In the Blink of an Eye: A Perspective on Film Editing
- Downloads：8450
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-03-22 18:34:37
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Walter Murch
- ISBN：1879505622
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Reviews
Vladimir Jevaguine
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I am a beginner with editing and filming。 This book gave me a new point of view about filmmaking。 I found this book very easy to read。 I recommend it to everyone who want's to understand more about filmmaking。 I am a beginner with editing and filming。 This book gave me a new point of view about filmmaking。 I found this book very easy to read。 I recommend it to everyone who want's to understand more about filmmaking。 。。。more
Spencer Sheffield
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Probably the best book to read if you want to do editing
Elliott
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[3。5 stars] I could honestly listen to Walter Murch all day。 He has a really wonderful way of putting things。 The first half of this slim book is a transcript of a lecture he gave in 1988， in which he discusses film editing in much more general， theoretical terms; in the second half， a revised afterword on digital editing from 2002， he gets stuck into the technical aspects of the transition from analogue to digital。 This was slightly less engaging for me， mostly because I will never get to work [3。5 stars] I could honestly listen to Walter Murch all day。 He has a really wonderful way of putting things。 The first half of this slim book is a transcript of a lecture he gave in 1988， in which he discusses film editing in much more general， theoretical terms; in the second half， a revised afterword on digital editing from 2002， he gets stuck into the technical aspects of the transition from analogue to digital。 This was slightly less engaging for me， mostly because I will never get to work with a mechanical KEM system （or probably even an Avid）， although it was still interesting to hear about the practical challenges of working with film - it sounds fun on the face of it， but all the filing， lab work and extra hours required make me grateful I live in a world where I can cut a film on my laptop， even if film looks much better。 。。。more
Jack
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Fascinating stuff， especially in a time of cinematic upheaval。 The second half speculating about the then-oncoming digital revolution is compellingly prescient。 Its abstract and free-wheeling a lot of the time， but Murch writes about the intangible appeal of the movies really， really well。 I’d be curious to hear what he has to say about the increasing shift to streaming and at-home viewing in the past year。
Alejandro
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En este libro encontrarás la forma de cambiar el corte de cada plano de tu filmación para que el cambio haga pensar diferente al espectador y perciba cosas diferentes。Walter Murch， define al cine， «una experiencia colectiva， teatral， tanto para el público como para el autor， con la particularidad de que la representación permanece idéntica cada vez que se muestra。 Lo que cambia es la reacción de los espectadores»， te hago la pregunta， ¿quieres saber más del cine？， si tu respuesta es， sí， tienes En este libro encontrarás la forma de cambiar el corte de cada plano de tu filmación para que el cambio haga pensar diferente al espectador y perciba cosas diferentes。Walter Murch， define al cine， «una experiencia colectiva， teatral， tanto para el público como para el autor， con la particularidad de que la representación permanece idéntica cada vez que se muestra。 Lo que cambia es la reacción de los espectadores»， te hago la pregunta， ¿quieres saber más del cine？， si tu respuesta es， sí， tienes que leer este libro en el que Walter te dará clases de cine a través de su experiencia en la industria y sus filmes。Disfrut。 。。。more
Brandon Hafeli
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Here's a guy who loves his work。 Lots of fascinating thoughts on creating and watching movies， past and future。 This edition is twenty years old but the material absolutely holds up， as it's far more philosophical than technical。 Even toward the end， when he's speculating on the development of digital cinema， it's neat to see how right he was。 Even if you don't work in film （as I don't） I recommend this highly to anyone interested in knowing what goes in to making them。 Here's a guy who loves his work。 Lots of fascinating thoughts on creating and watching movies， past and future。 This edition is twenty years old but the material absolutely holds up， as it's far more philosophical than technical。 Even toward the end， when he's speculating on the development of digital cinema， it's neat to see how right he was。 Even if you don't work in film （as I don't） I recommend this highly to anyone interested in knowing what goes in to making them。 。。。more
Sergio Peña
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Un gran libro sobre la historia del cine a través de la edición。 Sincero， humilde （la mayor parte del tiempo） y con ideas atemporales sobre el montaje y la importancia de los cortes dándole peso a la emoción sobre cualquier otra cosa。 El único problema es que el libro ahonda mucho más en la época análoga de la edición （en donde muchas herramientas son obsoletas hoy en día）。 Quizá una re-edición añadiendo más información sobre la edición digital， haría el libro más interesante y actual。
Paul
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The first half is pure gold -- philosophical review of how we edit and how we view the world。 Second half is dated but still a valuable view into the differences between editing with film and the beginning of the digital methods。
Jason
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In the Blink of an Eye first came out about the time I was teaching myself to shoot and edit video， and I was looking for all kinds of books to help me along with that education。 I remember looking at the book in my local bookstore and passing on it because it seemed less instructional than theoretical。 Now， 20 years on in my profession， and well past the instructional stuff， someone on one of my social media groups quoted from the book， and it piqued my interest。 So I got myself a copy。My first In the Blink of an Eye first came out about the time I was teaching myself to shoot and edit video， and I was looking for all kinds of books to help me along with that education。 I remember looking at the book in my local bookstore and passing on it because it seemed less instructional than theoretical。 Now， 20 years on in my profession， and well past the instructional stuff， someone on one of my social media groups quoted from the book， and it piqued my interest。 So I got myself a copy。My first instincts about the book were correct: this is about the theory of editing: what a cut is， what it does， how it works， why it works。 I have the 2nd edition， which came out in 2001， revised to include an updated section on the movement of cinema from film to digital media。 When the book was first published in 1995， that transition had only just begun。 In 2001， it was much more underway， though still far from where we are now in 2021。 The first part of book， mostly unchanged from the original printing， is 70-some pages adapted from a lecture series Walter Murch had given on film。 The last part of the book is called an afterward， but it is about equal in length to the first part。 The afterward looks at the move from film to digital media， looking at advantages and drawbacks， and detailing Murch’s own personal experience with the shift， a shift he had eagerly anticipated and partook in。 From 2021， it is impressive how accurate his analysis and predictions were。Murch is the exact kind of professional I love to read。 He’s not only terribly knowledgeable about his subject and field， but he’s an excellent writer and he engages with the art at an intellectual and spiritual level。 As someone who edits videos， even of a much lower caliber than the material Murch works on， I found myself nodding along in recognition of what he revealed。 His handling of the topic is simultaneously familiar and original， and always it is full of insight。 The work managed to give me a new appreciation for what we do， and that is a gift from Murch to all of us。 What Ansel Adams did for me in terms of photography， what Vincent Baker did for me in terms of game design， what Barry Hampe did for me in approaching documentary work， and what Robert McKee did for me in thinking about western stories， Walter Murch has done for m in film and editing。I’m glad I didn’t read the book at the start of my journey。 While I may have gotten a few glimpses of insight， I would have been asking the book to be something other than it is rather than hearing what it has to say。 。。。more
Tashrika
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A fantastic meditation relating cinema as the closest depiction of thinking。
Lukas Damgaard
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Love Walters way of talking and writing。 Exited to be able to tap into this genious mind。
Pedro Alagoa
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Fascinating how Murch can make us understand the intuitiveness of the editing process using only words。 It's usually tremendously hard to do that without showing images as an example， but he pulls it off perfectly here， especially in his comparison of movies to dreams。Didn't care as much about the parts where he compared the traditional editing methods （moviola， etc） with the new ones （and he goes on and on about it）， but I guess at the time it must have been a great read。 It can still be， if on Fascinating how Murch can make us understand the intuitiveness of the editing process using only words。 It's usually tremendously hard to do that without showing images as an example， but he pulls it off perfectly here， especially in his comparison of movies to dreams。Didn't care as much about the parts where he compared the traditional editing methods （moviola， etc） with the new ones （and he goes on and on about it）， but I guess at the time it must have been a great read。 It can still be， if only because of the historical record that was made by one of the most famous editors in Hollywood at the time。Will definitely become one of my go-to reads whenever I start editing something again， it's perfect to get into that mindset。 。。。more
Tyler
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Short， with some good nuggets。 More conversational （from a lecture） than instructional， but valuable and interesting nonetheless。
Katherine Thelander
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pretty good， though the second edition is really poorly edited （the irony！）。 maybe it was just the kindle version but the first half is ~20 micro chapters that are 6 pages long， and the entire second half is one massive chapter！ but anyway。 walter is a huge fan of the ‘feeling’ of editing， and it was interesting reading his process and seeing what i do without thinking and other things i could try。 he also just loves movies， and how could you not！“The paradox of cinema is that it is most effecti pretty good， though the second edition is really poorly edited （the irony！）。 maybe it was just the kindle version but the first half is ~20 micro chapters that are 6 pages long， and the entire second half is one massive chapter！ but anyway。 walter is a huge fan of the ‘feeling’ of editing， and it was interesting reading his process and seeing what i do without thinking and other things i could try。 he also just loves movies， and how could you not！“The paradox of cinema is that it is most effective when it seems to fuse two contradictory elements— the general and the personal—into a kind of mass intimacy。 The work itself is unchanging， aimed at an audience of millions， and yet—when it works—a film seems to speak to each member of the audience in a powerfully personal way。” 。。。more
Xavier Font
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Vey good editing book。 Teaches you about the core basics and science of editing and the how and why it works。
Gurvir Riar
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Loved this book！ I’ve been wanting to read it for years。 I’d highly recommend this for any aspiring filmmakers， especially those who want to become directors， cinematographers， or （of course） editors as I feel there are theories that are worth knowing for all careers。
Recco Mann
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I love the way Walter Murch views film editing as a showcase of storytelling by putting emotions and scene flow in high regard。 The Original text of this edition may not go on the technical side of editing， but Murch's use of intuition in editing really holds it up the pedestal of inspiration。 The chapter on the "Rule of Six" and "Dragnet" were the best bits。Reading the segment about the transition from analog to digital， though outdated， has proven to be interesting if seen as a piece of histor I love the way Walter Murch views film editing as a showcase of storytelling by putting emotions and scene flow in high regard。 The Original text of this edition may not go on the technical side of editing， but Murch's use of intuition in editing really holds it up the pedestal of inspiration。 The chapter on the "Rule of Six" and "Dragnet" were the best bits。Reading the segment about the transition from analog to digital， though outdated， has proven to be interesting if seen as a piece of history in cinema technology。Was it enough， though？ Not really。 I wish I could read more about his process。 Maybe video interviews would suffice at this point。 。。。more
Cameron Kaercher
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Professor Wentworth’s copy
Chris
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Recommended by Jodie Foster and it does not disappoint。 Solid insight into the art & craft of editing from a master。 Truly engaging with insight into editorial philosophy and the why， not just the how， of editing。 I recommend to any serious editor or filmmaker。
Gopikrishna Raju
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For anyone who wants to know why a film is cut， over how a film is cut。
Raúl Rodríguez
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Un libro adelantado a su tiempo。 Ha sido una lectura ligera porque no se limita a tratar el quehacer cinematográfico， también indaga en las relación del ser humano con cualquier medio artístico a lo largo de su historia y del devenir en los siglos posteriores。En conclusión， una lectura agradable para despedir un año de mierda。
Clam
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boring and didn't teach me anything。 boring and didn't teach me anything。 。。。more
Autumn J Bee
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Articulated amazingly， and like poetry， the beauty of editing。
Sean Sims
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I read a few chapters in and then didn't pick it up again for a while and then read the whole thing over from beginning to end。 What's interesting is Walter Murch refers to what I like to call emotional honesty。 It's something I've talked about with other filmmakers and with audience members。 I find that his views line up closely with my own and considering it has been a while since I first read that portion I wonder if that is a coincidence or if I accepted and internalized that philosophy as m I read a few chapters in and then didn't pick it up again for a while and then read the whole thing over from beginning to end。 What's interesting is Walter Murch refers to what I like to call emotional honesty。 It's something I've talked about with other filmmakers and with audience members。 I find that his views line up closely with my own and considering it has been a while since I first read that portion I wonder if that is a coincidence or if I accepted and internalized that philosophy as my own the first time I read it。 。。。more
Ingrid
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Rating: 3。5A really interesting book that gave me a new perspective on film！ I certainly learnt a lot， even though I sometimes felt that the things described and explained were a little to advanced for me。。。 nonetheless， an interesting and eye-opening read！
Blake Osborne-Wright
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It got repetitive after awhile and as a college student doing film and TV production this is all stuff I know about so it wasn't anything interesting to me。 It got repetitive after awhile and as a college student doing film and TV production this is all stuff I know about so it wasn't anything interesting to me。 。。。more
Emma Angeline
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I really enjoyed this， but I’m not sure how much I actually learnt。 Murch is certainly amusing to read and I can imagine great to listen to。 I’ve been editing since I was 12 so it has certainly affirmed and validated for me a lot of the things I knew about editing on certain levels， but never have had explicitly stated。 This new edition is already 20 years old。 I am DYING to know what Murch has to say on the evolution of editing within social video like goddammit how does he feel about tiktoks I I really enjoyed this， but I’m not sure how much I actually learnt。 Murch is certainly amusing to read and I can imagine great to listen to。 I’ve been editing since I was 12 so it has certainly affirmed and validated for me a lot of the things I knew about editing on certain levels， but never have had explicitly stated。 This new edition is already 20 years old。 I am DYING to know what Murch has to say on the evolution of editing within social video like goddammit how does he feel about tiktoks I GOTTA KNOW 。。。more
Mathias
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 tags: movie edit
Sam
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 3。5/5 Blinking， man。 Blinking。
Luis Sisinno
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