What's up?

Continuing our interview series here’s some thoughts from our editor Suvi Ryhänen, straight from the midst of the production.

Suvi is a freelance editor, you can see her work and contact her through her website www.leikkaaja.fi

What does an editor do, in a nutshell?

An editor’s job is much more than just cutting a programme together. The editor builds connections on both plot and atmospheric levels. The rhythm and sense of time are very much in the hands of the editor.

What was the starting point for you and director Meruan when you were first planning the edit for What’s up?

Finding the right and flowing rhythm is very important for the film. The rhythm of the events has to feel “right”, or else the audience might not get into the story and questions will arise that disturb the viewing experience. The length of the shots affects the rhythm and that’s what we’ve paid the most attention to.

What differences are there between editing animation and live-action? Or what about short vs feature films?

What´s Up? is my first time editing animation, so the experience is a new and interesting one! At first I had only a very vague idea how you edit animation. The pre-planning has a much bigger role in animation than it has in live-action. You have to imagine the edit beforehand, based on the storyboards and rough layouts. In live-action the editing of course happens with footage that’s already been shot. With animation you might get ideas for new shots even during editing, unlike with live-action: In Finland pick-up shots during editing are extremely rare. In other words, animation is edited before shooting, live-action after shooting.

The biggest difference between short and feature films is probably their structure. Shorts are not just features with shorter running times, but their own genre altogether. With shorts you don’t diverge onto sidepaths that support the main theme, but the narration progresses according to the situation (often a problem) set up at the start of the film, whatever the style. The edit of a feature has many parts, beyond which you also have to control their mutual interaction. This doesn’t mean that editing a short film is easier than editing a feature, although with a shorter running time the workload isn’t as big.

How far are you in your work on What’s Up? What is ready and what is yet to be done?

The film is now edited based on the layout versions and animation is about half way done. We’ll polish the edit here and there after animation has wrapped.

What has been the most interesting thing in making What’s Up? up until now?

The way of working has been very interesting. How the editing happens in such an early stage and only in the mind, as you don’t necessarily have all the concrete material yet.

What did you expect to be easy or hard with this production?

I admit I was a bit nervous at the start, as I had no previous experience with animation, but I was also very interested in the project and in the opportunity to edit animation. I found the pre-planning of the editing to be very interesting and hard work, in a positive sense. What I did already know was that animation is an enormously laborious job for the animators! Our composer seems to have his hands full with this project as well!

Did you have to track down any special information or some such in order to make sure you could do your best possible job on the film?

I used the internet’s inexhaustible, if not always totally reliable sources to find out how the heck you edit that animation stuff.

What advice can you give people who are interested in pursuing the career of film editing?

I believe that many people choose their professions according to how their brains and minds work. I have a habit of connecting things in my mind and I am quite sensitive to emotions, both of which are a benefit to an editor. When you figure out where you can use your own strengths and enjoy doing that – be it then the profession of an editor – just keep working in that direction. I believe that there’s always room for talented people in the industry.

If you have any questions to Suvi, go ahead and post them in the comments!