Press release March 2008

David Fairhead tells us about his editing experiences

David Fairhead, who was the editor for the film ‘In The Shadow Of The Moon’, currently on general release, entertained members of Surrey Border Film & Video Makers at their March meeting. His talk revealed many insights into the filmmaking business. While making the Moon film he got to meet most of the astronauts who went there, and he also gained access to archive material from NASA which had been shot in high definition film and never previously seen by the public. Apparently NASA recorded the rockets from many unusual viewpoints just in case something went wrong which they would need to investigate.

David was brought up in a family which attended a local video club rather like our own and he has been editing films for 23 years now. He says that editing is about finding the best way of telling a story. He spoke of his experiences in television as well as with many films and he explained for instance how crowd and battle scenes don’t always use the number of actors you seem to count on screen. He also laid great emphasised on the need for the ‘right’ music to help the portrayal of the message.

David made his points with illustrations from numerous clips. One very moving one was a view from a helicopter taken with the Sun low in the sky, revealing a dimpled landscape caused by the shell holes from the First World War still visible even today, so long afterwards.

When talking about some editing he did for The Bill, he pointed out that such films are always shot from the point of view of particular individuals or groups, in this case the police. For example, shots showing a door being forced are always taken from the outside, i.e. the ‘police’ perspective, not from the villain’s perspective, inside.

David gave us many things we need to think about in our own filmmaking. Perhaps the most memorable and insightful quote that he left us with was:- “The funny thing about editing is that it's one of those jobs that when done well is almost invisible. It shouldn't intrude or dominate, it should just tell the story in the most effective and economical way possible”.