I don't think you can be a great director without knowing a lot about editing. Thelma Schoonmaker More Quotes by Thelma Schoonmaker More Quotes From Thelma Schoonmaker I'm not a person who believes in the great difference between women and men as editors. But I do think that quality is key. We're very good at organizing and discipline and patience, and patience is 50 per cent of editing. You have to keep banging away at something until you get it to work. I think women are maybe better at that. Thelma Schoonmaker menbelievethinking Like a lady who has lost weight and she's just getting to that point where she can fit into that favourite dress, you get the film down to just about the right cut. You can feel it when it happens. Thelma Schoonmaker cuttingweightdresses I read the script just once, and then forget it.I just deal with what I see every day on the screen and whetherI believe it and understand it. Thelma Schoonmaker scriptsforgetbelieve You have to keep banging away at something until you get it to work. I think women are maybe better at that. Thelma Schoonmaker bangingthinking [Martin] Scorsese says one of the great things he loves about it is how Mark can't get the right shot and he's killing people because he can't get the right shot. It's an example of what film-makers are like. Thelma Schoonmaker filmexamplepeople I'd trained to be a diplomat but the state department said I was too liberal. I saw an ad in the New York Times ... a hack Californian editor came to New York to butcher some films and he needed an assistant. For some reason I read it that day and it changed my life. I went to work for him and he was horrible, butchering these masterpieces by Antonioni, Visconti, but I learned enough to know what he was doing wrong. Thelma Schoonmaker diplomatseditorsnew-york Emeric [Pressburger] was completely cosmopolitan. That's what makes their [with Michael Powell] films so special. Neither of them thought twice about making a film about a friendship between an Englishman and a German during the Blitz. They were genius. Thelma Schoonmaker filmgeniusspecial Michael's Powell art director was a painter and they had a wonderful friendship and artistic understanding. Michael himself, in the way he designed his own house, it was always with bright colours. Very un-English! Thelma Schoonmaker understandinghouseart Michael Powell always used to say 'I'm a typical Englishman'. He was and he wasn't. He was very cosmopolitan and spent a lot of time in Europe. Thelma Schoonmaker typicalusedeurope Jack Cardiff - the greatest cameraman who ever worked in colour - was a lab boy to start with so he knew Technicolor from the inside out. Thelma Schoonmaker labscolourboys To receive footage that has been shot with editing in mind, it is a blessing. Thelma Schoonmaker shotblessingeditingmind When we were cutting 'Raging Bull,' Martin Scorsese was watching 'The Films of Hoffmann' on a 16-mm print over and over and over again. Thelma Schoonmaker bullagainoverwatching I'm very lucky. Most of my friends wait long times for jobs and also don't get the chance to work on 20 films, like I have, with someone like Scorsese. I love working for him. I just would never - I can't imagine working for anybody else. Thelma Schoonmaker friendsworklovelong I knew nothing about editing when I met Mr. Scorsese... Through a series of weird events, I ended up at New York University, and there was Martin Scorsese, and he had some troubles with a film I was able to fix. That's the only reason I became a filmmaker. Thelma Schoonmaker weirdnothingnewediting Editing is a lot about patience and discipline and just banging away at something, turning off the machine and going home at night because you're frustrated and depressed, and then coming back in the morning to try again. Thelma Schoonmaker youhomepatiencemorning Editing is really like plumbing a good deal of the time. You put two things together, and a current runs through it. Thelma Schoonmaker goodyoutogethertime That's the great thing about filmmaking: Things happen you don't know are going to happen at the end. Thelma Schoonmaker endgreatyouthings-happen If forced to choose my favourite film, I would have to say 'Raging Bull' because it was the first feature film I worked on, and it was like having pure gold in my hands. But my husband's film 'The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp' is equally a favourite because of its enormous emotional power. Thelma Schoonmaker husbandpowerlifedeath I can access footage much quicker, yes. But in terms of living with a film and knowing what's right, digital doesn't do that for you. Thelma Schoonmaker youlivingdigitali-can Cutting improvisation is really hard, because things don't match, and you end up with some bad cuts sometimes. But we'd rather have the bad cuts and the great improv. Thelma Schoonmaker endgreatyousometimes
