“In the Blink of an Eye, a Perspective on Film Editing”

I really appreciated reading this book for its fun and articulate way of explaining editing. I noticed all the creative examples Murch gave on how one thinks and how that shapes what one sees. At one point he describes filmmaking as “the closet to thought process of any art form.” (60) Though Murch mainly talks about narrative film editing and not documentary video editing I could relate a lot of what Murch says to my project. I liked Murch’s thoughts on following the blinks of the actor’s eyes to get a sense of when to make the cut. ”In film a shot presents us with an idea or a sequence of ideas, and the cut is a “blink” that separates and punctures those ideas.” (62)
Murch gave me perspective on how to follow a conversation and make a good scene by following these procedures for an ideal cut. (18)
1. Emotion, what you want your audience to feel
2. Story, how it relates to your entire story
3. Rhythm, how it flows with the rest of the story
4. Eye Trace, concern with where the audience is looking
5. Two-dimensional plane of screen, stage line and planarity technical
6. Three dimensional space of action, where people are in relation to one another
I will use these techniques as well as Murch’s ideas of taking stills of different parts of the film to piece together the story visually. I will also use Murch’s method of cutting out paper dolls to put on the editing screen to always have perspective on how the audience will ultimately see my film. This book made me ask myself the question, "What do I want people to feel when they are watching Travel Queeries?" I will take this question into the editing room as I work.