The Rough Cut

Oscar-winning editor, Lee Smith ACE is on the podcast to talk about his new hit film, 1917 .  Directed by Sam Mendes and lensed by cinematographer, Roger Deakins ASC BSC , the film tells the tale of two British soldiers on a mission to cross the French countryside to warn their comrades-in-arms that they're walking into a trap.  Even before the critical acclaim and box-office success, 1917 was not...

Recorded live in front of a "studio audience" at the National Association of Broadcaster's convention, editor Bob Ducsay ( The Mummy, Looper, Knives Out ) discusses his work on director Rian Johnson's entry into the Skywalker saga, Episode VIII - The Last Jedi . Bob details the pre-viz process from the 'Battle on Crait' scene, as well as how post-viz was a powerful weapon in his editorial arsenal....

The team from Blue Sky Studios is back with a new film this holiday season!  Editors Randy Trager and Chris Campbell are on hand to bring us further into the world of animated features with a deep dive on their movie, Spies in Disguise .  Randy and Chris break down the milestones and the marathon of delivering a high-profile animated film that works for audiences of all ages.  They tell us about.....

Happy Holidays, Post Production Fans!  A bonus Rough Cut podcast featuring Elf editor, Dan Lebental ACE.  Originally recorded in 2013, ten years after Elf made its debut in theaters, we chatted with Dan about his memories of working on the film, including... How the film originally had a darker, more cynical tone Working in a hybrid Avid/Film workflow When an editor and director become like "an ol...

42 years, 9 films, 3 trilogies - and they all come down to this... Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker . Editor Maryann Brandon, ACE calls in from her editing suite on Endor to talk to us about cutting the last chapter in the Skywalker saga. Maryann discusses... Cutting ten feet away from the action Working with three less months in post than on 'Force Awakens' The JJ Abrams "factor" The process of c...

In December 1989, the Avid 1 / Media Composer was released to the public for the first time; launching a revolution in film and video editing.  For this week's Rough Cut podcast we talk with Avid's founder, Bill Warner to discuss what prompted him to create the Media Composer as well as the challenges he faced along the way.  Bill talks about... How a corporate Christmas video made him give up lin...

For over seven years editor Jeff Ford, ACE and assistant editor Robin Buday have been bringing the Avengers to life on the big screen, culminating in the biggest film of 2019, Avengers: Endgame . Jeff and Robin call in from on location of their next film to reflect on their time in the MCU and to talk about: Making the jump from assistant to editor Dialing in the dailies Adapting to the styles of...

Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul editor, Skip Macdonald ACE guest stars on this week's Rough Cut podcast to talk about cutting the Netflix original film, El Camino - A Breaking Bad Movie . Skip describes the unique aesthetic of the BB universe as well as... How the cinematography influences his editing Getting in the right "head" of the characters in the scene Making a cinematic tv show vs making...

On this week's Rough Cut podcast, we begin our exploration of animation with Frozen 2 editor, Jeff Draheim ACE .  Jeff breaks down the process of editing an animated film and does a deep dive on... Editing storyboards and layouts to ready for production Selling the story with scratch tracks and temp fx Adjusting camera moves and sketches with AfterFX The "sweatbox" stage of post production Cutting...

Editors Mike McCusker, ACE and Andrew Buckland open up their edit room to The Rough Cut to talk about their new film with director James Mangold , Ford v Ferrari .  Mike and Andrew get into: Setting up the stakes for the characters to have it pay off in the action The power of Pre-Viz Using surround sound to help with perspective in the race cars Fun with FluidMorph Enter to win a (probably autogr...

A special "Book Club" edition of The Rough Cut!  Editor, Paul Hirsch ACE shares stories from his new autobiography. Hear Paul tell us all about: Finding his future in a French movie theater Brian De Palma's filmmaking grammar Cutting the "prom scene" from Carrie Joining the Rebels to edit Star Wars Darth Vader's Camaro-inspired TIE fighter Saving Ferris Landing Planes, Trains & Automobiles Enter t...

Editor Tom Eagles checks in from New Zealand to talk about his work on JoJo Rabbit .  Tom tells us all about: Walking the line between comedy and drama The films that helped craft JoJo Rabbit Using ScriptSync and PhraseFind to manage improv Going from stereo to 3.1 The long term impact of Swedish cinema...sort of Give a listen to our podcast with Joker editor, Jeff Groth . Try out ScriptSync and P...

Editor Laura Jennings checks in from the U.K. to discuss her new film, Disney's Maleficent - Mistress of Evil . Laura talks about her process on the VFX-heavy film and even indulges the audience with stories from the much-beloved Tom Cruise timewarp flick, Edge of Tomorrow ! Laura tells us about... What it's like to have your release date moved up 7 months during post Balancing the comedy and dram...

Double the taps and double the editors. Dirk Westervelt, ACE and Chris Patterson share editorial duties on the long-awaited sequel to 2009's undead comedy classic, Zombieland .  Dirk and Chris talk to us about getting the band back together for Zombieland: Double Tap . Tune in to hear their thoughts on: Fun with audience test screenings Managing the cutting room Sharing scenes and comparing comedi...

In this episode of The Rough Cut, we talk with Gemini Man editor, Tim Squyres ACE about his latest movie with director Ang Lee. Tim doubles down on the tech talk and teaches us about high frame rate filmmaking, as well as… The trouble with human faces Lamberts. What's a lambert?! How the best picture cut is sometimes made with sound Cutting at least two versions of a scene Saying "smart things" as...

Joker editor, Jeff Groth stars on this edition of the Rough Cut!  Jeff is in studio to talk about… The 70's cinema influence on Joker Using Script-based editing in Avid to get the most out of every line Editing linearly on a non-linear editor Director Todd Phillips' uncanny ability to predict his movie's final runtime Quit clowning around and get your Media Composer today!  

For our special IBC-edition of The Rough Cut, editor Chris Dickens and music editor Andy Patterson discuss their collaborative effort on the film, Rocketman . Chris and Andy talk about: Re-recording Elton John classics for the film Using lyrics to support the film narrative The interchange between picture and music editing How to work yourself into the film ...and much, much more!

In this week's Rough Cut podcast, Gabriel Fleming, ACE talks about one of this summer's biggest movies, Angel Has Fallen . Gabe tells us about... Going from Jean-Luc Godard to Gerard Butler Working solo vs collaborating with other editors Finding magical moments within handheld camera shots Working with 48fps in editorial Cutting against a "clock" The importance of lunch

In this week's episode, Emmy-winning editor Kelley Dixon, ACE calls in to talk about her experience editing her first feature film, Paramount Pictures' The Goldfinch.  Kelley tells us about... The challenge of translating Donna Tartt's 800 page, Pulitzer prize-winning novel into a feature film How working on a feature compares to television Understanding how to serve the vision of the director whi...

Boo!  Things take a turn for the creepy in this week's Rough Cut podcast with Jason Ballantine, ASE ACE as we talk about his new film, IT - Chapter Two. Jason talks to us about... The challenge of following up the #1 box office horror movie of all time Working the pendulum between horror and comedy Literal headaches from VFX The balance between developing characters and driving plots  

In this week's episode, veteran editor Robert Leighton joins us on a canal ride in Amsterdam to look back upon a career that includes such beloved films as; This is Spinal Tap, The Princess Bride, Bull Durham and When Harry Met Sally, just to name a few.  Bob talks to us about… Pioneering the "mockumentary" The benefits of "flipping the gate" Finding refuge under the avocado tree Editing big to sm...

Recorded prior to EditFest LA '19, ACE Editors Molly Shock, Maura Corey, Jamie Nelsen and Tom Costantino hold court on the topic of Demystifying the Differences Between Scripted and Unscripted TV Editing.

For this week's episode of The Rough Cut, we're joined by editor Dean Zimmerman, ACE. Dean talks about... - His history and ongoing work with director, Shawn Levy - Working on location for the new Ryan Reynolds film, "Free Guy" - Mining every frame of footage for "gold" - Dynamic Dutch angles in Stranger Things : Season 3 - The performance altering power of FluidMorph™

Editor Evan Schiff is in studio to talk about his work on John Wick: Chapter 2 and John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum. Evan talks about... - Getting and working with agents - Avoiding mid-motion cuts - Working with "stunt viz" - Keeping continuity in non-stop action - The slippery slope of temp tracks ================================= Follow Evan Schiff on Twitter and don't forget to try the new Av...

Today on the Rough Cut, we get to know Tom Cross, ACE, Oscar-winning editor of Whiplash, La La Land and First Man. Tom tells us about... - Breaking into the film business via commercial editing - The advantages of being unproven and cheap - The stolen moments that helped tell the story of First Man