Cutting Rhythms
“Karen’s insights about the flow of story, emotion, image and sound have helped me at all stages of filmmaking, from onscreen drafting to fine cutting.”
Genevieve Clay-Smith, multi-award winning Director
“A great resource! Karen’s out-of-the-box thinking about editing brings a new level of insight and articulation to describing what editors do and how we do it.”
Jason Ballantine, ASE
There are many books on the technical aspects of film and video editing. Much rarer are books on how editors think and make creative decisions.
Filled with timeless principles and thought-provoking examples from a variety of international films, the second edition of Karen Pearlman’s Cutting Rhythms offers an in-depth study of the film editor’s rhythmic creativity and intuition, descriptions of the processes and tools editors use to shape rhythms, and insight into how rhythm works to engage audiences in film. While respecting the importance of intuitive flow in the cutting room, this book offers processes for understanding what editing intuition is and how to develop it. This fully revised and updated edition contains:
- New chapters on collaboration and “editing thinking;”
- Advice on making onscreen drafts before finalizing your story;
- Tips on how to create and sustain audience empathy and engagement;
- Explanations of how rhythm is perceived, learned, practiced and applied in editing;
- Updated discussions of intuition, structure and dynamics;
- An all-new companion website (www.focalpress.com/cw/pearlman) with video examples and links for expanding and illustrating the principles of key chapters in the book.
Dr Karen Pearlman is a director of the multi-award winning Physical TV Company where she directs, produces and edits drama, docu- mentary and dance film. Currently a lecturer in Screen Production at Macquarie University, Karen is a former President of the Australian Screen Editors Guild and a four-time nominee for Best Editing at the Australian Screen Editors Guild Annual Awards.