1. Emotion 2. Story 3. Rythm 4. Direction of the audience's sight 5. Bidimensional space of the screen 6. Tridimensional space of the action(continuity) Explained in "The blink of an eye" by Mr Murch himself
In film-making, the key elements can be ranked in this order of importance: Emotion - Creating the right emotion at the right moment to engage viewers and advance the story is paramount. Story - The plot, character arcs and narrative structure come second. All creative decisions should ultimately serve the story. Rhythm - The pacing and timing of shots and scenes help support the emotion and narrative progression. Attention - Guiding the viewer's focus and "eye trace" can reinforce emotion and clarity, though it's not essential if it hinders emotion or story. Continuity - Both spatial and temporal continuity are far less important than the above elements. They can and should be sacrificed for the sake of emotion, story or rhythm. Technique - Technical precision, conventions and aesthetics are the least important. Emotion, story and audience experience always come first. In summary, emotion and story come before all other considerations in crafting an effective film. Rhythm, attention and continuity can enhance it but should never impede it. And technical proficiency is only worthwhile to the extent that it serves emotion and story.
This is Gold. And you have given the transcript as well which is a bonus. Thanks for being considerate. And thanks for this entire interview. I will never be able to thank you enough for this.
I guess the next questuon would be "how to evaluate the emotion value of a shot and how would the emotion value impact a cut". Out of the 6 rules mentioned by Mr. Murch, the other 5 are both intuitive and easy to quantize, but emotional value's impact is far more difficult to describe.
I agree with everything he's saying - even in fan editing. The thing I take most is from Kevin Smith: BE LETHAL. Cut that junk out lol. You may love it but does it NEED to be in there, does the MOVIE need it, etc... Very helpful cuz it always keep you alert that there's an AUDIENCE and this isn't always just for you lol ;P
I actually used alot of what he says in my 22 film Star Wars saga. It's not as DEEP when fan editing because the material is already edited and scored, etc... but you can see the crappy editing and choices made in the star wars prequels when looking at them as an 'editor'...there's A LOT to fix in those movies and imo, damn near all of the saga was fixable with proper editing. I can't think of ANYTHING that bothers me now on a big level - in anything of star wars. But this goes back to my point of them being good tools for people to start with lol... When you understand the crappiness of something and can go back and fix it...you're on the right path. If you can't then go sell shoes. ;)
This is going through an analytical process, assuming that emotion is arrived at by the Process of EDITING. Bollocks, if the Emotion is not there, then there's no way you'll find it ever no matter how much you edit it !!!!!!
1. Emotion
2. Story
3. Rythm
4. Direction of the audience's sight
5. Bidimensional space of the screen
6. Tridimensional space of the action(continuity)
Explained in "The blink of an eye" by Mr Murch himself
Surprised that he put emotion first, not story
In film-making, the key elements can be ranked in this order of importance:
Emotion - Creating the right emotion at the right moment to engage viewers and advance the story is paramount.
Story - The plot, character arcs and narrative structure come second. All creative decisions should ultimately serve the story.
Rhythm - The pacing and timing of shots and scenes help support the emotion and narrative progression.
Attention - Guiding the viewer's focus and "eye trace" can reinforce emotion and clarity, though it's not essential if it hinders emotion or story.
Continuity - Both spatial and temporal continuity are far less important than the above elements. They can and should be sacrificed for the sake of emotion, story or rhythm.
Technique - Technical precision, conventions and aesthetics are the least important. Emotion, story and audience experience always come first.
In summary, emotion and story come before all other considerations in crafting an effective film. Rhythm, attention and continuity can enhance it but should never impede it. And technical proficiency is only worthwhile to the extent that it serves emotion and story.
This is Gold. And you have given the transcript as well which is a bonus. Thanks for being considerate. And thanks for this entire interview.
I will never be able to thank you enough for this.
1:06 Story
1:27 Rhythm
2:22 EYE TRACE
4:04 180 degree rule
I guess the next questuon would be "how to evaluate the emotion value of a shot and how would the emotion value impact a cut". Out of the 6 rules mentioned by Mr. Murch, the other 5 are both intuitive and easy to quantize, but emotional value's impact is far more difficult to describe.
Currently reading his book In the blink of an eye, amazed 🍃
Ooh had to write that down!
I never ever thought of what point on the screen the viewer’s eye was fixed on re: transitions.
Loving his book at the moment! Good to watch this!
I agree with everything he's saying - even in fan editing. The thing I take most is from Kevin Smith: BE LETHAL. Cut that junk out lol. You may love it but does it NEED to be in there, does the MOVIE need it, etc... Very helpful cuz it always keep you alert that there's an AUDIENCE and this isn't always just for you lol ;P
I actually used alot of what he says in my 22 film Star Wars saga. It's not as DEEP when fan editing because the material is already edited and scored, etc... but you can see the crappy editing and choices made in the star wars prequels when looking at them as an 'editor'...there's A LOT to fix in those movies and imo, damn near all of the saga was fixable with proper editing. I can't think of ANYTHING that bothers me now on a big level - in anything of star wars. But this goes back to my point of them being good tools for people to start with lol... When you understand the crappiness of something and can go back and fix it...you're on the right path. If you can't then go sell shoes. ;)
This is interesting.
Great advices
This is going through an analytical process, assuming that emotion is arrived at by the Process of EDITING. Bollocks, if the Emotion is not there, then there's no way you'll find it ever no matter how much you edit it !!!!!!
Well, then that just means that the script or direction is crappy. As editors we should try to abide by these rules (not always).