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Tuesday September 18, 2001
Cutting & Logging Episode II
The Official Star Wars Site has a great article about cutting and logging Episode II.
Allison Gibbons has seen Episode II –- dozens and dozens of hours worth of Episode II. As an apprentice editor, 22-year old Gibbons watched every minute of footage shot for Attack of the Clones, faithfully logging its content so that those up the editorial chain –- namely Ben Burtt -– have a better grasp of the images available to them.
The all digital production has meant learning new ways of handling shots. Prior to Episode II, Gibbons had worked on The Matrix as an apprentice editor. "That was on the film side of things," she recalls. "I'd be filing trims [the actual physical film strips] and cleaning film, whereas here it's all on computer. I used to project rushes for them as well -- I'd go up to the projector room and lace it all up for them to watch. Here, it's just basically turn the projector on, put the tape in, cue it up, and it's ready to go."
Gibbons' challenge is organizing all the information associated with each shot. Every take gathered with the hi-def cameras has a great deal of accompanying data needed elsewhere in production -– be it the date-of-shooting, the type of lens used and its settings, and any problems with the shot. Gibbons enters this information into a database used throughout production.
Since Episode II's editor, Ben Burtt, is also the sound designer, Gibbons has found herself helping gather sound effects as well as other responsibilities in her role. "Here I am stomping around, making Godzilla sounds, and Ben is directing it and recording it," laughs Gibbons. "I'm not just editing; I'm doing lots of other things. I go out and look for obscure movies for Ben, just for reference. I cut out plastic spiders for him, so we could have a quick visual effect. He's shot a lot of quick stuff on digital just to fill in effects shots, so I cut up plastic spiders and popsicle sticks and gaffer's tape to make an effect. It's not just sitting at a computer. It's lots of different things every day."
Burtt has remarked that Gibbons is probably the only person involved in the production that has seen every second of footage. "I'm the one who constantly looks at it," she says. "Because I'll have watched it all, I'll basically know where everything is on all those tapes. It's a good element to have. Not even George Lucas has seen all of that."
In addition to cataloging each shot, Gibbons has been putting aside particularly humorous blunders into a gag reel. "There's been some pretty funny things. There's a few things we can't put in because of swear words and things. Or when the lady farted on set -- we were cracking up for hours here. Or when Ewan couldn't get a line out, but he kept trying and trying and stuffing it up each time. It's funny to watch. It gives me something to laugh at after sitting there for three hours watching all this footage."
Despite the sheer enormity of her task, Gibbons counts herself fortunate to be involved in such a key step of the production process. "Here is where the movie really starts to come together," says Gibbons. "I can watch 10 takes of one thing, from different angles and such, and when Ben cuts it and you can see the flow of it. That's probably the best part of the job."
Gibbons realizes that although she has seen a great deal of the footage, she is nowhere near seeing the finished product, what with over 2,000 digital effects shots to be added by Industrial Light & Magic. "I'm really excited because of the way the script visually describes the scenes. I just can't wait to see what these bluescreens turn into."