Zoom-in Online

Friends and colleagues in the film world are deeply saddened this week by the passing of a beloved community member, Jim Lyons. While I didn't know him personally, I've always been a tremendous fan of his work (The Virgin Suicides, Velvet Goldmine, Far From Heaven); from those who knew him, I understand he will be sorely will be missed by all.

The loss of respect for the craft of editing is something that many old timers in the television and film business have mourned since the birth of digital non-linear editing. "There was a time..." I was told from my very first job as an assistant editor, "When you spent years as an apprentice, organizing the trim bin, syncing dailies, and then maybe --if you were fast, respectful and good-- you'd get a chance to cut a scene."

The point was not to "haze" the next generation of dues-paying wannabe editors, but to recognize that the editing stage of filmmaking was seen as a true artform in and of itself; that to become an editor meant you were taking part in a set of traditions and practices that were part of the pre-industrial age, like becoming a shoe-maker. There was a Guild that you belonged to; you had to learn an approach to the work from the generation before you. And that just working as an apprentice alongside a mentor was how you'd develop an appreciation for the things you can't learn in film school: pacing, using long shots versus close ups, what to look for as you screen dailies, how to develop dramatic arcs, where to cut to achieve the maximum impact and emotional power," and so on and so forth.

Jim Lyons understood that model of editing; he had tremendous respect for his fellow editors. As an artist, he had a deep appreciation of the spirit of the editing community and grew up within it. Once he became an established editor, he generously offered tremendous insight into managing a transition to bigger-budget (in his case Hollywood) films and how to stay true to one's vision and preserve a sense of the editing craft.

Here are two of my favorite quotes of Jim's:

"If you think there's one way to cut a scene and that's the [only] way to do it, you're screwed. You've got to have 10 ways to cut a scene that are all good in different ways."

and

"Cinema is there to capture the things that you can't articulate. That's what's beautiful about it. You can be a poet and use words brilliantly...but with cinema, you can capture those things in time.

You can listen to his full interview on MEWshop's website; you can watch a 3-minute video clip of the interview with Jim for free on the iTunes Music Store.

A brief note on the source of these interviews: the Manhattan Edit Workshop is --officially-- a small, local certified training center, offering classroom-based courses in Avid and Final Cut Pro editing. Unofficially, it's a community gathering place where cinephiles, independent filmmakers, up-and-coming editing talent and film fans alike gather on a fairly regular basis to pay tribute to an esteemed editors' work. They've been hosting monthly events in New York for the past year or two, and it's always extremely rewarding when I make time to attend.