Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/370852
36 CINEMONTAGE / SEP-OCT 14 editor, or director for that matter, unless you have some sense of seeing [the film] in your mind. While many editors seem to have a naturally good sense of how to construct a clear and entertaining motion picture, others clearly need a structure, terminology and process to approach the work." Heath succeeds in his purpose by emphasizing the importance of understanding the entire scope of any given project. He says, "Like preparing to be a director, an editor needs to learn about working with actors and a crew. He or she needs to understand the writer's intent and the director's vision, and use editing techniques to flesh out the behavior of the actors and the vision of the director." Building step-by-step on the central editing objective to follow the story and lead the audience, Heath leads the reader through the post-production process in much the same way as he might edit a picture. He logically covers everything from breaking down the script to choosing perspective from all sight and sound choices available. He concludes the book with a chapter entitled "For Directors Only" to explain how a show should be prepped and shot to give editors optimum dailies with which to work. More than that, though, it provides an excellent overview of the director/editor relationship. Heath also published the book himself. "I used the Amazon service CreateSpace," he acknowledges. "It walks you through the process of self-publishing right over the Internet." Concrete Wedding Cake became available in January in hardcover, paperback and e-book editions. For more information, see www.amazon.com/Concrete- Wedding-Cake-learned-picture/dp/061595166X. SOUND EDITOR VANESSA THEME AMENT Like Heath, Vanessa Theme Ament represents the third generation of a movie family. Her grandfather worked in silent films and later served as a vice president at RKO in the early 1930s; her mother was a dancer and assistant choreographer. Unlike the three other editor and assistant editor authors, however, her Guild classification was sound editor, joining the local before the Foley artists did. She now teaches and writes. Over the years, Ament logged an impressive list of about 150 credits as Foley artist and Foley editor, as well as ADR, sounds effects and supervising sound editor. Her projects range from TV shows like Dallas (1978-91) and Cagney & Lacey (1981-88) to features such as Prizzi's Honor (1985), Die Hard (1988), Edward Scissorhands (1990) and Beauty and the Beast (1991). During her career, she says, "I learned the process of post-production in a peculiar way — with people suggesting what to learn as I went along. Few people have had the opportunity to cue it, shoot it, edit it and supervise it. I got to experience what a bunch of other people in post did." Fittingly, then, she is the author of the definitive book on Foley sound effects, The Foley Grail: The Art of John Heath.