American Cinematographer - November 1990 - 79

The Editor &

Cinematographer

can be summed up in
word: coverage. The question
of coverage - how much, what
kind and why - dominated the
discussion with both editors. Rich¬
ard Marks, whose career includes
such films as Lies My Father Told Me,
The Last Tycoon, Apocalypse Now

verse

one

of the director. Warner, tongue

ideas

mostly in cheek, thinks that the
editor on the set can give the pro¬
duction a handy scapegoat. "If a
scene doesn't work, they can say,
'Hey, the editor was here! What do
you mean he can't make it work?' I

tially I was there to say, 'If we do it

(Oscar nomination), Pennies from
Heaven, Terms of Endearment (Oscar
nomination), Buckaroo Banzai,
Broadcast News (Oscar nomination)

know that's not the real reason I'm
called to the set, but..." Warner
said with a smile.
In Warner's most recent

and the

project, Pacific Heights, he found

summer

blockbuster Dick

Tracy, explained how the relation¬
ship should work:
"One hopes that as an edi¬
tor you can develop a nice short¬
hand with the cinematographer.
Editors approach the film with a
different sensibility. In re¬
viewing the
planned cover¬
age of a scene,

proportion to the experience

that shot?' Everybody had different

lationship

himself

on

the set when time and

contract pressures dictated that a
certain scene had to be finished on
a

specific day. "We had to be done
day,
period. The direc-

that

tor, John Schle-

singer, wanted to
be absolutely
sure

that we had

enough coverage because
it was a big

the editor may
say, T would re¬
ally love it if we
had this angle.'
And you'll talk to

action

se¬

quence and
we would
not have

the director and the

on

how to do it and

essen¬

Opposite page
and below:
Scenes from the
work of Marks

like that, will it cut? Will it be excit¬

and Warner,

ing? And is there anything else we

Driving Miss
Daisy and Dick
Tracy.

need?'

"Schlesinger is a wonder¬
ful director. He's very assured and
knows cinematic grammar, but this
very complex scene and the
pressure was intense to finish it that
was a

night. He wanted all the help he
could get. For example, there is a
sequence where Michael Keaton is
dying. I suggested that we put two
it. Mokri didn't want to
do that because it would compro¬
mise his composition and lighting.
At that point, we needed the com¬
cameras on

promise. We did it and got the
coverage in half the time. He was
right, his lighting and composition
were
compromised. But in the end,
I knew the compromise would be
small that it would be almost
undetectable. It's unfortunate, but
with movie schedules like they are,
so

need to know where you can
compromise and still do something

you

well," said Warner.

cinematographer
about it. One likes to
feel comfortable with
the cinematographer.

Warner expanded on
Marks' assertion
that edi¬

You want to be able to go
to him or her and say,
'What do you think about

getting this kind of angle or
this kind of coverage?'
"I was definitely
able to do that on Dick Tracy.
I have an easy relationship
with Vittorio Storaro. He's

a

very

actors avail¬

demanding person as a cinema¬
tographer, but he is one of the most
easygoing people I've ever dealt

able again.
The direc¬

with. But an editor forms a very
different relationship with a cine¬
matographer than a producer does.
It is very important to me to have
an
open relationship with a cin¬
ematographer so that when I go to
him he doesn't feel threatened by

self, the

my

questions. It

can

be

a conten¬

Coverage is the call that
brings an editor to the set, but
vary

my¬

script
supervi¬
sor

and

Amir

Mokri,

the director of photogra¬

phy, had to put our heads together
to figure out the most efficient way
to shoot the action that

tious moment."

practices

tor,

from film to film.

we

needed.

"We had lots of

among us

dialog
about composition, 'If

Melanie Griffith is

running

over

tors

see

the film differently
from cinematographers:

"Editors attempt to see the
whole, but I think a lot of times a

Marks believes that the amount of

here and Michael Keaton has to

time he

grab her, how are we going to cover

good director of photography will
get hung up on the composition of

November 1990

American

spends

on

the set is in in¬

Cinematographer

75
American Cinematographer - November 1990

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