Chris Columbus	...	Himself
Paul Verhoeven	...	Himself
Jan de Bont	...	Himself
Alan Heim	...	Himself
Joe Dante	...	Himself
Lynzee Klingman	...	Herself
Jay Cassidy	...	Himself
Thelma Schoonmaker	...	Herself
Michael Kahn	...	Himself
Paul Hirsch	...	Himself
Dede Allen	...	Herself
Anne V. Coates	...	Herself (as Anne Coates)
Richard Chew	...	Himself
Donn Cambern	...	Himself
Lawrence Kasdan	...	Himself
Joe Hutshing	...	Himself
Chris Lebenzon	...	Himself
Jerry Bruckheimer	...	Himself
Alisa Vilena Gerstein	...	Actress (girl with teddy bear) (as Alisa Gerstein)
Marya Kazakova	...	Actress
Anatol Rezmeritza	...	Actor (as Anatol Reszmeritsa)
Ilia Volok	...	Actor
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Verna Fields	...	Herself (archive footage)
Will Smith	...	Himself (archive footage)
Robert Zemeckis	...	Himself (archive footage)

Directed by
Wendy Apple

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Mark Jonathan Harris		written by

Produced by
Wendy Apple	....	executive producer: TCEP
Patricia Bischetti	....	co-producer
Steven B. Cohen	....	co-executive producer
Alan Heim	....	executive producer: TCEP
Nobuo Isobe	....	executive producer: NHK
Truusje Kushner	....	co-producer
Richard Lorber	....	co-executive producer
Jeff Pickett	....	associate producer: Kuleshov shoot
Barry Rebo	....	co-executive producer
Stephan Shelanski	....	executive producer
Jennifer Waldo	....	producer: Kulshov shoot
Jennifer Waldo	....	segment producer
Nick Ware	....	executive producer: BBC

Original Music by
Nic. tenBroek

Cinematography by
John Bailey		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Daniel Loewenthal
Tim Tobin

Makeup Department
Lisa Marie DeRoma	....	makeup artist
Marco De Souza	....	makeup artist (as Marco Aurelio De Souza)
Marcus Hall	....	makeup artist
Christine Jackson	....	makeup artist
Richard Marin	....	makeup artist
Patti Ramsey Bortoli	....	makeup artist (as Patty Ramsey)
Jillayne Stockland	....	makeup artist
Heba Thorisdottir	....	makeup artist
Cinzia Zanetti	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Terra Abroms	....	post-production supervisor (as Terra Mair Abroms)
Eric Conner	....	production manager
Tom Cross	....	post-production supervisor
Dan Genetti	....	post-production supervisor
Jeff Powers	....	production manager
Jennifer Waldo	....	production manager

Sound Department
Robert Althoff	....	sound recordist
Kelly Cabral	....	post-production sound services
Paul Timothy Carden	....	post-production sound services (as Timothy Carden)
Jim Corbett	....	narration recordist
Giancarlo Dellapina	....	sound recordist: London
Tom Koester	....	additional sound
Aynee Osborn	....	post-production sound services
Sarah Payan	....	post-production sound services
Alan Piper	....	additional sound
George Yuri Raicin	....	production sound
Brad Sherman	....	sound re-recording mixer
Matthew Sutton	....	sound (as Matt Sutton)
Jon Taylor	....	sound re-recording mixer

Visual Effects by
Arn Campero	....	compositor
Tim Carras	....	animation support
Tim Carras	....	digital I/O
Jason Risk	....	animation producer
Chris Simmons	....	visual effects artist

Camera and Electrical Department
Mac Allen	....	electrician
Mac Allen	....	grip
Hema Balasundaram	....	electrician
Hema Balasundaram	....	grip
Chris Bieler	....	camera package: HDTV
Mitchell Block	....	assistant camera
Tim Carras	....	assistant camera
Jason Cochard	....	gaffer
Kisa Cruger	....	still photographer
Andrew Deacon	....	electrician
Andrew Deacon	....	gaffer
Andrew Deacon	....	grip
Cat Deakins	....	still photographer
Othmar Dickbauer	....	assistant camera: New York (as Othman Dikbauer)
Chris Faulk	....	electrician
Chris Faulk	....	grip
Warren Feldman	....	assistant camera
Scott Fleischer	....	camera package: HDTV
Jimmy Fussil	....	electrician
Jimmy Fussil	....	grip
Benjamin Gerstein	....	camera assistant: London (as Benji Gerstein)
Bob Harvey	....	camera package: HDTV
Matthew Hsu	....	still photographer
Jim Jacks	....	camera package: HD
Luke Jensen	....	still photographer
Tony Jones	....	assistant camera
Marker Karahadian	....	camera package: HD
Robert Keith	....	electrician
Robert Keith	....	grip
Ben Liddell	....	camera assistant: London
Dan Ming	....	still photographer
Chris Morphet	....	cinematographer: London (as Chris Morphett)
Mike Moyer	....	gaffer (as Michael Moyer)
Grant Myers	....	electrician
Grant Myers	....	grip
Krista Pelletier	....	still photographer
Terron Pratt	....	electrician
Terron Pratt	....	grip
Michael Roy	....	gaffer
Philip D. Schwartz	....	additional cinematographer
John Stern	....	electrician
John Stern	....	grip electric
John Stern	....	grip
Jonathan Stern	....	gaffer: Scorsese segment
Walter Stewart	....	gaffer
Andrew Waruszewski	....	electrician
Andrew Waruszewski	....	grip
Avi Youabian	....	electrician
Avi Youabian	....	grip

Editorial Department
David Blumin	....	post-production assistant
Sandie Cam-Johns	....	on-line editor
Patrick Dunn	....	additional editor (as Pat Dunn)
Herb Farmer	....	editor: moviola
Michael Klima	....	post-production assistant
Joe Leggett	....	on-line editor
Germaine Lintag	....	on-line editor
Daniel Loewenthal	....	additional editor (as Dan Loewenthal)
Randy Magalski	....	on-line editor
Bryan McKenzie	....	contributing editor
Brad McLaughlin	....	post-production assistant
Jeffrey McMahon	....	first assistant editor
Madeleine Saint Michael	....	post-production assistant (as Madeleine Saint Michel)
Nolan Reese	....	assistant editor
Bill Rojas	....	on-line editor
Chu Wu	....	on-line editor
Adam McDaniel	....	post-production assistant (uncredited)

Music Department
Robert Boress	....	music consultant
Anna Dale	....	associate music editor
Barbara McDermott	....	music editor

Other crew
Cari Beauchamp	....	consultant
Marilyn Becker	....	scholar consultant
Steven Belgard	....	publicist
Steven Belgard	....	representative: Starz Entertainment (as Steve Belgard)
Margarita Beyleryan	....	representative: Production Processing Inc.
Christopher Black	....	representative: Starz Entertainment
Tom Block	....	researcher
Steve Blumin	....	accountant
David Bresenham	....	additional researcher
Kevin Brownlow	....	archival photographs
Kevin Brownlow	....	scholar consultant
Greg Catlett	....	video symphony artist
Karen Childs	....	transcriber
Katy Clark	....	production assistant
Joan Cohen	....	researcher (as Joan L. Cohen)
Carole Cowley	....	stills scanning
Anna Dale	....	researcher
Ken Dancyger	....	historical consultant
Peter Elbing	....	creative consultant
Jordan Engle	....	special assistant to producers
Karen Falzone	....	representative: Starz Entertainment
Christina Ferguson	....	production assistant
Mike Flanagan	....	video symphony artist
Garrett Gilchrist	....	additional transcriber
Matthew Gilna	....	additional transcriber
Lindsey Girardot	....	production assistant
Paul Glickler	....	consultant
Andrew Groves	....	additional researcher
Nick Heim	....	additional transcriber
Nick Heim	....	additional transcriber
Jonathan Herzog	....	lawyer
Jordan Hunter	....	production assistant
Ashley Jordan	....	production coordinator
Thea Kerman	....	lawyer
Judd King	....	additional transcriber
Michael Kinney	....	additional researcher
John Klos	....	cutting room
Susan Klos	....	cutting room
Michael Landis	....	cutting room
Jim Lane	....	scholar consultant
Vincent Lavares	....	stills scanning
Robert Leighton	....	representative: Starz Entertainment
Vincent Lobrutto	....	scholar consultant
Gary Mairs	....	creative consultant
Ron Mandelbaum	....	archival photographs
Brett Marottoli	....	representative: Starz Entertainment
Lori Mason	....	production assistant
Asim Matin	....	opening montage inspired by
Mariana McConnell	....	additional transcriber
Dana Sergent Nemeth	....	scholar consultant
Louise Plaschkes	....	consultant
Jeff Powers	....	production assistant
Janice Pugh	....	representative: Starz Entertainment
Patrick Ready	....	title designer: main titles (as Pat Ready)
Deborah Ricketts	....	consultant
Bonnie Rowan	....	researcher
Jenny Sandell	....	additional transcriber
Susanne Schiebler	....	scholar consultant (as Susan Scheibler)
Avital Shalev	....	cutting room
David H. Shepard	....	scholar consultant (as David Shepard)
Jon Silver	....	production assistant
Aileen Silverstone	....	senior researcher
Kathleen Snyder	....	studio teacher (as Kathleen Snider)
Rick Sparr	....	title designer: main titles
Kevin Stanton	....	production assistant
Paul Tani	....	cutting room
Emily Topper	....	additional transcriber
Jennifer Waldo	....	researcher
Marc Wanamaker	....	archival photographs
Nancy Wang	....	additional transcriber
Gretchen Woelfle	....	clearance support
Tina Yang	....	production assistant
Jimmy Zelinger	....	title designer: main titles

Thanks
Arnold Glassman	....	film dedicated to
Steve Gray	....	thanks: end titles
Robert Harris	....	acknowledgment: archive footage provided by
Barry Nulman	....	thanks: end titles
Patrick Ready	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• A.C.E.
• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
• NHK Enterprises
• TCEP Inc.

Distributors

• Starz! Encore Entertainment (2004) (USA) (TV)
• NHK (2004) (Japan) (TV)
• AVRO Television (2004) (Netherlands) (TV)
• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) (2006) (UK) (TV)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Arnold Glassman Fund, The  additional support
• Ascent Media Creative Services  thank you
• Ascent Media Laboratories  transfer: HD
• Avid Technology  thank you
• Big Time Picture Company  cutting rooms
• Bison Archives  archival photographs
• CBS Radford  thank you
• Camera Service Center  lighting & grip package
• Corinth Films  archive footage
• Encore Visual Effects  thank you
• Film Preservation Associates  archive footage
• Film Preserve  archive footage
• Illusion Street  animated sequence
• Key Grip Associates  key grip
• Laser Pacific Media  thank you
• Library of Congress  archive footage
• Mix Magic  narration recording
• National Archives  archive footage
• Pacific Title  main titles
• Panavision  camera package: HDTV
• Photo Fest  archival photographs
• Photoplay Productions  archival photographs
• Pivotal Post  main titles
• Plus 8 Digital  camera package: HD (as Plus8Digital)
• Post Group, The  HD services
• Post Logic  thank you
• R!ot  stills scanning
• Sony Professional Media  camera stock: HD
• Technicolor  HD services
• The Racket  post-production sound services
• The Tape Company  camera stock: HD
• Turner Entertainment  archival photographs
• Warner Brothers Entertainment  archival photographs

Runtime:

USA:98 min | Spain:54 min (TV version)

Country:

USA | Japan | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Finland:K-15 | Canada:PG (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company:

A.C.E.

Trivia:

This documentary is featured on the Two-Disc Special Edition DVD for Bullitt (1968), released in 2005.

Movie Connections:

Features The Fast and the Furious (2001)

Great Documentary - shame about the historical inaccuracies

This is a remarkable documentary, informative, interesting and successful in clarifying what is, for many, something of a mysterious process. The contributions to film making of directors, actors, designers, cinematographers and sound recordists is self evident, but the film editor's role has seldom been understood nor its importance fully recognised. This documentary is the first to give directors and editors an opportunity to explain exactly what goes on in the editing room and they have done it superbly. What a pity then, that references to the history of film editing woven into this story are cursory, inadequate and in some instances completely wrong. Martin Scorsese refers to Edwin Porters' 1902 film, Life of an American Fireman, as the very first film to be edited using crosscutting as a structuring device, and the commentary supports this view, despite convincing evidence to the contrary that was discovered in 1978. In fact the earliest discovered examples of this practise date from 1906. Equally mistaken is the assertion, made several times in this prize-winning documentary, that D.W.Griffith originated the important editing practise of action matching. In fact there is clear evidence of action matching in a British film made as early as 1903 and Griffith's first film was not made until 1908. There is considerable evidence that Griffith considered action matching to be of very little importance, and when used in his films it is often ill judged and clumsy. All this is curious in a documentary that seeks to explain the history and practise of film editing. One might have expected research on the topic to be as well informed as the comments made by most of the contributors, particularly given that the scriptwriter is Professor Mark Jonathan Harris of the School of Cinema and Television, University of Southern California.