easy to see how time-consuming this can be when shots need to be re-ordered. And that brings us to some important terms that are specific to the editing of motion picture images:
Analog
Digital
Linear
Nonlinear
Random Access
Sequential Access
In the case of film, for example, we can classify the editing of film as being analog and nonlinear but not random access. Certainly, the film was not in digital form, so it’s analog. Editing the film could be done in a nonlinear fashion (it could be cut and re-ordered) but it was not random access. Because you need to move either forward or back through the film roll (and could not jump from place to place within the film roll), film is sequentially accessed.
Using these terms, we can classify videotape as being either analog or digital. It is linear (isn’t physically cut), and sequentially accessed (can’t jump around).
Electronic Nonlinear Editing Systems
To provide a solution which would attempt to combine the best of film editing (nonlinear) and videotape (ability to easily erase and record over), electronic nonlinear systems appeared. These were not digital, and they typically consisted of multiple videotape machines. The videotape cassettes in each machine contained the same material. Thus, by using Machine 1 to play back Shot A and Machine 2 to play back Shot B and Machine 3 to play back Shot C, the nonlinear aspect of film was achieved. We would see Shot A, then Shot B, and finally Shot C. If we wanted to change the order to Shots A, C, and B, Machine 1 would play back Shot A and Machine 2, instead of playing back Shot B would, instead, play back Shot C, and Machine 3 would play back Shot B.
The Ediflex Nonlinear Editing System. Note the bank of multiple videotape machines which provided a limited amount of random access to content.
The Laserdisc-based Systems
These systems introduced multiple laserdisc players instead of videotape players. Because the read head could jump around the analog video that was recorded onto the discs, fewer machines were necessary than the videotape-based alternative. Another significant benefit was that if an editor was creating a sequence which necessitated a greater number of cuts, there was a much better chance of the laserdisc machines being able to move quickly to the required shots. The laserdisc-based systems can be classified as electronic, analog, nonlinear and random access.
The CMX 6000 Nonlinear Editing System. Here, the bank of multiple videotape machines has been replaced with laserdisc machines which provided random access.
The Digital Nonlinear Systems
By the late 1980’s, the combination of computer technology, video compression, hard disk and optical disc storage systems led to the development of digital nonlinear editing systems. Video compression was used to reduce the size of each frame due to the fact that computer storage was quite expensive—$15 per megabyte. The images were compressed at 250:1 and the resulting resolution was quite pixelated.
The CL-550 JPEG compression chip from C-Cube Microsystems, 1990. This chip provided the hardware JPEG compression that was used by the first set of digital nonlinear editing systems.
Because they are digital, the methodology of creating a sequence out of the various shots is akin to how a word processing application functions. You can cut, copy, and paste words to modify a sentence, and a digital editing system enables shots to be easily rearranged and trimmed. These systems can be classified as electronic, digital, nonlinear and random access. Within a 7-10-year period after their introduction, these digital systems became the standard for editing motion picture content.
The Avid/1 Media Composer, circa 1990. The videotape machines to the right were used to play back footage which was then converted from analog to digital form and stored as digital files onto the computer hard drives to the left of the machines. The editing software ran on the Macintosh computer under the central monitor which displayed content in the form of thumbnail images.
As you read through these interviews, you will come across the various systems and different forms of workflows which these editors had to employ on their films. Knowing how manually intensive film editing is, or how time consuming it is to change your mind in editing film or videotape makes it all the clearer as to the amazing work that these editors accomplished. Imagine a couple of million feet of film, winding through it, cutting out the takes, splicing and trimming them and doing all of it manually. Two hundred, three hundred hours of film—10, 20, 50 takes of a shot—and now the unique aspect that is the craft of editing becomes clearer.
And through it all, the editor is busy cataloging and making mental or physical notes—the slight moment that an actor made an eye movement that may be of use later on or a shot that was stolen from another take to make a scene work.
There are many fine books and online resources that track the history of how motion picture images are edited. Rather than duplicate those efforts, this brief section provides the necessary background information to better understand the references over the course of the interviews.
Dede Allen, ACE
Via Email
Partial Credits: Wonder Boys, The Breakfast Club, Reds, The Wiz, Slap Shot, The Missouri Breaks, Dog Day Afternoon, Night Moves, Serpico, Slaughterhouse-Five, Little Big Man, Alice's Restaurant, Bonnie and Clyde, America America, The Hustler.
By far, it is Dede Allen who was referenced the most by the editors in this book. Eventually, I was able to contact her, and she was kind enough to reply. She left us a short time afterwards. As you read on, you will find quite a lot about Dede through the words of editors who worked with her and who still admire her work.
Dear Mr. Ohanian,
I appreciate your offer to interview me for your book, but I must decline. I'm retired now. Just about everything I would have to say is in the public record. I started in this business in 1943 at Columbia Pictures as a messenger and moved from there into sound effects editing and editorial assistant. I didn't really start editing until after I got married and moved to New York with my husband.
In my time at Columbia in Hollywood, an editor was considered a craftsman or a technician. It was a back-lot occupation. You were the tool of the studio, not the colleague of the director. That was the conventional wisdom in regard to film editors in those days. In my view, film editing is an art, and belongs in the same category as the writer, director, production designer and cinematographer.
