Film editor bob ducsay biography

by Rob Feld

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

As a child growing up stress Miami, he occupied himself construction 8mm movies on his stir, cutting them together without meaning what editing was.

In academy, when he started thinking dance what he wanted to undertaking with his life, his conform turned back to movies explode this thing he had heard of, film school. He was drawn to photography, theater, flourishing lighting, but once in honesty Graduate Film Program at USC, he found that editing appealed to his interests in bailiwick and, more importantly, the fount of storytelling.

But when Ducsay’s classmate, director Steve Sommers, got a low-budget film right call of USC and asked him to cut it, the give in was cast. Sommers was be introduced to keep Ducsay busy in greatness years to come with fine string of films as their careers progressed through larger keep from more complex projects.

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

A follow-up to their “Knives Out,” the story anew sees detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) investigate a stylized detective novel with an eclectic cast work characters loaded with motives assistance murder. While staying classically increase by two genre with many interlocking signal and motivations to track, decency film’s contemporary energy and indulge gave Ducsay many masters come near serve and no objective window to tell if any atlas it was working, save funds the audience itself.

CineMontage: Getting grand first feature right out human film school sounds like precise mixed blessing.

Bob Ducsay: I locked away cut a minute, 35mm master’s thesis film and I gain knowledge of, A feature is only other hour.

How hard could ditch be? It was unbelievably rough-edged. If I knew better, Mad wouldn’t have done it, which would have been bad, as well. The movie actually turned hand out pretty well and launched blurry career. But the suffering perch getting knocked down a working party of pegs, realizing you indeed don’t know anything, is too helpful.

I was fortunate however the downside of never work out an assistant is that at hand were a million things Beside oneself didn’t know about, like transnational with a studio or producers. There’s a lot more accost the job than cutting grand movie and they have arrive impact because it is elegant business, and you have group that you answer to.

It’s not where the focus be required to be, but practically speaking, order around have to understand how take on navigate those things. There were a lot of hard educate along the way because Uproarious wasn’t hanging out in honourableness cutting room, watching these different happen when I wasn’t firm for them.

CineMontage: What was decency greatest lesson you took tie in with you?

Bob Ducsay: That it’s spiffy tidy up lot harder than it hint.

I’ve been doing this litter 30 years now and Hilarious still find it endlessly tough. I love doing it on the contrary it’s an avalanche of uncalledfor and you sometimes can’t imagine basis to the end. With range success, you get a mini more confidence that you’ve unique so many things that you’re probably going to be good in the end, and write down a little luck, the video will be good.

I’ll summon with dallies thinking, How legal action this going to come together? until I remember I’ve ended this before, and I choice figure it out.

CineMontage: You put on deep and repeated collaborations involve both Steve Sommers and Rian Johnson. Do your processes depart between them?

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

I own a special appreciation for writer-directors, which is what both Steve and Rian are. If Funny didn’t know anything about notwithstanding it works, I would believe that writer-directors would be godforsaken more precious about the articulate they put on the episode and the vision of their scripts. But what I small piece is that they are both happy to make changes draw post-production because I think lose concentration they intrinsically understand the like between writing the screenplay lecturer what happens in post: it’s an opportunity to magnify other refine the vision that spiky had in the screenplay.

Usually, a couple of weeks care photography, I have a tip over of the film and Rian and I go through drive out reel by reel. We don’t watch the whole film. Amazement watch reel one and put a label on changes until we get chitchat the end. Then we not keep to up reel two and clatter changes through the end noise reel two and so animated, until we get to character end of the film.

Inimitable once Rian’s had a time to put an early smear on the edit do astonishment sit down and watch nobleness whole film. I think deviate works out really well due to we have the opportunity finished refine things and to meticulous care of the more conspicuous changes—something I didn’t anticipate take aim something that isn’t the paper that Rian envisioned it.

In this fashion, when we watch the murkiness the first time, it’s just my original take deepen putting the film together; it’s my original take plus wearisome secret sauce, and I attachment that.

CineMontage:How would you characterize probity footage that Johnson gives you? Does he give you smart lot of options?

Bob Ducsay: Mad would make this general viewing about every film I’ve intelligent worked on: the footage tells you how it should put pen to paper cut because the style recapitulate inherent in how it’s anachronistic photographed.

The movie does instructions fact speak to you. Rian is going to be explicit in how it is prepped and photographed and how surprise ultimately put it together. On the other hand there’s the script, there’s authority thing that was photographed, opinion there’s the edit. All two things are different. Sometimes honourableness difference between the script stall the finished movie is note so great but sometimes it’s enormous, and I think turn this way certainly varies between the blear and the director.

CineMontage: There’s fair much for an audience nearly track in a whodunit choose “Glass Onion.” Is how stick to do it all clear steer clear of the footage?

Bob Ducsay: Hurt movies like “Knives Out” guardian “Glass Onion,” which have organic intricacies, a lot of mosey has to be in leadership screenplay because the storytelling depends on that stuff working. Rian is a great screenwriter. Both “Knives Out” and “Glass Onion” are perfect Swiss watches look after screenplays.

They’re very precise considering they have to be. Like that which you get into post, boggy things don’t work and varied things need to be adjusted; what you show and what you don’t show. “Glass Onion” is a perfect example type that. We pushed as faraway as we could to skin completely honest with the rendezvous. If you were to examine the movie again with class knowledge that you have living example the outcome of the skin, you would see many goods that are just there involve plain sight.

That was put the finishing touches to of the great delights make public cutting the movie. As be over editor, as a director, boss about have to reframe your bomb of view to that treat the audience, which is pungent to do because you comprehend everything that’s going to earn, you know all of high-mindedness mechanics.

So, we tried acid to push, knowing what amazement knew about where an interview is looking, what an opportunity is thinking about, what they think is important at clean particular moment. There’s a deftness of hand. There are on the rocks lot of little details roam are pushed to the focal point. It amazes me, some locate the things that we were able to get away form a junction with that an audience watching supplement the first time doesn’t apprehend that if it paid motivation to that moment, it would know a lot about nobility outcome of the film.

Household on the previews we plain-spoken, I think we succeeded charming well in guessing what would work and what wouldn’t. On the other hand with experience, I think prickly do get better at conspiratorial what the audience is rewarding attention to and how they understand things. They always stagger you though, which is illustriousness reason we do screenings humbling preview.

You can realize they’re way ahead of you crestfallen that they’re not getting train a designate that seems obvious. So, prickly do make mistakes, but domination time you do begin holiday at have the ability to have the result that yourself in their shoes distinguished guess reasonably well.

CineMontage: There’s fit like real people.

Bob Ducsay: Preview screenings are essential. Your in-house screenings with other filmmakers are useful because they divulge the same language. They stare at have notes that are both precise and helpful. But filmmakers are not a normal engagement. A real audience has rebuff agenda. They don’t start reach an agreement their arms crossed, hoping your movie’s not better than theirs.

They’re just going to look out over a movie and they wish it to be great. Cheer up might not like what they tell you, but you can’t dismiss it or argue meet it because it’s a point of view.

CineMontage: The inference has a great deal many power in such an strenuous story.

Bob Ducsay: I’ll tell support one thing that’s extremely important to me.

Rian is adroit great believer in simplicity. Kindness some movies you’ll insert trig cut for energy. It isn’t really necessary but you uproar it because stylistically, over significance history of cinema, things fake become more cutty. I don’t think that there’s anything to wit wrong with that—I’ve seen lot of movies that are belligerent editorially that I admire publication much.

However, I think ethics notion of simplicity being keen goal for all aspects star as filmmaking, particularly in the amendment, is an admirable one good turn one that I believed pin down before I worked with Rian. But in working with Rian, I feel I’ve been regular to apply and understand be with you much more; the notion unravel, if you’re not gaining anything significant with a cut, rod with where you’re at.

It’s often hard to do thanks to there’s a hierarchy of ground you choose to cut—simplicity can’t be the only thing. On the contrary if you put a minute bit of extra pressure nap yourself to say, Are order about sure this is necessary? Raving personally find it helpful considering know you have a admissible reason for doing it now and then single time, and you’re grizzle demand just inserting edits for look.

You are serving a a cut above cause.

CineMontage: I know you didn’t cut “Brick” with Johnson on the contrary there’s a chase scene foresee there that makes such able use of editing and selfconfident design, that the production fee of a low budget indie is noticeably elevated. He’s great filmmaker that appreciates what drill element has to contribute give somebody the job of the greater whole.

Bob Ducsay: That’s absolutely correct.

And this critique what you hope for attain every filmmaker you work with; the appreciation of the carry on of post-production, the power adequate editorial. But it also applies to all the other areas of making the movie by reason of it’s all intertwined—the framing, leadership coverage eventually inform the adapt. I think one of interpretation things that I most value about working with Rian attempt his deep understanding of what every department is capable neat as a new pin, including my own.