Customer Reviews

In the Blink of an Eye: A Perspective on Film Editing

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Really good and very interesting.
Walter Murch is a film hero and this book goes some way to explain why. It tells in his own words how and why he works and is refreshing in that the writer talks about new technology in a positive light, despite being grounded in traditional methods.
Going in to detail about when and why we blink he takes this and talks about when to cut and how blinking so important. If the audeince blinks at the wrong time then you've lost them. ie Don't cut when the actor blinks - cut when the audeince blinks.
Stuff like that and lots more.
A modest book, jam packed with stuff to think about.
I think I'll edit my next film standing up - see if his advice helps my film.

If you want to get into video / film editing then buy this book as its a wonderful insight into the editing process - this guy has been editing since the 60s-present and its written in a really freindly, matey sort of way - very ingrossing and intriguing. The book is also fairly short so can be read quite quickly.

You can read this book in a lunchtime - very short, and not dense. It is a transcript of a lecture series - you get the feel. It really only has three or four key ideas, which are well explained, although it is very film oriented in the examples chosen.

It will spark some thought, but don't expect a detailed tretise.

If you're going to edit a film or music video or any kind of media like that THIS IS THE ONLY BOOK YOU NEED TO READ. I don't make that statement lightly. Murch's book is without a doubt the best book I've read on the theory, thought-process and intention behind WHY an editor makes an edit. There are a multitude of boring books (I know because I bought many of them) on editing and why you should do this and that. Whatever. Murch has won loads of awards for his work and even directed a feature himself (Return to Oz) so he knows a much about the filmmaking process.

This book will not be helpful during the edit of your footage. You will not be able to turn to page nineteen and find out when to use a jump-cut to best effect. What this book helped me to see was the approach you need to have towards the editing process as a whole. Maybe not even just as an editor but as a filmmaker and story-teller too.

I can't stress enough how useful reading this book was to me. I used to be very frightened of getting into the edit but when I read this I found a new way of looking at my footage and became able to accept that things are different. Murch's writing style is very informal and as a result I think that the book requires a few reads (at least I've read it three times now and I get a better understanding of his ideologies each time).

Forget all the other rubbish people charge through the nose for. All you need to teach yourself editing is the software, footage and this book.

I found this insight to Walter Murch and the world of editing truly remarkable. Once I'd started the book I wanted to know more, whether it was about the techniques of editing or how to judge audience reactions of screenings or what is going on in the editing world in terms of what software is out there and available with the advantages and disadvantages clearly listed for you.
Overall, a truly enjoyable read and a useful insight into the mind of an editor.
A must-read for any trainee film editor.

One of the greatest image and aural montagists of our time is Walter Murch. What makes films like Apocalypse Now, The English Patient, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, or Julia great, just to name a few of Mr. Murch's masterpieces, is often the mostly invisible flow of time and mood. In this book Murch takes us inside the metaphysics of editing film and sound in a most understandable way. Any lover of film will appreciate the different sensibility and perspective than that we usually get from actors and directors. Any would be film editor better read this book to have any chance of rising above mediocrity.

I'm about to embark on a masters in post production editing and a friend recommended I read this to help me with my course. All I can say is, the man is brilliant and you learn so much about how to go about editing. Obviously it's not designed to copy everything he does but you learn methods that you can adapt to suit your methods. Well worth buying for anyone interested in editing.

I found this little book to be very interesting. The title refers to an editing theory of Walter Murch, in which he ponders why we accept film editing as seamless and "truthful" at all; nothing in our collective history has prepared us to see the world in a series of disjointed fragments. In short, this theory proposes that we accept discontinuity in films (editing) because we see them in the same way that we might a dream and that "good" cuts should occur when we would naturally blink our eyes. Fascinating stuff for anyone interesting in film editing or editing theory.

Not only a unique perspective on film editing, but a great insight into the mind of someone at the heart of an ever evolving technical/creative medium who is hugely informed and articulate.

A must read for any filmmaker

This book was bought for me for my Birthday and after a short amount of time it became my favourite gift. I am studying TV Post Production at University and this book has helped hugely. It briefly goes through some history of previous editing systems which is something handy to know. In terms of learning - there isn't much technical information, BUT there is so much more in this book. If nothing else, I now simply think differently about editing, it's made things I hadn't previously thought about a lot simpler to understand!

I still rate this book as my favourite for editing. Murch talks about his past experiences, which I have noticed in other reviews here that his little anecdotes aren't loved by everyone, but I think they are fantastic. They don't need to be scientific, editing isn't scientific, it is an art, and so the anecdotes throughout this short book make it very interesting to read. They explain simple editing theory which you could repeat to your Nan and she would understand, but they are not patronizing to the reader at all. It's such a fun book to read compared to other editing theory. It's the only textbook I haven't been able to put down, wanting to read the next chapter to find out what happened next! Basically, learn little facts and the odd trick, open your mind slightly, and just enjoy it. I did so on the train, and loved it.