Geek - Issue 9 2019 - 29

OPEN THE EDIT BAY

ONCE UPON A TIME IN A CUTTING ROOM FAR, FAR AWAY

ALTHOUGH HE'S EDITED NUMEROUS FILMS OVER THE PAST 50 years,
working alongside the likes of Brian De Palma, Herbert Ross and Taylor
Hackford, Paul Hirsch will likely be forever known as the man who
edited George Lucas' Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back. The title of
his biography-A Long Time Ago in a Cutting Room Far, Far Away-wryly
reflects that fact.
And when it comes to Star Wars, he has the
perfect example of what contribution editing
brought to the mix. He points to the film's opening
scene with a space battle that brings Darth
Vader into contact with Princess Leia. "During the
course of the battle in space over Tatooine, we
cut to the flashes of distant laser-gun fire seen
through binoculars," he says of an earlier version.
"The binoculars belong to Luke Skywalker, who is
watching the battle from the planet below while
doing chores on his uncle's farm. After more scenes
on the spaceship involving Vader and Leia, we cut back to Luke arriving
at Tosche Power Station, a local teen hangout. He gets into a long

by Edward Gross

expository scene with his friend Biggs. We then go back to the spaceship
as R2 and 3P0 escape to the planet below.
"I saw several problems with this construction," he continues. "First
of all, the shots of Luke standing next to the vaporators didn't cut well
from one to the next. Second, there was nothing to identify the Tosche
Power Station set as a teen hangout. Finally, the scene
with Biggs was 'talky,' covering information we would
eventually learn anyway. It occurred to me that we could
lose the whole sequence, so we tried it. It worked great.
And there was an unintended benefit. Now, when R2
and 3P0 land on the desert, we know nothing about the
planet they are on. It becomes a mysterious, ominous
and lonely place. We don't know if it is even inhabited
or by whom. Then we meet up with the Jawas, who
capture the droids, which brings us to Luke at the robot
auction. Our main character had now been introduced
organically into the story, instead of arbitrarily cutting to
him in the midst of the battle. I'm a big believer in taking scenes out. If
you never try it, you'll never know what the effect will be."

IT OCCURRED
TO ME THAT WE
COULD LOSE
THE WHOLE
SEQUENCE, SO
WE TRIED IT. IT
WORKED GREAT.

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