Movie Magic of the Bad Robot Editorial Team Revealed Live on Stage at the IBC Show

Avid Blogs by Wim Van Broeck

There was a packed audience at the Avid main stage, this second day of IBC 2014 in Amsterdam. Editors Maryann Brandon, ACE and Mary Jo Markey, ACE took a quick break from editing Star Wars: Episode VII at Pinewood Studios, London. They were joined by their Assistant Editors, Julian Smirke and Matt Evans. Matt Feury from Avid tried hard to get a scoop on the upcoming Star Wars movie.

Maryann pointed out: ?the script on Star Wars: Episode VII is constantly changing. But Mary Jo and I try and divide the scenes from the start, so we both do the same amount of dialogue and action scenes. Of course, as the script changes and some scenes get bigger and other ones get deleted, we have to balance the workload again.?

Star Wars: Episode VII is being shot on film, so J. J. Abrams made sure he got lots of film stock before shooting, being afraid it wouldn?t be available anymore. Maryann and Mary Jo add to that: ?Yeah, film looks nicer, it has a richness, a ?real? quality. But in the end, the story is the story, the action is the action, whatever you shoot on.? -

Julian: ?At the start of a movie project like Star Wars, the Assistant Editors deal with dailies and organizing footage and bins. We help the editors, so they can concentrate on creating a story.?

Matt: ?Yes, managing all the media and prepping dailies is the least enjoyable part of being an Assistant Editor. The fun begins later on when helping to cut the movie.? read more...