Meanwhile, I wonder if/when Simon will get in touch…
Today, as it turns out, three days after I wrote the above, a VHS arrives from Simon. I’m tempted to call him and say it’s too late, I’ve gone with my edit. Be interesting to see the tape first, though, wouldn’t it? I play it. It’s superb. Real Quality. Drat. Simon has captured little nuances of performance in the shots he’s chosen. His cutting is much quicker than mine. Little things work seamlessly.
I *have* to go with it. Swear swear swear. I thought The Car was all ready for the sound mix but I *can’t* compromise quality on the altar of speed. If I do, then what’s the point? Okay, there will come a point where it absolutely has to be, must be finished. But that’s a few months off. I’m thinking more in terms of a couple of weeks on the timescale here.
I call Simon and he starts another editing job as an assistant on a new feature in a couple of weeks which means he’ll be able to get me an EDL from Avid then. I can use the EDL to conform my version on the PowerBook in Final Cut Pro. Two weeks is doable. I call Peter Hodges to put the brakes on the sound edit and Paul the composer to warn him a completely new version is on the way.
Back to the Emporer and Death meanwhile…