Platonic Epistemology and Editing

The School of Athens by Raffaello Sanzio, 1509

I just came across a doctrine that rings true, called Platonic epistemology. It is a theory that because our souls are reborn, all knowledge already exists within us, and that through the journey of life we are simply reawakening that innate knowledge. I would also call this wisdom, which I have always felt comes from within a person's deepest sense of self. Well it may seem like a stretch to apply a 2400 year old philosophy to film editing, but bear with me.

One of my earliest childhood memories is sitting alone in a car with the radio on, and noticing how all the people walking by would fall into and out of sync with the music. It was the early 80s, and I was probably 3 or 4 years old. At that point I had never seen a music video, so the concept of piecing life together in that way was completely foreign. But what I did was essentially that. In my imagination, I started editing together the images I was seeing, "cutting" from one "shot" of someone walking in sync to someone else walking in sync, then to a car whizzing by, traffic lights swaying in the wind, a flock of birds on a wire then flying off in a burst of chaos, back to people standing and talking, then more walking in and out of sync. It must have been a pretty important realization for me: that all life has rhythm and sequencing.

Flash forward fifteen or so years, when I began linear editing with VHS decks, and it all started to make sense. They say do what you love, and I would only add, do what comes natural. So call it aptitude or call it a reawakening of an innate sense of rhythm and visual storytelling passed down from past lives, I do what comes natural, and I love what I do. Back to that childhood epiphany, the moment ended abruptly when my mother jarred open the car door, breaking the spell I was under. But I had seen the world in a new way, and life would forever have a soundtrack.

Lucid Editing

Bob Ross, master of happy accidents

Most editors are familiar with the happy accidents that almost create themselves as they work, which I called accidental editing in an earlier post. For me, the "Oops, oh wait that actually works!" is always an exciting moment of discovery. While I find these anomalies happen more in the early stages of a cut, when one works more loosely, they can occur at any time, keeping the editor of all people on the edge of his/her seat.

It is also a question of time. These beautiful mistakes happen more often during the assembly and rough stages because that is when we have the most time ahead of us (as opposed to the lead up to the deadline). But as I evolve as an editor, I seem to "play around" less, and make my editorial decisions more deliberately and quickly, treating the NLE more like a Moviola or Steenbeck than a digital wonderland of choices and experimentation. And so as a faster, more refined editor, I have mostly abandoned the haphazard, reckless throwing of shots onto the timeline to "see what happens". Don't get me wrong, there is still something to be said for experimenting: layering clips, moving shots a frame this way or that, splicing, trimming, ripple editing to your hearts content, and just plain trying things. But no one seems to want to pay for that, so you have to kind of do it all in your head, then actually do what you think is the best choice. "No wait, one more frame... There it is."

Well, there is another phenomenon I would like to turn your attention to, as I recently experienced it at a whole new level, and that is what I would call "lucid editing". In short, when editing, occasionally things have a tendency to go very right. I have found many such occasions, where a cut (or more likely a series of cuts) works better than I possibly could have imagined. Then I move on and something else magical unfolds that likely would not have presented itself had I not done exactly what I did in the lead up to that part. It's really an exciting feeling, even more so than the accidents. But then usually that feeling, that lucid moment, comes crashing down, caving in, as I find myself quickly buried in the normalcies of problem-solving (which I admit is rewarding in a different way). It's inevitable really and part of the art, some sequences fall into place, and others have to be worked, re-worked, then re-worked some more.

I consulted the dictionary, and one definition of 'lucid' related to dreaming, which is what I had intended for the term in editing, because like in a lucid dream, you "take control of an environment that is often illusive, disorienting, murky, and out of control." The other definition specified: "showing ability to think clearly, esp. in the intervals between periods of confusion or insanity." I would say both definitions are fitting.

On a recent film, Journey of a Dream, I had one of the best editing experiences of my career, and not surprisingly it is one of my best works. It wasn't all fun and games though— there were a lot of scenes that were incredibly difficult to pull off— but the fruits of my labor seemed to compound as I went along, like an undefeated, young Ali knocking out one opponent after another (not saying "I am the greatest" though by any means). The closer I got to the final scenes, the higher the stakes and greater the pressure... and I have always performed well under pressure. So there I was in the home stretch, the proverbial bottom of the ninth. One week to go, and the final Act to cut. The director and star of the show, Shenpenn Khymsar, had a lot riding on the final sequences of the film. In fact, it was make or break. And naturally it was up to me to make it work.

For a little background, the documentary is part rockumentary, part refugee story, part travelogue, and part human rights protest. Shenpenn, himself a contradiction of lifestyles between Rock/Metal and a traditional Tibetan Buddhist upbringing, found himself through music, then became an activist for the Free Tibet movement. A firm believer in human (and animal) rights, I felt it was my duty to bring my A-game to this project. As I went into the 11th hour of the edit, I had a very diverse array of footage that I somehow had to fit together; let's just say I had some concerns. Without giving too much away, the goal was to juxtapose completely opposite genres of music, relating them to the Western and Eastern cultures of which they originated and to one another, then connect the cultures and lifestyles of each through a framework of spiritual values, family ancestry, and social/political commentary, while somehow driving home a call to arms for a Free Tibet. Sounds easy enough, right? A simple juxtaposition would have been easy. To give it meaning and intelligence was the challenge.

I began editing with the right intentions, and what transpired was a somewhat zen-like feeling, as one thing after another really fell into place. One interview would say something related to the last, which gave me an idea of how to use something that I previously had no idea how to use, then it naturally transitioned to a song, then at the instrumental break, the next sound byte I wanted just so happened to fit perfectly... It was one surprise after another. It got to the point where I didn't even feel like I was doing the work, like the film was self-directing the edit. And honestly at times I felt like I was floating up out of my chair a little bit; lucid indeed.

If you've never lucid dreamt before, it's pretty amazing. Within the dream, you become aware that you are dreaming, and with that awareness, you can make anything happen. Crazed lunatic running full speed at you with a knife? Not a problem. Simply turn him into a butterfly and catch him in your net. Trapped underwater about to drown? Fear not, you can actually breathe underwater if you just try (a personal recurring theme of mine). While I may not have performed miracles of that caliber in those final days of editing, there were some relatively miraculous moments that I think will translate to the viewing experience. As we forged our way through the final scenes, we approached the ending. We tried the obvious first, then tried something different and original, and went out with a bang. Journey of a Dream premieres April 16th at the Chicago International Movies and Music Festival. A lucid journey for a lucid dream.