Alderaan said:
The editing in TFA was terrible. I had a conversation with a top Hollywood editor and he seemed offended I would think so and said I was wrong.
But I stand by my point. It’s downright terrible in TFA.
Alderaan said:
The first sequence was a disaster and should have been cut. The rest of Act I with Rey on Jakku was done pretty well I thought. This was the only part of the film that was allowed to breathe. The bit on the freighter was intolerable. After that, the film just felt rushed and jerky, no rhythm whatsoever. As Ric pointed out, I think the editing of the space battle in the final act was really poorly done. There was no dramatic tension at all.
I remember in the trailer there is a wide shot of BB-8 in the X-wing set against the snowy landscape on Starkiller, and all these TIE fighters start closing in. Such a dramatic and foreboding shot, but it wasn’t even edited right in the final film … I remember seeing it at the theater and thinking “that’s all they did with that great shot?” Then it was just pew-pew yippee we did it! Game over.
Another potentially great moment in the film was the reveal of Darth Vader’s melted helment. As it turns out, the thing was on screen for a total of 0.5 seconds right at the end of a scene and that’s it. The camera was on Kylo talking to himself for 30 seconds or whatever, and then only so briefly do we see Vader’s helmet. There is no buildup towards this scene, no real context that Kylo wants to “finish what he started”, so this huge reveal really calls for the film to
Stop.
Call attention to the helmet. And Kylo.
Really let it sit in for a moment.
And then carry on.
…Instead, we see it on screen for half a second and then mid-transition – welp – we’re onto the next action sequence just like that, no big deal.
Just out of curiosity, are you a filmmaker?
I only ask because you’re throwing out some pretty big opinions, and I’m curious about your credentials.
For the record, I make TV commercials. Admittedly I don’t make films, but it’s the same ballpark. I write the scripts, then oversee every stage of production. I choose the director and work closely with them during pre-prod and on set, I sit in on casting and have final say on actors, I oversee the edit, post and sound (all while juggling client and audience considerations and concerns). Although my ‘storytelling’ is confined to a couple of minutes, rather than full length features, I do like to think that years in the industry have given me some insight into how these things are put together, and like you I’m fortunate to count some Hollywood directors, editors and even actors as friends (including some names you would no doubt recognise). I know effects people who actually worked on the prequels, and others who have worked on Doctor Who, GoT, The Martian, Prometheus and Gladiator, to name but a few.
Here’s my website. It includes the work I’m proud of - I’ve probably made 50 more commercials than you see here, but I’ve lost count:
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And you know what?.. I would NEVER pipe up about how terrible the editing was on a Star Wars movie. Sure, I might say I don’t like it, or this and that bit sucked, but real, granular filmmaking critique?.. I’m simply not qualified, and I know how amazingly hard it is to balance every voice in the room and still end up with a finished product that makes sense and entertains people.
The director of every film you’ve ever seen, even the bad ones, deserves respect simply for getting a movie made and released in the first place. That doesn’t mean we can’t critique it (that’s part of the fun), but it always amazes me how easy people think it is, and how everybody thinks they can do better.
So are you a filmmaker? I’d love to see some of your work.