All language subtitles for MasterClass Ron Howard Teaches Directing - 129 - Editing Part 2

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I can't emphasize enough how valuable it

is to to show your your your project to

audiences who don't know anything about

it they don't all have to be test

audiences in um a multiplex with with um

preview cards to fill out and

questionnaires although I believe in

that process but just as valuable is

that screening with 10 friends if

they're willing to really talk to you

who have not seen the project before and

you run run it start to finish you don't

stop and afterwards you you know you you

make yourself vulnerable tell me about

my movie Let's you know what did you get

out of it uh it's sometimes you have to

read between the lines because of course

they're going to be polite and kind to

you so don't be too fooled by that uh

you know anything other than a rave

means that they have a little hint of

criticism under there but what you need

to begin to understand

is what is this

story

communicating really how how are people

feeling about it I know how they were

supposed to feel

well where is that consistent where is

that being achieved

where is it different if it's different

is it better or not as good as I'd hoped

it would be uh or is it some other idea

altogether audiences receive these

images and sounds in ways that are often

very surprising Sometimes some somebody

will say something you know some piece

of

exposition pretty much flat out and it's

clear it's there but for some reason

reason the audience isn't even hearing

it so that creates a moment of confusion

if that's happening you have to

understand it and find another way to

you know to say it again uh and or or

clear out the sound and make sure people

get it and it's you want to get to a

very you want to go kind of macro and

micro on your analysis of your project

during the during the post- production

period and be creative about the

solutions because sometimes the concerns

that an audience has really provokes you

to look at the scene once and for all in

a very original way and it sometimes

suggests that you edit it um and

approach it in a way that that is um you

know sort of better than you ever would

have dreamed of and more interesting and

a more surprising approach less

conventional um and and often the the

the the most unconventional ideas come

out of a need to try to uh either

eliminate some problem get it out of the

movie uh or reinforce some idea or some

feeling that isn't quite being

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conveyed editing is a very personal

thing on the one hand but it's

also a period where some objectivity

from Outsiders can really benefit you so

there's a kind of a you know an

intersection here between um feedback

that you're getting not only from the

editors uh but but uh you know the the

people who are watching what it is

you're you you know you've put together

and and giving you some information some

reaction um it's vitally important that

you continue to

understand the themes the ideas the

story that you're trying to tell the

thing that you believed in from the

beginning and yet not cling to it what

you want to begin to discover is well

what what else it it either you know

succeeds in saying or doesn't and yet

possibly could

say editing is a is a is a a process um

of whittling down you know I mean I

Michelangelo quote that uh you know the

sculpture is always inside the marble

you you you just have to find it Well

the the movie or the TV show is there

you have one added advantage and that is

that if you can identify uh a big big

new ideas or little tiny

ideas um that you never thought of

before you have a chance of going back

and re-shooting or re-editing and adding

voices adding dialogue and things like

that to help support

uh or even

reinvent the you know the the the the

nature of a scene and the impact that it

has on the audience and the and the

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story the editing process is another

period

where going to movies and television

shows that you like and watching them

with the sound

off um is very inspiring sometimes and

really helps you um begin to

understand where your scene or sequence

or entire story maybe uh selling itself

short letting itself down or where and

where where somebody else has done a

thing that is uh is you know is very

powerful and compelling it may be Pace

it may be Rhythm it may be the length of

the cuts holding for a long time or

going for a lot of very shortcuts these

these these two things are these two

ideas are very different and they they

both speak to the audience in in in

unique ways these are all things choices

that we've all experienced as viewers

and we've all had a reaction to and the

question is again what's going to work

best for this story this story that I

love the story I want to tell uh and um

you know it's not not not that uh it's

not that daunting if you are willing to

ask the question and if the answer is

not clear to you you know seek an

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answer it can be very very discouraging

even heartbreaking when you look at that

first cut of of the of the the film or

the television show um it's usually very

long

because the editors um whether you're

editing yourself or somebody has come in

to to edit with you or be the editor has

you know has probably

included everything that was interesting

at all in what you shot and

um 99.9 times out of 100 uh you know

that's not going to be ready to put into

the theaters or or or put on air yet uh

you you're going to have to make some

decisions about it and and often it's

far far too long um that's okay although

it's it's it's very difficult to watch

something that's overly long and so you

know on a gut level all any director

really wants is just to put it together

and have everybody say oh my God it's

genius it's never happened to me I don't

know anyone yet who has had that happen

uh but you know maybe maybe you're the

one maybe you're the one

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editing is the place where you you have

to be brutally honest to yourself about

what your film is and what it says um

now you're never going to make that film

that everybody 100% agrees uh Works in

every way so again you're going to have

to weigh options and make some choices

but when you discern that there's a

weakness

and and that weakness is not

fundamentally wired into baked into the

thematics of the story it's it it just

has to do with something that you could

address editorially it's important to go

ahead toss and turn talk to your editor

talk to your producers talk to your

friends and drill down on that and see

if there's a way to open it up and

rethink it and and perhaps solve the

problem and um that is very unsettling

work sometimes it undermines your

confidence in certain ways but I've come

to not despair but instead know that

this is part of the process and uh and

and and that there there's a great

reason to overcome that Despair and

pursue these Solutions because you can

sometimes wind up with uh the moments

that you're absolutely the proudest of

it's unexpect expected it's not the way

you planned it but the discovery is

thrilling and you're very happy to have

it in your film in this new um improved

way