Art of the Cut

Today on Art of the Cut we speak with Oscar-winning director, Laura Poitras, who also edited the documentary, Cover Up, with fellow editors, Amy Foote, ACE and Peter Bowman. Cover Up is available to watch now on Netflix.Laura’s documentaries have been nominated for three Oscars - for All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, My Country, My Country, and CitizenFour, which won the Oscar. She’s also been nominated for three Emmys, winning one, for CitizenFour, which also won a BAFTA.Amy’s been on Art of the Cut before for All the Beauty and Bloodshed, for which she was nominated for an ACE Eddie, and Hail Satan? Her other work includes Father Soldier Son, which won an Emmy for Best Documentary Editing, and Girls State, among many others.Peter Bowman is a Cinema Eye Honors nominee for Cover Up, along with his co-editors. His other work includes Girls State, How to Fix a Drug Scandal and USA versus Chapo: The Drug War Goes on Trial.Our conversation today will cover the importance of allowing breaths to allow the audience to feel and absorb, the ethics of documentary, and the difficult choices of killing one’s darlings to streamline the story.If you want to read along with this podcast and see exclusive photos and timeline screenshots, go to the BorisFX blogsite:borisfx.com/blog/aotc

Today on Art of the Cut we speak with Oscar-winning director, Raoul Peck and editor Alexandra Strauss. Both have been on Art of the Cut in the past for Raoul’s film, Ernest Cole: Lost and Found.Raoul is an Oscar-nominated, BAFTA-winning and Emmy-winning director/producer for his documentary I Am Not Your Negro. He was also a winner of Cannes Golden Eye Award for Ernest Cole: Lost and Found and a nominee for Orwell: 2+2=5.  He was an International Documentary Award winner for Exterminate All the Brutes. And received Cinema Eye Honors Award nominations for I Am Not Your Negro, and Exterminate all the Brutes.Alexandra has been nominated for numerous awards for her editing, including Cinema Eye Honors Awards for Best Editing for Orwell 2+2=5, Ernest Cole: Lost and Found, I Am Not Your Negro, and Exterminate all the Brutes.On this episode we discuss the importance of voice-over in documentary, how and why to deliver tone, and the power of juxtaposing historical archival with modern news footage.You can read along with this episode - and ALL the episodes - on BorisFX.com's blog site:BorisFX.com/blog/aotc

Today on Art of the Cut we speak with the three editors of the Netflix TV series, Black Rabbit: Vikash Patel, Cedric Nairn-Smith, and Kyle Reiter, ACE.Vikash is an Emmy winner for his work on Top Chef, and an Emmy nominee for Ozark. His other work includes TV series Revolution and The Sympathizer.Cedric Nairn-Smith has been on Art of the Cut in the past for Daredevil: Born Again. His other work includes Moon Knight and The Boys.Kyle’s been nominated for four Emmys and four ACE Eddies for his work on Barry, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and Atlanta.On this episode we discuss their approach to new material, the benefits of working with a director who’s also a showrunner, and tying the show’s tone with score. You can read along with this podcast on the BorisFX.com blog site:borisfx.com/blog/aotc

Today on Art of the Cut we speak with Oscar-nominated editor, Sandra Adair, ACE, about the Richard Linklater film, Blue Moon.Sandra was last on Art of the Cut for her last collaboration with Linklater, Hit Man. Before that we spoke about her film Where’d you Go, Bernadette. She was nominated for an ACE Eddie for her work on School of Rock. And she was nominated for an Oscar and won an ACE Eddie for her work on Boyhood. Her other work includes Dazed and Confused, A Scanner Darkly, and Bernie.In this interview Sandra discusses the secrets to editing overlapping dialogue, the importance of eye-lines, and the value of having a long history editing an actor.You can read along with this interview audio on the BorisFX website and see trailers, clips, exclusive photos and timeline screenshots. Go to:borisfx.com/blog/aotc

Today on Art of the Cut we speak with multi-Emmy nominated editor Tricia Reidy, ACE about editing Ken Burns’ documentary series, The American Revolution.Tricia has edited for Ken Burns and Florentine Films since college starting with the documentary series The Civil War which she edited with Paul Barnes and Bruce Shaw. Also, Frank Lloyd Wright (Emmy nomination for editing), and The War, (also nominated for an Emmy). Others include Vietnam, The Roosevelts, and Muhammad Ali.The American Revolution was also edited by Maya Mumma, ACE and Craig Mellish, ACE. Maya and Craig were not included in this interview, but have both been featured on Art of the Cut in the past.This interview discusses how the show’s theme shaped the structure, the role of subtext in the opening shot, and the impact of the many celebrity voice over actors on the film’s pacing and even it’s music.If you'd like to read along with this podcast, check out the BorisFX.com blog to get the transcript of the interview along with exclusive photos, clips, trailers, and a timeline screenshot. Visit:borisfx.com/blog/aotc