Sight, Sound and Story 2015 – Watch it now!
Sight, Sound and Story is an annual, all day event hosted by the very excellent Manhattan Edit Workshop, and features a rare opportunity to hear from some of film and televisions best editors, for hours at a time. I’m a huge fan of Manhattan Edit Workshop and you can find plenty of gems from them in these previous posts.
This year’s event was LiveStreamed and you can catch it in two parts below, jump to the official site for a handy bio of each of the speakers.
Sight, Sound and Story 2015 on Video Part 1
In part one of the Livestream from The Padcaster, you can watch the first two sessions from the day; The Great Unscripted: The “Real” in Reality Television, moderated by the always great value Gordon Burkell from AOTG.com and featuring the following panelists: Alanna Yudin (Ink Master, Mob Wives), Joe Schuck (Alaskan Bush People, Best Funeral Ever), Julie “Bob” Lombardi (Teen Mom, Town of the Living Dead).
The second session is Anatomy of a Scene: Deconstructing Documentary Films, featuring Andy Grieve (Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, The Armstrong Lie), Zac Stuart-Pontier (The Jinx, Catfish), Pax Wassermann (Cartel Land, Knuckleball!) and moderated by Garret Savage (My Perestroika, Ready, Set, Bag!).
Note – There seems to be a slight problem with the audio at the beginning of the LiveStream but it gets sorted out eventually.
Here are a few choice quotes from some very helpful folk who were live tweeting from the event. For tons more of the same, check out and follow @SightSndStory, @aotgnetwork, @bcpcollective and @postperspective.
How do you celebrate a locked cut? Start the next episode. #RealTVPanel #SSS2015
— Blue Collar Post (@BCPCollective) June 13, 2015
"Take whatever job presents itself to you and do your best. Doors open at the strangest time" #FabienneBouville #SSS2015 #TVITNBpanel
— Sight, Sound & Story (@SightSndStory) June 13, 2015
"You have to ask yourself, Are you purely just entraining or documenting?" On the difference between editing reality TV and documentaries
— AOTG Network (@AotgNetwork) June 13, 2015
#SidneyWolinsky if you want to be an editor stop assisting. How you do it today I don't know. Work hard. #sopranos #SSS2015 @SightSndStory
— postPerspective (@postPerspective) June 13, 2015
Sight, Sound and Story 2015 – 2 Hours with William Goldenberg
The third and forth sessions can be seen in this second video, which focuses on a panel of TV editors and an extended conversation with Oscar winning editor William Goldenberg (Argo, The Imitation Game, Zero Dark Thirty, Unbroken).
UPDATE The full video has been removed from Livestream, but there are a few clips available via Manhattan Edit Workshop.
TV is the New Black: Television’s Cinematic Revolution – Moderator: Michael Berenbaum, ACE (The Americans, Sex and the City)
Speakers: Fabienne Bouville, ACE (American Horror Story, Masters of Sex), Sidney Wolinsky, ACE (Ray Donovan, The Sopranos), Jesse Averna (Sesame Street, Monica’s Mixing Bowl)
PremiumBeat.com also has a really nice write up on the William Goldenberg portion of the event, which helps you get a good sense of the topics covered.
“It’s taken me a whole career for me to gain confidence. I think my insecurities, wanting to make everything perfect, are what makes me good at editing. It seems with every film I’m as terrified as I was when I started 22 years ago. Every film creates its own set of problems unique to that film. Often, there are sequences in films where you don’t know how to put it together. When I look at all the footage for a scene sometimes, I think, ‘Where do I even start?’ You get that anxiety feeling that never really goes away.”
"Look for imperfections. They make the film feel alive" -William Goldenberg #SSS2015 #ITCR
— AOTG Network (@AotgNetwork) June 13, 2015
Taking criticism is one of the most important things for an editor to learn #WiseWords #InsideTheCuttingRoom #WilliamGoldenberg #SSS2015
— Sight, Sound & Story (@SightSndStory) June 13, 2015
When a story is so important to real people the editor feels a great responsibility #WilliamGoldenberg #ITCR #SSS2015
— Blue Collar Post (@BCPCollective) June 13, 2015
#WilliamGoldenberg To edit is to improve. Don't cut for cuttings sake. Have a reason to cut. The bravest thing to do is not to cut. #SSS2015
— postPerspective (@postPerspective) June 13, 2015
Inside the Cutting Room – Stephen Rotter
If that wasn’t enough for you, you can also enjoy this previous LiveStream, also from the Padcaster, with author Bobbie O’Steen chatting with editor Stephen Rotter A.C.E for a couple of hours on his career and craft. Rotter has edited over 20 feature films and also cut one of my favourite movies – The Right Stuff. You can also read two books from Bobbie O’Steen in this previous post – Books on Film Editing Part 2.
Inside the Cutting Room – Legends of the 70’s
In this 2 hour video you can hear from some of the legendary editors of the 1970s including Oscar-winning editors Jerry Greenberg, A.C.E., Alan Heim, A.C.E., & Susan Morse, A.C.E. and Bill Pankow, A.C.E.
Note – The sound starts pretty loud, so maybe turn down your speakers/headphones!
