POST Magazine’s November issue hit the newsstands featuring projects from two famed Hollywood directors – Steven Spielberg and Ben Affleck. The Oscar-winning moviemakers have one thing in common and that’s their use of Avid’s Media Composer in cutting blockbuster films. Lincoln editor, Michael Kahn, shared a behind-the-scenes look at what it was like to cut with Spielberg, while Affleck provided first-hand insights as the director/editor on Argo. What did they have to say?
Affleck explains that although William Goldberg was the editor of Argo, he too is an Avid-user:
“I love editing — in fact, I own an Avid. When I was younger I tried to make money by selling nonlinear PC-based editing systems using Adobe Premiere, but the drives were too slow and they’d drop frames. I was trying to cut my friends’ acting reels. But I kept up my interest in nonlinear editing, and eventually saved up enough for my own Avid. On Gone Baby Gone, I had an editor but we parted ways in the middle of production and I hired Billy — but he was booked and couldn’t start immediately, so I got an HD Avid, which at the time was considered unnecessary — ‘You don’t need to cut in HD. It’s ridiculous!’ So I began cutting it myself and got halfway-through before Billy came on board.” – Ben Affleck
Kahn and Speilberg were a team when editing Lincoln on Media Composer often working on post-production right after a shoot – Kahn spills on why he uses Avid and why Speilberg approves:
“Steven saw how efficient [Avid Media Composer] was, how it saved a lot of time, so we’ve been on Avid ever since.” Kahn likes “not having to go to the trim box to get a trim” when he cuts on Media Composer. “You push a button and see the scene. Access to material is much quicker so you’re able to make decisions much quicker. We can’t wait to see how a scene will turn out, so if we can see it faster and make decisions faster, it benefits us.” – Michael Kahn
Check out the full issue.