First Cut offers an opportunity to learn what film editing really is, and to learn from the source. Gabriella Oldham's interviews with twenty-three award-winning film editors give a full picture of the complex art and craft of editing a film. Filled with animated anecdotes and detailed examples, and updated with a new preface, this book provides a comprehensive treatment of both documentary and feature film editing.

Acknowledgements

Foreword
Harrison Engle

Preface to the 2012 Edition

Introduction

Being an Editor
Sheldon Kahn

Becoming an Editor
Emily Paine

Distilling the Documentary
Tom Haneke

Film as All the Arts
Carol Littleton

Flashback, Flashforward
Harold F. Kress and Carl Kress

The Essential Film
Geof Bartz

Telling Stories
Tom Rolf

Sparkling Life, Shaping People
Paul Barnes

Touching the Heart
Anne V. Coates

Maximizing the Moment
Bill Pankow

Percussive Editing
Paul Hirsch

Keeping the Beat
Donn Cambern

Seeing the Invisible
Evan Lottman

Remaining Versatile
Peter C. Frank

Good Stuff Never Changes
John D. Dunning

Subliminal Truths
Ted Winterburn

The Inner Voice
Sidney Levin

Drawing the Emotional Line
Merle Worth

The Supreme Collabotion
Barry Malkin

Diplomatic Takes
Rudi Fehr

Creating a Legacy
Richard Marks

"Locking Up"
Alan Heim

Appendix: Awards and Nominations
References
Index

Gabriella Oldham is a freelance writer. Her books include First Cut: Conversations with Film Editors (UC Press), and Keaton’s Silent Shorts.

Harrison Engle is the award-winning director and producer of more than 80 films, including the documentaries The Indomitable Teddy Roosevelt and The LOST Kennedy Home Movies.

"Fascinating reading."—Randolph Man, THE Magazine

"This superb collection of interviews illuminates the art of film editing with a level of detail and insight that few previous books have possessed. . . . Through descriptions of the cutting of key sequences in films directed by Coppola, De Palma, Forman, Pollack, Lumet, and others, Oldham's interviewees reveal not just the mechanics of cutting shots together but also how an editor is guided intuitively by the 'inner rhythm' of a sequence. . . . This book is indispensable for all those who wish to deepen their understanding of the editor's contribution to film structure."—Stephen Prince, Film Quarterly