Monday, July 14, 2008

"I'm feeling very choppy choppy lately..."

It's a technical editing term that we use - one that we were taught in the film school that we never attended. It's called "choppy choppy," and it's about the art of the chop, or the use of cuts that don't necessarily mirror reality as it happened. "Reality as it happened," though, is a really meaningless term when it comes to motion pictures. Isn't that the whole point, anyway? I mean, isn't it more fun when reality is plastic, when you can mess around with it, when you can alter it to your own best viewpoint? When you can engage in the black art of the choppy-chop?

Anyway, this technical term came up today when we were moving from one scene to the other in "Gaming the System," and we realized that it could also very well be state of mind: [deep British accent] "I'm feeling very choppy choppy today..."

Anyway, that's the idea. I must get back to the cutting because Meredith is trying to do some choppy choppy without my consent here.

Later

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