Product Description

In the Blink of an Eye is celebrated film editor Walter Murch's vivid, multifaceted, thought-provoking essay on film editing. Starting with what might be the most basic editing question - Why do cuts work? - Murch treats the reader to a wonderful ride through the aesthetics and practical concerns of cutting film. Along the way, he offers his unique insights on such subjects as continuity and discontinuity in editing, dreaming, and reality; criteria for a good cut; the blink of the eye as an emotional cue; digital editing; and much more. In this second edition, Murch reconsiders and completely revises his popular first edition's lengthy meditation on digital editing (which accounts for a third of the book's pages) in light of the technological changes that have taken place in the six years since its publication.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6476 in Books
• Published on: 2001-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 148 pages

About the Author
Walter Murch

Customer Reviews

Really good if film editing is of interest to you
Really good and very interesting.
Walter Murch is a film hero and this book goes some way to explain why. It tells in his own words how and why he works and is refreshing in that the writer talks about new technology in a positive light, despite being grounded in traditional methods.
Going in to detail about when and why we blink he takes this and talks about when to cut and how blinking so important. If the audeince blinks at the wrong time then you've lost them. ie Don't cut when the actor blinks - cut when the audeince blinks.
Stuff like that and lots more.
A modest book, jam packed with stuff to think about.
I think I'll edit my next film standing up - see if his advice helps my film.

This is a short book - three or four key ideas, but good.
You can read this book in a lunchtime - very short, and not dense. It is a transcript of a lecture series - you get the feel. It really only has three or four key ideas, which are well explained, although it is very film oriented in the examples chosen.

It will spark some thought, but don't expect a detailed tretise.

SUPERB
If you want to get into video / film editing then buy this book as its a wonderful insight into the editing process - this guy has been editing since the 60s-present and its written in a really freindly, matey sort of way - very ingrossing and intriguing. The book is also fairly short so can be read quite quickly.