Broadcasting Telecasting (Jul-Sep 1953)

EDITING FEATURE FIL^ It takes more than a pair of scissors to make a film editor. He can ruin a program if he doesn't know his job. THE importance of film to a television station makes the position of TV film editor one of the most responsible and demanding in the business, experienced top management will testify. The qualifications for, and duties of a film editor, it was pointed out, vary according to the station and its program needs. .The independent station, however, will have a greater asset in a person who has some special skill or training in the actual editing and cutting of film. "A conscientious film editor will approach his work with respect for the product and regard for the home viewer's enjoyment," Leland (Jerry) Muller, film program director and editor of KTLA (TV) Los Angeles, owned and operated by Paramount Television Productions Inc., told B*T recently. "After all, the original film was made by men with talent and ideas," Mr. Muller said. "They spent a lot of money to put their ideas across — to produce a finished product. Any editing, cutting or insertion of commercials by the film editor should not affect the story line, plot development or the physical quality of the prints themselves." Film program director of KTLA since 1946, Mr. Muller is in an authoritative position to make suggestions for film editors and also to point out some of the pitfalls and problems involved in this work. Formerly production assistant at 20th Century-Fox studios, he was for four years prior to that a first lieutenant with the Army Air Forces Photographic Division. While in service he headed many special film units in the Far East, and in the United States engaged in producing AAF training and public relations film. Mr. Muller is a graduate of the U. of Southern California where he majored in cinematography. That phase of Mr. Muller's work which is specifically related to the mechanical proc With slide projectionist Jerry Rogers (I) at KTLA's slide machine, Leland (Jerry) Muller, film program director and editor, checks projector and prepares for a commercial. Page August 10. 1953 esses of editing begins with measuring the film on a footage counter to determine its exact length. He then screens it, keeping in mind the best possible spots for commercial insertion. Commercial breaks should be evenly spaced, according to the length and continuity of the picture, he stressed. Mr. Muller explained that KTLA cues its films with pieces of paper rather than marking it with a punch to avoid mutilation of the print. As the reel unravels there might be six or eight markers to indicate portions that could be deleted without affecting story line. After screening, the scenes that can be deleted are measured and cut, and commercials are inserted as scheduled. At KTLA the accepted maximum number of commercials is two to three, depending on the length and air time of the feature motion picture. The exact frame for cutting is determined by running the scene on a "movieola". Mr. Muller said, however, that in most small TV stations a movieola would not be practical and the majority of routine screening and editing can be done on a 16mm projector. Where dialogue from one scene runs into another, it is often necessary in cutting to black out the sound by means of masking tape. To make a smooth transition from a cut to the next sequence, Mr. Muller frequently uses a "lab fade" wherein the lab makes a fade-out on the previous scene and a fadein to the next. The scenes thus follow with continuity. A simpler device is to employ the "board fade," which at KTLA's film department consists in providing the director and sound man with proper dialogue cues or scene action that would enable them electronically to fade from a portion of the film into another sequence. An opaque leader is inserted to replace frames of the picture that have been deleted. Of primary consideration in editing program content are the taboos of censorship, such as profanity, treatment of sex, brutality, "horror" episodes, racial discrimination, and other questionable scenes. The adult content of most British films makes their editing a matter of particular care and attention, the film editor stated. And along with editing for program con (Continued on page 92) Broadcasting • Telecasting