An excellent primer on the art of film and sound editing from one of the experts.
The nitty-gritty of film and sound editing.
When, in June 1896, the Lumière brothers projected their film of a street scene onto a bedsheet in a brothel, no one could have predicted its revolutionary effect on visual storytelling. That was partly because the “catalytic possibilities of montage” were not yet fully developed. Five years later, nascent filmmakers began to “discover and exploit the intoxicating, virtually sexual power of montage.” One of today’s most celebrated practitioners in the world of film editing and sound design is Walter Murch, who explains the art and science of his craft in this book. Murch calls this work, the first of two anticipated volumes, a “three-braided rope” incorporating theory, practice, and history. Most of the examples he cites stem from his work with Francis Ford Coppola, with emphasis on his efforts on The Conversation (1974), the first feature he ever edited, and Apocalypse Now (1979). He also tells of work on other projects, such as the 1998 restoration of Orson Welles’ Touch of Evil, a 1958 film Murch says was “a decade ahead of its time.” Much of this book will delight film aficionados who want to get into the weeds of extensive technical detail, as when he describes “the attributes of the saccade—the jump of the eyeball from one focal point to another” to explain why people see motion when watching a film. He also leavens this work with lighter moments. When the workprint for Coppola’s The Rain People (1969) came back upside down, and sophisticated solutions didn’t solve the problem, “Francis found the obvious solution: just turn the television set upside down.” Murch displays a ferocious wit, as when, under a still from The Godfather (1972) in which a movie mogul wakes to discover his beloved horse’s severed head in his bed, Murch includes the caption “Studio politics.”
An excellent primer on the art of film and sound editing from one of the experts.Pub Date: July 15, 2025
ISBN: 9780571328857
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
Top Chef fans might savor this detailed account, but others will find it bland.
The Top Chef host describes her journey to new heights.
For those who don’t know, Kish is a “gay Korean adopted woman, born in Seoul, raised in Michigan” and “a chef, a character, a host, and a cultural communicator—as well as a human being with a beating heart.” Though this book covers every step of her journey, every restaurant job and television role, and also discusses her experience as an adoptee (very positive) and a queer woman (late bloomer), the storytelling is so straightforward, lacking in suspense, character development, or dialogue, that it is basically a long version of its (longish) “About the Author.” Seemingly dramatic situations are not dramatized—when she was eliminated on her first Top Chef run, she assures us that she did the best she could, and drops it. “I can spare you the gory details (bouillabaisse and big personalities were involved).” Later, she cites a belief in protecting the privacy of others to omit the story of her first relationship with a woman. With no character development, neither does the reader get to know those who fall outside the privacy zone, like her best friend, Steph, and her wife, Bianca. When she gets mad, she says things like, “It’s a gross understatement to say I was crushed, beyond frustrated, and furious with the situation.” The fact that “I’ve never been a big reader” does not come as a surprise. It is more surprising when she confesses that “I believe the universe is selective about the moments in which it introduces life-changing prospects.”
Top Chef fans might savor this detailed account, but others will find it bland.Pub Date: April 22, 2025
ISBN: 9780316580915
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
An ebullient nature lover’s paean to birds.
A charming bird journey with the bestselling author.
In his introduction to Tan’s “nature journal,” David Allen Sibley, the acclaimed ornithologist, nails the spirit of this book: a “collection of delightfully quirky, thoughtful, and personal observations of birds in sketches and words.” For years, Tan has looked out on her California backyard “paradise”—oaks, periwinkle vines, birch, Japanese maple, fuchsia shrubs—observing more than 60 species of birds, and she fashions her findings into delightful and approachable journal excerpts, accompanied by her gorgeous color sketches. As the entries—“a record of my life”—move along, the author becomes more adept at identifying and capturing them with words and pencils. Her first entry is September 16, 2017: Shortly after putting up hummingbird feeders, one of the tiny, delicate creatures landed on her hand and fed. “We have a relationship,” she writes. “I am in love.” By August 2018, her backyard “has become a menagerie of fledglings…all learning to fly.” Day by day, she has continued to learn more about the birds, their activities, and how she should relate to them; she also admits mistakes when they occur. In December 2018, she was excited to observe a Townsend’s Warbler—“Omigod! It’s looking at me. Displeased expression.” Battling pesky squirrels, Tan deployed Hot Pepper Suet to keep them away, and she deterred crows by hanging a fake one upside down. The author also declared war on outdoor cats when she learned they kill more than 1 billion birds per year. In May 2019, she notes that she spends $250 per month on beetle larvae. In June 2019, she confesses “spending more hours a day staring at birds than writing. How can I not?” Her last entry, on December 15, 2022, celebrates when an eating bird pauses, “looks and acknowledges I am there.”
An ebullient nature lover’s paean to birds.Pub Date: April 23, 2024
ISBN: 9780593536131
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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