Final Cut New York
Thu, 09 Mar 2023 15:53:00 GMT
Betty Jo Moore is an editor at Final Cut New York. A resident of Chicago, native Canadian and avid potter, Betty Jo is passionate about collaborating with rising female directors such as Liz Sargent and Colleen Dodge. Her work on Dodge’s ‘Polished’, a reproductive rights story, has taken home multiple festival awards including Berlin and Barcelona and earned her Best Editor at the 2022 Indie Motion FIlm Awards.
Betty Jo> With a notepad, bagel and hot coffee.
Betty Jo> Follow my instinct. Keep it honest. Then listening to viewer perspectives helps refine the first two.
Betty Jo> To me, they are foundations for sitting in the chair. It is a vocabulary shareable with clients, particularly useful when articulating an abstract idea. And, of course, a common language means quicker collaboration and trust.
Betty Jo> I love to cut to music, and I love my music video-cutting experiences. I'm very proud of the music video for Dermot Kennedy's ‘Outnumbered.’
That being said, I like to watch my edits with all audio muted for pieces without actual music. Watching this way helps me sense out any edits I imposed on that could benefit from pacing - a viewable silent poem. Without music, you can still edit with rhythm. Pacing that feels fluid and not compromised can be pleasing. If we know our eyes dart under stress, pacing can be frenetic and sharper, like our breath. It can lift an edit and go far toward preserving the viewer's attention and enjoyment. Which is a way to show we value their attention.
Betty Jo> A short film I worked on, ‘Triplets’, features a professional ballet dancer pregnant with triplets. She was filmed dancing during each trimester of her pregnancy, and audio interviews were recorded. After the babies were born, there was one last shoot with them crawling all over her. The creative challenge was combining dancing scenes filmed months apart and choosing audio interview moments that make us feel as raw as she sounds. I also had to have the film finish on a question, which is not an ending.
Betty Jo> I like that I am in contact with the director early, before the shoot, after it wraps, and definitely for the early edits. I also like listening in on pre-pro calls as I'm always curious how they will create a world that is best technically - for the camera - but also carries the story.
Betty Jo> I like to review and assign value to all the footage before I start to select and edit, so it comes down to being on the same page about how to spend time. If time is tight and the path forward is unclear, it can feel like too much material. I am okay with not enough material if it narrows out ambiguity and presents creative opportunities. Limits can narrow options, which gets the edit exploration started sooner.
Betty Jo> I'm very proud of ‘#NeverNotAMom’ for Boppy. I love its quiet sounds and the natural beauty the directors captured. It weaves multiple lives of mums in a gentle gait. I still get relaxed whenever I watch this spot.
Betty Jo> I think the new spot lengths are fun and very freeing. Edits can be proposed around an outtake or an improvised or unscripted moment. I'm impressed when a six-second bumper can make me laugh. And with the longer-form edits, I'm free to be more artistic and experimental, which I love.
Betty Jo> Feature-length editors are my heroes for their commitment, endurance, and the faith placed in them by the film's director(s).
The first time a film's editing made an impression on me was ‘Run Lola Run’. It pushed its art form and stood apart from its contemporaries. Another film that really opened my mind is ‘The Diving Bell and the Butterfly’; a story mostly told from the point of view of a paralysed person's left eye or from within his memories.
Betty Jo> It's not a trend, but I think of the 2020 lockdown as the most significant change. First, all production halted for a beat, and we just sat waiting. We then got very busy mining the footage of past shoots for new purposes, looking with fresh eyes at stock footage. Footage shot on a smartphone was no longer just a 'style' choice. The show went on. Production incrementally re-opened, and technology raced to meet our remote "on-set" needs. It definitely changed the way we work and communicate.
view more - PeopleFinal Cut New York, Thu, 09 Mar 2023 15:53:00 GMT