The notion of directing a film is the invention of critics - the whole eloquence of cinema is achieved in the editing room.
Interpretation
Directing is often overemphasized, while the true artistry of film lies in editing.
Walter Murch's quote emphasizes that the essence of filmmaking is not just in directing but primarily emerges during the editing process. He suggests that critics often give undue credit to directors, overlooking how editing crafts the narrative and emotional impact of a film. This reflects the collaborative nature of cinema, showcasing how various roles contribute to the storytelling experience.
In practice
In a film studies class discussing the importance of editing.
You can always make a film somehow. You can beg, borrow, steal the equipment, use credit cards, use your friends' goodwill, wheedle your way into this or that situation. The real problem is, how do you get people to see it once it is made?
Film editing is now something almost everyone can do at a simple level and enjoy it, but to take it to a higher level requires the same dedication and persistence that any art form does.
I believe that one of the secret engines that allows cinema to work, and have the marvelous power over us that it does, is the fact that for thousands of years we have spent eight hours every night in a 'cinematic' dream-state, and so are familiar with this version of reality.
There are many, many nouns for the act of looking - a glance, a glimpse, a peep - but there's no noun for the act of listening. In general, we don't think primarily about sound. So I have a different perspective on the world; I can construct soundscapes that have an effect on people, but they don't know why. It's a sort of subterfuge.
Film is really the one art form that can effectively use silence. Music and theater can play with silence, but they can't sustain silence without losing energy, whereas film can go into a silent mode and stay there for minutes at a time.
This applies to many film jobs, not just editing: half the job is doing the job, and the other half is finding ways to get along with people and tuning yourself in to the delicacy of the situation.
If there were only one truth, you couldn't paint a hundred canvases on the same theme.
How do you explain what it feels like to get on the stage and make poetry that you know sinks into the hearts and souls of people who are unable to express it
This is where you see the truth of entertainment, because it is not edited. You see it on stage as it is happening. Even if we fall down or forget our words, it's a part of live entertainment.
There are artists who delight listeners with their wild and daring individuality; there are others who uncover the written score with reverence. There are few who can do both.
Theater is a verb before it is a noun, an act before it is a place.
Two questions I can't really answer about fiction are 1) where it comes from, and 2) why we need it. But that we do create it and also crave it is beyond dispute.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.