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 | | In the Blink of an Eye Revised 2nd Edition by Walter Murch ISBN-10: 9781879505629 ISBN-10: 1-879505-62-2 ISBN-13: 9781879505629 ISBN-13: 978-1-879505-62-9 Paperback 2001-08-01 Silman-James Press Find Lowest Price |
Editorials | ||
Product Description In the Blink of an Eye is celebrated film editor Walter Murch's vivid, multifaceted, thought -- provoking essay on film editing. Starting with what might be the most basic editing question -- Why do cuts work? -- Murch treats the reader to a wonderful ride through the aesthetics and practical concerns of cutting film. Along the way, he offers his unique insights on such subjects as continuity and discontinuity in editing, dreaming, and reality; criteria for a good cut; the blink of the eye as an emotional cue; digital editing; and much more. In this second edition, Murch reconsiders and completely revises his popular first edition's lengthy meditation on digital editing (which accounts for a third of the book's pages) in light of the technological changes that have taken place in the six years since its publication. | ||
Reviews | ||
Mind Blowing In The Blink Of An Eye is an intense journey with Walter Murch through his world of editing. Murch's skill as a master film editor transitions seamlessly to the written word. He is concise, direct, and absolutely engaging. He discusses what editing is, why it works, and how he does it. He also leads the reader through his philosophies of human thought and its relationship to film. Highly recommended. | ||
Don't blink now! At the start, let me point out that this is not BY Francis Ford Coppola, it is BY Walter Murch. Sponsored initially as a lecture by the Australian Film Commission in 1988, there are many reasons to engage a love-hate relationship with this book. One is the continuous references to film. If you were ever a 35mm film editor (I spent much time with 35mm sound stock beetling along at 30"per second, a threat to all!) then his nostalgic recall of how things used to happen will have you settling comfortably. If you are a newby with a digicam, most of this may pass you by. The fundamental premise is that eye-blinks are key to audience involvement. An editor who cuts without reference to these will leave his audience unmoved. Get the blinks right and the cuts make themselves and subliminally draw the audience in. I am now on a fascinating hunt for the truth. I may never make an equal of "The English Patient", Murch's double-oscar triumph, but I certainly am trying hard not to blink as I attempt to use his insights into the business of editing. Recommended by many film courses, this is a great read, full of anecdotes about films and directors. Every editor should know its thesis, every digicam owner can learn much about the infinitely painstaking effort of good editing. | ||
Enjoyable, Not Instructional I have to back up those that said that although they enjoyed the book they wished there had been more practical advice from this iconic source. Particularly the last third felt pretty rambley to me, and unavoidably outdated. In fact, I was shocked to be reminded by just how much had changed in eight years! As someone who has been in this field since about then it took me back to hear Final Cut referred to as a toy, which here in LA few if any would still say. I got most out of this book when he talked about his approach, and at times wished he had focused more on that rather than compare what is lost on the "digital generation" which is an argument all too often made and not accounted for with well-stated procedural advice. Aside from spending a fortune to "get a steinbeck" and a wealth of 35mm film, which sooner or later will no longer be available, I would have to hope that the principals of editing can still be handed down from one generation to the next. Otherwise, wildly entertaining read and recommended for that reason if not much else. | ||
Great book! This book says more in a few pages than most others do in an entire book. Very conceptual and philosophical. I recommend it to anyone interested in editing, professional, hobbyist, or simply the curious. It is a great read. (make sure you get the 2nd edition, it includes a huge update on digital editing) | ||
A decent read, but not necessarily instructive I can say that I've enjoyed reading this book. I'm currently taking a class on film editing, and trying to take this up as a serious hobby. In The Blink Of An Eye is mostly just kicking back and listening to the author kind of ramble on about his editing experiences, and his thoughts on the process. What I think I got out of this book is some lore, and some vague ideas about how to approach editing, but very few specifics. The other thing that I got out of this book is an appreciation of how futile it is to try to learn film editing from a book. It is such a visual thing that even when he shows side by side still pictures in order to talk about a "cut", it's really impossible to visualize without seeing the full action. So I dunno, I recommend this book, it's not a waste of time. But if you are trying to "cram" for an upcoming film project or something like that, I think you'll be disappointed that you may not learn all that much that is immediately applicable. | ||