Behind the Set - Lee Smith

In these series of posts named "Behind the Set" is going to focus around editors and the ones that inspire me. These posts will be put up once a week normally on the weekends. I am on a Television Post-Production course however film is where my passion lies. I want to become a film editor and work on major Hollywood blockbusters and I would love every second of it. I would have to say action films are my preferred type of film therefore it would not be too much of a shock to all of you that my inspirations have mostly made action films. 

Lee Smith

Lee Smith has edited many films that I love to watch again and again. Unfortunately I have not been fortunate enough to have seen the final film in the Batman trilogy "The Dark Knight Rises" however in this post I am going to talk about how the previous movie to this "The Dark Knight" became one of my favorite films ever. You feel the love that Harvey Dent has for his love Rachel, in this emotional love triangle between Dent, Rachel and Wayne. You feel like this is a constant battle whether to hang up the mask in favour of love for Rachel. The editing in the film also helps to portray the most fascinating character, I believe possibly ever in film. I am of course talking about the late Heath Ledgers character "The Joker". He again makes you feel like he doesn't care what happens he just wants to kill people. Lee Smith I feel is largely responsible for how the Joker comes across. I have not seen the full movie of Inception however from what I have seen of it, and reviews from other websites is that of it is a fantastic movie, and I maybe biased but I believe what makes a film is the quality of its editing, and if it does not flow and does not have the correct pace or rhythm then it will be awful. However from what I have seen from Lee Smiths films they are incredibly well edited hence why he inspires me.

Next week: Stuart Baird - edited Casino Royale and Skyfall

Behind the Set - Jon Harris

In these series of posts named "Behind the Set" is going to focus around editors and the ones that inspire me. These posts will be put up once a week normally on the weekends. I am on a Television Post-Production course however film is where my passion lies. I want to become a film editor and work on major Hollywood blockbusters and I would love every second of it. I would have to say action films are my preferred type of film therefore it would not be too much of a shock to all of you that my inspirations have mostly made action films. Also I am going to be writing a short review about any movies I go to see at the cinema from now on, it will focus on the movie overall and also the editing.

Jon Harris

This man first inspired me when I saw his film 127 Hours, this film shows a very calm balance between pace, rhythm while still keeping the audience interested. The film stays in virtually one place for over an hour of the film and the editing, in my opinion, keeps the audience interested and keeps the audience wanting to know what is going to happen next in this topsy-turvy journey of cayoneer Aron Ralston as he goes on a brilliant and emotional journey and has to make the biggest decision of his life, amputating his own arm. Harris makes the audience feel this emotion, pain and the difficulty of his situation. Another film that I have seen that Jon Harris has edited is Eden Lake. This film really brings terror into your veins, I have seen the film only once because it really is truly terrifying. Again, you feel the emotion of Kelly Reilly's character, Jenny. The feeling that you get when she is being chased is that she is so terrified about what is going to happen to her. Also another key moment is when she watches her partner get victimised by the teenagers. They even go as far as to pull his tongue out of his throat and set a young boy on fire, however, I think that the peak of the film and her terror is when she finally gets out of Eden Lake and crashes a pick up truck, she then goes inside and discovers that it is the family and parents of the teenagers that have been terrorising her and her dead partner for the entire film. She gets taken into the bathroom and all we hear is screaming assuming that she too has been murdered. Overall I love the way that Jon Harris builds tension in his work and how he builds the emotion and makes you feel like you are there and that you are the person there in the film. Below are trailers for both films.

Next Week - Lee Smith - editor of The Dark Knight and Inception

127 Hours

Eden Lake