Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/335006
54 CINEMONTAGE / JUL-AUG 14 think and feel deeply about what he or she is creating, and not just mechanically follow a set of rules. My recommendation would be for a new editor to read this book in parallel with something like Murch's in order to understand the centrality of emotion and story when evaluating a cut. The risk is that novice editors might learn only from Grammar of the Edit, put all of their attention and focus on making technically perfect edits, and make cuts that leave audiences feeling emotionally unaffected. This edition is definitely an improvement on past editions. I do, however, have reservations about its narrowness of focus. Perhaps future editions could contextualize the role of grammar within the art of editing more, to help new editors clearly understand their priorities. f Grammar of the Edit CONTINUED FROM PAGE 49 LABOR MATTERS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 52 platform called for the repeal of federal campaign finance laws, the abolition of Medicare and Medicaid programs, the deregulation of the medical insurance industry, the repeal of the "fraudulent, virtually bankrupt and increasingly oppressive" Social Security system, the repeal of all laws which "impede the ability of any person to find employment, such as minimum wage laws," the repeal of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, and the abolition of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The Libertarian Party platform opposed all government welfare, relief projects and "aid to the poor" programs, and opposed all personal and corporate income taxation, including capital gains taxes. The platform advocates for the GET TING ORGANIZED like Tarkovsky on Quaaludes. Job actions that shut down both production and post-production usually sprint their course to a contract, often ending in a matter of hours. Not necessarily so, though, when post goes it alone. Recent strikes involving just editorial crews walking off the job, without a work stoppage of the production crew, have generally run just shy of a week in duration. (Two such strikes last year, securing union agreements on Swamp People and Naked and Afraid, ran four days and six days, respectively.) The editors and assistants of Last Comic Standing secured their union contract after only a day and a half off the job. Some members, in fact, sent us e-mails kvetching that the strike was settled before they got a chance to come down to help walk the picket line. Such complaints about the strike's brevity, of course, came from members who were not themselves part of the crew on strike. The strike to win a contract for Last Comic Standing, in fact, was so sudden and short that one might almost be forgiven for saying we "flipped" the show. Prominent among my pet peeves — and this brother has a kennel full of peeves — is the use, in the argot of our industry, of the word "flip" as an informal synonym for "organize." I object to the term, and not merely because it seems to me that the role of organizer affords a modicum more dignity than the role of flipper. As I've written in this space before, I don't like that use of the verb because it connotes an action that is spontaneous and effortless, although organizing is neither. Even when it might appear quick and trouble-free to the casual observer, it takes significant preparation, strategy and sheer chutzpah to convince a non-union employer to sign a strong union contract. Connotations to the contrary notwithstanding, "flipping" ain't easy. The hard work that a seemingly effortless "flip" belies is, in fact, an ongoing project. That's why you shouldn't stop me if you've heard this one before — we're not really just retelling an old story; we're continuing it. Each victory builds upon previous wins and makes possible future successes. That's not to say that the next strike will be shorter than Last Comic's, and it's certainly not to say that flipping will ever get easy. But it is to say that it's worth it. f CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 "complete separation of education and [the] State. Government schools lead to the indoctrination of children and interfere with the free choice of individuals. Government ownership, operation, regulation and subsidy of schools and colleges should be ended." If the Libertarian Party platform is any indication, adds Sanders, the Koch brothers want to repeal "every major piece of legislation that has been signed into law over the past 80 years that has protected the middle class, the elderly, the children, the sick and the most vulnerable in this country." With the disastrous "Citizens United" Supreme Court decision, they can now legally spend unlimited amounts of money to "buy the House of Representatives, the Senate and the next President of the United States." Sanders, invoking future generations, demands that we let democracy prevail. f Guild President Alan Heim and member Amy Duddleston on the picket line. Photo by Bonnie Osbourne CineMontage_Jul-Aug_14-4.indd 54 6/18/14 7:06 PM