Chatting in-depth with Trevor Hogg of
Flickering Myth, the Academy Award-nominated film editor Lee Smith talks a bit about Fox's Matthew Vaughn-directed
X-Men: First Class, as well his involvement with Christopher Nolan's highly anticipated trilogy conclusion
The Dark Knight Rises.
“As I work on cutting X-Men: First Class [2011] all those sound skills are needed because the [film editing] systems we are working on now can continuously create moods and atmospheres right from the inception of a scene,” says Lee Smith, “I see sound and picture as being impossible to separate because, as in life, everything we perceive is visual and audible.”
“Each scene is its own beast. If you can pull it off without showing implicit violence it can be a successful way of creating a scene. I also believe what you think you saw can be much more horrific. My theory is that the longer you can resist putting music on a movie, the more you analyze and the more brutal you are on the images. Music is the great glue that can stick sequences together.”
“Matthew Vaughn he has his own unique view. I’m not seeing much of him yet as we’re still shooting.” As for the performance of Jennifer Lawrence playing Mysique, Lee remarks, “She is very good in this.” He also tells me, “It’s a big film being done in a short amount of time. It’s going to be intense but so far what I’ve got has been very good. Everyone is happy with it. So fingers crossed.”
On any involvement with The Dark Knight Rises, Lee Smith answers, “I’m booked to start that on May 1st.” Upon mentioning the casting rumor of Rachel Weisz, Lee quickly responds, “Honestly, I don’t know anything about it and that’s how it always is with him. In the fullness of time I’ll get a script. Secrecy with his projects is paramount.” As for Zack Snyder's tentavily titled Superman: The Man Of Steel, “I doubt it because I don’t actually know when that’s one going to go. Probably, the director will pick his own editor and that’s always a good idea.”
For the full interview, where Lee Smith breaks down the quality of film-making, head over to
Flickering Myth. And
X-Men: First Class is gearing up for a June 3 release, while
The Dark Knight Rises commencing shooting May 6 - November 28, hitting theaters on July 20, next year.