Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/681807
26 CINEMONTAGE / Q2 2016 say, "I wrote it but it's already in the novel and we may not need to say it here," or "These looks tell us more than the line did." CM: Relatively speaking, there are not many female directors working, but you have collaborated with many. Do you find a difference in the experience? SH: It's hard to say because I've had wonderful collaborations with both male and female directors, but I do feel women directors kick ass and need to kick ass more because the industry is not female-friendly, if you look at the statistics. We are shamefully underrepresented. CM: What makes a great edit? SH: Filmic storytelling is the synergy of sound and picture. The magic of editing is juxtaposing images and information; it's all about teasing the brain. The best edit is the one that your brain does. It's not only about having fantastic shots. It's in the accumulation of information about a character, contrasted with something else. Our brain is so quick, it always wants to know what's next. So how do we guide our audience and our own brains in the process? What information do we want to reveal at what point? It keeps changing in the shaping. It's not the plot that does it, it's the emotional journey that we take as an audience. Sometimes you think it's a plot problem, but it's really an engagement problem. If you can engage an audience by creating a personal moment for a character early on, it can go a long way. But you have to find it. We took some beautiful moments out of Maggie's Plan because they were in the way of feeling something more important. Find what makes you respond — which might also be a sound. But often it's how you see it and not what you see. f Maggie's Plan. Sony Pictures Classics