A New Point Of View

Is blinking a more significant process than just wetting the eyes?  Could it perhaps be the dissection between two complete thoughts or images like that of a film cut?  Famous editor of Apocalypse Now and The GodFather, Walter Murch thinks so…

While attending my first post-production suite open house (exciting stuff), I had the opportunity to chat with some established people in the field.  After eating some pineapple and pretending I knew more about technical camera specs than I did, I was influenced by one very successful camera man to invest my time in a book called In the Blink of An Eye by this editor named Walter Murch.  I wrote down the title, thanked him, and utilized the opportunity to give out my business card for the first time (I guess I’m a social-networking natural).

This book is a manifesto.  And I will no longer look at blinking the same.  Murch spends a great deal of time discussing the artificiality of the film cut and how it does or does not relate to real life.  In the beginning he underlines the common notion of that time is continuous therefore the phenomenon of film is a pleasure to many without being a natural aspect of civilization. But later he contends strongly that its all about blinking… and now I know that if someone isn’t blinking the way I like I should get really pissed of because they are probably not interested in what I have to say…

The cut in film symbolizes the complete discontinuation of one feeling, mood, thought, image, etc. and the start of a fully independent new one.   To Murch, blinks work the same way to separate and conclude and to transition from one human thought to another, and therefore, both film editing and film itself are innately in tune with the human psyche and not merely just a random recreational offshoot of technological advancement. What a smart guy.

Using his theory in practice, makes his explanation of a good and bad cut so much easier to comprehend for the editing novice. When applying a cut he contends that many opportunities present themselves to an editor to cut a scene this way or that way, but that one almost always is the most natural in terms of supporting the emotion or symbolism of the entire scene.

And blinking can help you edit!  Who would have known it would be that easy?  Murch explains that most editors like people in general can sense the authenticity of dialogue whether one is observing the acting in a film or the response of another you are in conversation with.  Naturally, we are able to sense whether or not the information being expressed is genuine and or authentic.  And much of that has to do with the rate of blinking that supports the natural flow of a feeling or thought process in a person in a given situation.  Therefore, an actor who is pretending to be angry, should blink the way a nervous person does in real life would blink because it correlates with the type of thought process a nervous person has innately.  Wow. Now that I know that, I guess I don’t needing to take acting class after all.  Even after reading this, it seems to me that many people are not consciously aware of how expressive blinking is and how observant we are to it even if we don’t realize we are.

Maybe, I should use this to my own advantage. Pretending I like a certain food might now be easier and maybe I will be able to spot lying out like Dr. Cal Lightman.  Now creating the most convincing performance ever in the future Batman reboot won’t be so hard…  It’s reassuring to know, I’ll be able to blink my way to superstardom.

Read In the Blink of An Eye by Walter Murch.  I recommend it to anyone who is interested in media production.  It will make you think differently next time you are in front of that computer and are already running on fumes and can’t decide how to finish a stubborn scene.  Look for where that blink is located and ride it to victory.  Maybe I won’t need film school after all….

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Nicholas Bernardo was a 2011 RedEye  Intern