Prune Until It Pops
Earlier this year I consulted with Bay Area director Mark Decena on a documentary called “Farming While Black”. I silently wondered, “Why have I never heard about Black farmers?”
Reviewing the rough cut, I realized it was an important topic integral to the founding of America. In 1910, 14 percent of U.S. farmland was owned by Black farmers. Today, it is less than 2 percent. Why the attrition? What can be done? And who’s doing it?
The cut was taking too long to answer these vital questions. I knew that pruning the repetition and irrelevant tangents would make the remaining material pop. But how to break the news to the director?
It’s one of the most challenging tasks in my work. After 25 years of story consulting, the crucial cuts are usually self-evident. The hard part is convincing first-time directors that pruning will improve the film. You know the slogans. Cut till it bleeds. Kill off your darlings. And my new farming metaphor, “prune till it pops”!
Clashing blades with a director about where to cut can be a career hazard for experienced editors whose reputations are at stake.
In response to my blog Vet Your Editor’s Ego, cutter Sheila Higgins kindly wrote me, “One has to eventually acquiesce to the director, even when you know they are making a mistake. Happened twice to me when I thought their decision was very wrong but had to let go. In both cases it came back to bite the director and caused them issues.”
I often send directors POV’s documentary blog The Feature Length Fallacy.
In this case, veteran director Decana understood that with three main protagonists, our editorial challenge was to shorten a fat 91-minute rough cut into (eventually) a 75-minute film (the perfect length for festivals.) Like most directors, Decana was in too deep to decipher what to cut and what to keep.
“In the final stages of our edit,” says Decena, “We were in need of fresh eyes and ears to help us tighten our cut. Karen came in as story consultant and helped us shave 15 minutes off what we thought was critical content.”
Decena was open to most of my recommended cuts, which spurred other ideas on where he could tighten.
The result? The eloquent “Farming While Black” will have its world premiere at a film festival famous for “creating awards season buzz.” It’s one of two films we worked on that are premiering at the Mill Valley Film Festival this month.
The other is the archival masterpiece “Carol Doda Topless At the Condor,” which we spent a year editing before its world premiere at the picturesque Telluride Film Festival last month. (Read about the film’s interesting Q&A here.)
See trailers and get tickets at:
