EVERY WHICH WAY BUT LINEAR

The first chapter of my journey into the world of media began unintentionally almost thirty years ago. I was intending to pursue a law degree, so it was only by chance that I took Media Studies as a timetable filler during my A-Levels.?

Mr Lavery was the most supportive teacher; his enthusiasm was contagious. He liked anything to do with Clint Eastwood and was keen for us to analyse the skills of a good director. He obviously saw in me a talent in this field which he encouraged me to pursue.

In 1990 I joined a 2 year?course in Professional Film and Television Production. It was based in a facilities house?complete with professional television studios, edit suites and sound dubbing facilities. My first year addressed all aspects of filmmaking, including production, camera, editing, and sound. The second year focussed on two areas that would become my speciality. I choose Sound and Editing. We were privileged to have lectures from some of the industry's top producers, directors, and script writers, whilst having access to an array of professional facilities. The course provided me with a solid foundation in the world of media.

From the start, everything was broadcast standard. We had full use of the edit suites, ranging from offline (VHS/S-VHS) and online suites (U-matic, Betacam and DigiBeta). Audio was equally as important, with the use of a SQN directly fed into a separate Betacam recorder linked to a camera - Camcorders arrived a bit later! Other audio equipment included DAT, Nagras, ?” tape and 2” tape with a patchbay linked to Q-Lock and a 36 channel desk for sound mixing. With an abundance of microphones available we became skilled in choosing the best mic for each individual application.??The equipment we had at our disposal was, and most still is, industry standard.

About 6 months prior to graduating, I was offered a two week placement as an Assistant Editor at The Visual Link, a Production Company in Carlisle. The main edit suite was like mission control on the Starship Enterprise – a huge purpose-built space, housing three 1” machines, four DigiBeta machines, a Grass Valley 200 vision mixer, Sony 2000 Edit Controller, Ampex ADO 100, 500 & 2000 (DVEs – Digital Video Effect generators), Scribe caption generator, 24 track sound desk, DAT, and a Laser Disc recorder, complete with patch bays for audio and video routing.

To me, as a student, it was very impressive and a little overwhelming! During the following two weeks I shadowed Ian Calvesbert a fantastic online Editor. I learned so much from his style and the disciplines needed to run a smooth, fast-moving edit suite. As an assistant I had to be one step ahead – ready with the next reel and able to lace up a 1” machine in seconds. I was given a tweaker; a little screwdriver used to line up tape machines accurately using colour bars as a reference. This was the most crucial tool to keep on hand at all times, and it's something I still have today.

Shortly after my return from placement I was offered a full-time position. In October 1992 I started as an Assistant Editor and quickly worked my way up the ranks to Online Editor.

It’s so difficult not to say that familiar phrase “In my day…” but editing was so different. We didn’t have the luxury of ‘Ctrl/command Z’ as linear editing was the norm. Unpicking multi-layered edits wasn’t easy if any amends were required, but we had disciplines in place to deal with every eventuality.

Colour correction was done on the fly, notes were made on the scripts for any level changes and stored effects that had been saved within the DVE’s. Everything was backed up to floppy disc regularly for each project and stored safely.

The world of?professional Video-Production?moves fast and non-linear editing became considerably simpler with the advent of Avid. Although having never used a PC/Mac before, manipulating a mouse felt strange at first, and I'd never heard of a desktop! Previously, all documents had been typed on a word processor rather than a desktop computer.

It's important not to look back too much but, whilst keeping up with the progression of technology, the timeless disciplines that go into the artistic Mise-en-Scène cannot be forgotten. It’s a skill lost on a lot of amateurs who are adept with the technology but not with the art of film-making.

I’m so grateful for the training I received at the Visual Link. I was surrounded by talent which I still talk about today. I continue to be super-organised and that stems from the grounding I received in the early days; something which I instil in my Post Production colleagues and the wider?team at Three Motion. The benefit of organising projects and having a back-up to dip into is essential. With the advance in technology, it’s too easy to be a lazy Editor – everything can be unpicked – but discipline means more than clicking Ctrl/Command Z, it requires peer to peer involvement, a tidy work flow, and respect for anyone who may need to pick up a project from you.

Clint Eastwood learned his trade as a director working with Sergio Leone and although Clint didn’t star in it, I would recommend Once Upon a Time in the West as a masterpiece in film-making; directing, soundtrack, and production. Mr Lavery and subsequent mentors’ critical analysis of those films has had a great influence on the way I put a film together.

When a good author finishes writing a novel they often go back and re-write the first chapter as they know the story and characters a lot better than they did when they started. This is also a good trait to have when making a film. If I were to go back to my first chapter, I don’t think I would change anything. BUT I’m still excited by every technological advance and can’t wait to see what additional tools we’ll have in the future.