CineMontage

Q2 2019

Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1124770

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 55 of 69

54 CINEMONTAGE / Q2 2019 Post-Production and the Invisible Revolution of Filmmaking: From the Silent Era to Synchronized Sound by George Larkin Routledge Hardcover 238 pages $140 ISBN # 978-1-138-58833-2 by Betsy A. McLane G eorge Larkin offers a startling premise in the book Post-Production and the Invisible Revolution of Filmmaking: From the Silent Era to Synchronized Sound, one that may delight some readers while offending others. He states the fact that post-production work is critical to all filmmaking but takes that fact further, stressing that post is the major driver of film creation, eclipsing all else. The author acknowledges that producing, writing, designing, cinematography, acting and directing exist, but insists that true cinematic control is found in post-production. "The post-production process can thus be viewed as the master over the artistry of other film workers as all their efforts are finalized as part of that system," he writes. This stance will likely surprise those writers, producers and directors, let alone cinematographers, who see themselves as auteurs. Post- production artists will need to judge for themselves. Despite the long, impressive and justifiably proud history of film editing, and the reliance of some unfortunates on the belief that "We can fix it in post," most editors are quick to give credit to those who created the sounds and pictures that arrive in the editing room. There are disagreements and blow-ups, of course, and the best producers and directors learn to trust their editors' instincts. It is the extremely rare editor, especially a sound editor, who gets final say on the shape of any project. Editors also tend to be unseen and somewhat modest, certainly before the public, as well as to many in the business. To make his thesis viable, the author provides a detailed exploration of the US movie industry as it shifted from silent to sound films. As he states in his conclusion, "This book examines transitional periods where changes in technology and process influence craft" (italics Larkin's). Almost all writers on film, as well as those who make the films, acknowledge this relationship, and although Larkin claims that few have examined it, there is a rapidly growing body of writing on post-production processes — particularly writing and research about sound. So here is the rub: Post-Production and the Invisible Revolution is a useful addition to movie history, if the reader can lay aside the constantly restated claim that post is the most important part of filmmaking. Following lengthy introductions in Chapters 1 and 2, the third chapter surveys silent film-era exhibition practices, specifically the sounds and music orchestrated by exhibitors that almost always accompanied public screenings. Larkin's research backs up his statements CUT / PRINT Who Were the True Auteurs in Post-Production? ASK THE MONITOR MAN

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of CineMontage - Q2 2019