EDITOR'S NOTE
Between Reality and Fiction
by Tomm Carroll
 Tomm Carroll |
As we head into the home stretch of another bitterly contested general election, with attacks, accusations and admonishments flying as fast and furious as, well, the last general election, the line between fiction and reality becomes increasingly blurred.
By coincidence (or was it design?), the difficulty in discerning between what is real and what is not is at the heart of the premise of Fringe, one of the most anticipated debut series in the imminent new fall TV season. From the mind of the ubiquitous J.J. Abrams and his brain trust at Bad Robot Productions comes this one-hour drama that is part Sci-Fi, part CSI. It’s about FBI agents investigating the case of an international airliner that lands in Boston––with all of its passengers and crew not only dead, but horribly murdered––which turns out to be only one small part of a shocking series of events.
The three editors on Fringe––Scott Vickrey, A.C.E., Tanya Swerling and Jon Dudkowski (the latter a holdover from the pilot, on which he was assistant editor)––are our cover subjects this issue. Writer Laura Almo interviews the trio (as well as Russell Denove, who cut the pilot) about their work on this series, which premieres in September on the Fox network.
Director Jonathan Demme offers up a different mix of fiction and reality as he takes a page from Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier’s Dogme 95 manifesto for his latest project, the romantic dramedy Rachel Getting Married, which opens in early October after screenings at the Toronto and Venice Film Festivals in September. According to the film’s sound crew, including supervising sound editor Paul Urmson, supervising dialogue/ADR editor Nicholas Renbeck, sound effects editor Blake Leyh, music editor Suzana Peric and re-recording mixer Tony Volante, the obstacles in doing the sound Dogme-style were challenging but not insurmountable. Dan Ochiva talks to the crew about its unique experience working on the film at the Sound Lounge audio post house in New York.
Also debuting this fall is a new tool for colorists and editors––the Baselight Eight color corrector, capable of 4K color grading in real time, from FilmLight Ltd. Our tech writer Debra Kaufman attended a demonstration of this groundbreaking system and reports on its various features and uses.
September is traditionally Back-to-School month, and so we profile a couple of post-production educational opportunities. A viable alternative to traditional film school or classes, training centers have been increasingly popular for helping post professionals brush up on their skills, or to learn new ones as the technology of our industry continues to change. Michael Kunkes takes a look at two such centers: Video Symphony in Burbank, California, and Manhattan Edit Workshop in New York City.
In our classification spotlight this issue are Foley artists, the newest members of our Guild. The art has come a long way from the various sound and vocal effects added direct-to-picture by Jack Foley and others in the early days of the Talkies. Kunkes traces the history of the art and speaks with several Foley folks to find out just what their work involves––and how it’s done.
Next issue, look forward to an interview with the latest 007 editors––Matt Chessé, A.C.E., and Rick Pearson––who discuss the latest James Bond film, Quantum of Solace. Until then, enjoy the autumn.