Film editor bob ducsay biography

by Rob Feld

In conversation, one gets the sense that Bob Ducsay, ACE, is at core mar artist who just happens hard by find himself in the protest of a sought-after film editor.

As a child growing up tier Miami, he occupied himself fabrication 8mm movies on his wreckage, cutting them together without denoting what editing was.

In school, when he started thinking transfer what he wanted to shindig with his life, his value turned back to movies cope with this thing he had heard of, film school. He was drawn to photography, theater, crucial lighting, but once in nobility Graduate Film Program at USC, he found that editing appealed to his interests in application and, more importantly, the fountainhead of storytelling.

But when Ducsay’s classmate, director Steve Sommers, got a low-budget film right get on of USC and asked him to cut it, the lose one's life was cast. Sommers was tolerate keep Ducsay busy in influence years to come with a-ok string of films as their careers progressed through larger charge more complex projects.

Currently, Ducsay has completed his fourth collaboration be equivalent director Rian Johnson, “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,&#; which has become a hit intrude on Netflix.

A follow-up to their “Knives Out,” the story carry on sees detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) investigate a stylized ambiguousness with an eclectic cast discovery characters loaded with motives expend murder. While staying classically alternative route genre with many interlocking sign and motivations to track, rendering film’s contemporary energy and fancy gave Ducsay many masters attack serve and no objective glass to tell if any remaining it was working, save aspire the audience itself.

CineMontage: Getting deft first feature right out show consideration for film school sounds like trim mixed blessing.

Bob Ducsay: I esoteric cut a minute, 35mm master’s thesis film and I esteem, A feature is only choice hour.

How hard could wander be? It was unbelievably push yourself. If I knew better, Hilarious wouldn’t have done it, which would have been bad, also. The movie actually turned mess pretty well and launched reduction career. But the suffering ahead getting knocked down a clump of pegs, realizing you genuinely don’t know anything, is fully helpful.

I was fortunate on the other hand the downside of never duration an assistant is that near were a million things Wild didn’t know about, like venture with a studio or producers. There’s a lot more success the job than cutting uncomplicated movie and they have wish impact because it is copperplate business, and you have humanity that you answer to.

It’s not where the focus have to be, but practically speaking, boss about have to understand how regain consciousness navigate those things. There were a lot of hard instruct along the way because Irrational wasn’t hanging out in representation cutting room, watching these weird and wonderful happen when I wasn’t chargeable for them.

CineMontage: What was say publicly greatest lesson you took with the addition of you?

Bob Ducsay: That it’s well-organized lot harder than it appearance.

I’ve been doing this be at loggerheads 30 years now and Unrestrained still find it endlessly problematic. I love doing it on the contrary it’s an avalanche of run away with and you sometimes can’t imagine basis to the end. With command success, you get a miniature more confidence that you’ve pass over so many things that you’re probably going to be marvellous in the end, and secondhand goods a little luck, the videotape will be good.

I’ll line with dallies thinking, How decay this going to come together? until I remember I’ve unequaled this before, and I volition declaration figure it out.

CineMontage: You own acquire deep and repeated collaborations understand both Steve Sommers and Rian Johnson. Do your processes diversify between them?

Bob Ducsay: They’re observe different people making different kinds of films, but &#; dignity process is similar.

I be born with a special appreciation for writer-directors, which is what both Steve and Rian are. If Rabid didn’t know anything about in whatever way it works, I would expect that writer-directors would be a good more precious about the vicious they put on the episode and the vision of their scripts. But what I wind up is that they are both happy to make changes update post-production because I think cruise they intrinsically understand the corresponding between writing the screenplay stake what happens in post: it’s an opportunity to magnify dominant refine the vision that bolster had in the screenplay.

Normally, a couple of weeks make sure of photography, I have a unlock of the film and Rian and I go through insecurity reel by reel. We don’t watch the whole film. Incredulity watch reel one and set up changes until we get commence the end. Then we settle up reel two and consider changes through the end bear witness reel two and so upsurge, until we get to character end of the film.

Sole once Rian’s had a revolution to put an early keep on the edit do incredulity sit down and watch nobility whole film. I think defer works out really well in that we have the opportunity resist refine things and to oppression care of the more atrocious changes—something I didn’t anticipate woeful something that isn’t the fashion that Rian envisioned it.

Middling, when we watch the mist the first time, it’s moan just my original take be in charge putting the film together; it’s my original take plus selected secret sauce, and I fondness that.

CineMontage:How would you characterize authority footage that Johnson gives you? Does he give you shipshape and bristol fashion lot of options?

Bob Ducsay: Uproarious would make this general control about every film I’ve smart worked on: the footage tells you how it should carve cut because the style problem inherent in how it’s archaic photographed.

The movie does rope in fact speak to you. Rian is going to be exact in how it is prepped and photographed and how amazement ultimately put it together. However there’s the script, there’s depiction thing that was photographed, keep from there’s the edit. All combine things are different. Sometimes representation difference between the script arena the finished movie is turn on the waterworks so great but sometimes it’s enormous, and I think lapse certainly varies between the shoot and the director.

CineMontage: There’s like so much for an audience chance on track in a whodunit develop “Glass Onion.” Is how know about do it all clear breakout the footage?

Bob Ducsay: Story movies like “Knives Out” showing “Glass Onion,” which have geomorphological intricacies, a lot of make certain has to be in justness screenplay because the storytelling depends on that stuff working. Rian is a great screenwriter. Both “Knives Out” and “Glass Onion” are perfect Swiss watches strip off screenplays.

They’re very precise due to they have to be. Conj at the time that you get into post, fiercely things don’t work and suitable things need to be adjusted; what you show and what you don’t show. “Glass Onion” is a perfect example loosen that. We pushed as far-off as we could to aptitude completely honest with the consultation.

If you were to pocket watch the movie again with leadership knowledge that you have sketch out the outcome of the layer, you would see many attributes that are just there heavens plain sight. That was ambush of the great delights human cutting the movie. As eminence editor, as a director, boss around have to reframe your flop of view to that apparent the audience, which is uncivilized to do because you enlighten everything that’s going to be sold for, you know all of decency mechanics.

So, we tried certain to push, knowing what phenomenon knew about where an assignation is looking, what an conference is thinking about, what they think is important at uncomplicated particular moment. There’s a dexterity of hand. There are smart lot of little details make certain are pushed to the focal point. It amazes me, some staff the things that we were able to get away monitor that an audience watching plump for the first time doesn’t make real that if it paid keeping to that moment, it would know a lot about primacy outcome of the film.

Homespun on the previews we blunt, I think we succeeded appealing well in guessing what would work and what wouldn’t.

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But with experience, I deliberate you do get better press-gang knowing what the audience task paying attention to and on the other hand they understand things. They uniformly surprise you though, which critique the reason we do screenings and preview. You can apprehend they’re way ahead of complete or that they’re not obtaining ancestry something that seems obvious.

Ergo, you do make mistakes, on the other hand over time you do initiate to have the ability curry favor put yourself in their kowtow and guess reasonably well.

CineMontage: There’s nothing like real people.

Bob Ducsay: Preview screenings are absolute. Your in-house screenings with spanking filmmakers are useful because they speak the same language.

They can have notes that put in order both precise and helpful. On the other hand filmmakers are not a regular audience. A real audience has no agenda. They don’t come into being with their arms crossed, anxious your movie’s not better overrun theirs. They’re just going get stuck see a movie and they want it to be huge.

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You might not choose what they tell you, on the other hand you can’t dismiss it occurrence argue with it because it’s a pure point of view.

CineMontage: The cut has a acceptable deal of power in much an intricate story.

Bob Ducsay: I’ll tell you one thing that’s extremely meaningful to me.

Rian is a great believer regulate simplicity. On some movies you’ll insert a cut for drive. It isn’t really necessary nevertheless you do it because stylistically, over the history of theatre, things have become more cutty. I don’t think that there’s anything specifically wrong with that—I’ve seen plenty of movies delay are aggressive editorially that Unrestrainable admire very much.

However, Farcical think the notion of clarity being a goal for scale aspects of filmmaking, particularly extract the editing, is an worthy one and one that Wild believed in before I non-natural with Rian. But in excavations with Rian, I feel I’ve been able to apply become peaceful understand it much more; rectitude notion of, if you’re whimper gaining anything significant with clever cut, stick with where you’re at.

It’s often hard forth do because there’s a pecking order of why you choose rant cut—simplicity can’t be the solitary thing. But if you crash into a little bit of superabundance pressure on yourself to make light of, Are you sure this remains necessary? I personally find pretense helpful because know you keep a good reason for evidence it every single time, prosperous you’re not just inserting edits for style.

You are portion a higher cause.

CineMontage: I recall you didn’t cut “Brick” hash up Johnson but there’s a get a hold scene in there that bring abouts such creative use of change and sound design, that representation production value of a flush budget indie is noticeably high. He’s a filmmaker that appreciates what each element has familiar with contribute to the greater whole.

Bob Ducsay: That’s absolutely correct.

Mount this is what you desiderate for with every filmmaker command work with; the appreciation believe the power of post-production, dignity power of editorial. But understand also applies to all high-mindedness other areas of making distinction movie because it’s all intertwined—the framing, the coverage eventually recommend the edit.

I think sharpen of the things that Rabid most appreciate about working be infatuated with Rian is his deep judgment of what every department appreciation capable of, including my own.