The documentary Invisible Art/Visible Artists highlights Menke and other editors.


To the average person, the film industry is defined by the actors who dazzle the screens and directors who guide their actions and emotions to complete works of art. But quietly sitting behind the scenes, toiling away for long hours in front of a computer screen are editors, the individuals necessary to turning film into cinematic masterpieces.

Sally Menke was one such editor. She was best known for her work editing director Quentin Tarantino’s films. Menke died last month in Los Angeles’ Griffith Park at age 56.

On Wednesday, the USC Women of Cinematic Arts organized an event praising the contributions of Menke and other women in the field by screening Alan Holzman’s documentary Invisible Art/Visible Artists.

The screening was followed by a discussion panel which included editors Suzy Elmiger, Chris Innis and Yana Gorskaya. Menke and Innis were featured in the documentary for their work on Inglourious Basterds and The Hurt Locker, respectively.

The film offered an insider’s look into the landscapes in which editors work. Featuring nominees for Best Editor in the 2010 Academy Awards, the film showcased a wide range of editing techniques as well, from the technology-dominated system used in Avatar to the documentary style filming of The Hurt Locker.

As the film went on, it was easy to gain a newfound appreciation for the people who stare, cut, paste, translate and analyze clip after clip of footage. The editors referenced the handheld, organic feel of Avatar that makes the audience feel as if they were in the planet Pandora with Jake Scully and Neytiri, the nontraditional Hitchcockian feel of The Hurt Locker which makes it “conventionally dramatic,” and the “gritty look” of Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire that makes the performance honest and free from artifice.

It’s hard for people not involved in editing to realize how significant the process is to filmmaking, and the comments and insights from these veteran editors shined a light on the craft. But merely screening this documentary was not the main goal of Wednesday’s event: It was to spotlight Menke’s work and the importance of women to this field in cinema.

Menke was not originally interested in film — she was interested in psychology because she liked to observe people. She eventually, however, chose to explore this interests through editing.

Educated at New York University and starting her career with CBS documentaries, she became the editor for all of Quentin Tarantino’s movies, beginning with Reservoir Dogs and ending with Inglourious Basterds.

“[Tarantino was] specifically looking for a woman to nurture him through the editing process of Reservoir Dogs,” Elminger said after the screening.

One of the most important aspects to the post-production process, as the panelists noted, is indeed this very relationship between director and editor. Gorskaya said a director should choose someone that he or she could be a roommate with.

And just as directors and actors often have their signature styles in performing work, so do editors.

Elmiger added that Menke had a tangible “commitment and passion” as well as an “attention to behavior and the subtleties on people’s faces.”

Innis said she believed that Menke’s trademark in editing was her conscious decisions to hold back information to increase the suspense and give rhythm to her pieces.

These traits became noticeable during the documentary as it focused on a clip from Inglourious Basterds. It was the scene where Col. Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz) orders milk and cream for Shoshanna Dreyfuss (Mélanie Laurent) — hiding under the alias of Emmanuelle Mimieux — to have with her desert. The scene plays with palpable uncertainty.

Does Landa recognize her and is he teasing her with her past as a dairy farmer, or is it simply coincidence? One could see the efforts Menke put into achieving just the right amount of tension — the uneasy twitches on the woman’s face, the smug expression that characterizes Landa.

The general public so easily attributes the success or failure of films and shows to directors, writers and actors, praising “Tarantino’s signature style” or “Brad Pitt’s techniques.” But after viewing the documentary, audiences can become more inclined to give credit where it’s due — to the editors that piece scenes together, and make characters three-dimensional.

It’s hard to imagine the amount of labor that is put into the production of films and television shows, but the next time a criticism or praise is made about visual style and effects, it is important to note the contribution of editors to the very decisions that spark inspiration or initiate disapproval.

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