STUDIO: PROFESSIONAL EDITOR

MICHAEL KAHN - FILM EDITOR

Michael Kahn is a film and television editor who began life working on the American sitcom 'Hogan's Heroes' which he edited from 1965 to 1971. After this he moved into films and a meeting with Steven Spielberg which would keep him editing to this day. Ever since 'Close encounters of The third kind' (1977) he has edited almost all of Spielberg's films all the way up to 'Bridge of Spies' (2015).

As someone who very much enjoys the films of Spielberg I have been drawn to Kahn as he has edited some of my favourite films, but he has also had extensive experience working on a television sitcom. I found the interview below very interesting as he covers this and what his motives are as an editor. The interview is not a very technical one, but it gives me impression of where an editor comes from. The most interesting thing I learnt here was that Kahn edits on set as the shots come in, there is no waiting until the end of shooting to compile terabytes of footage. This also means he can work closely with the director and if needed inform whether shots need re-shooting.




When you compare what he is doing there is the obvious difference in scale to our short minute long VT's. However it is interesting to me to hear that he edits on set, as he will know a lot more about how the shoot is going and what is going on story wise. He says in the interview that his trailer was always right next to Spielberg's even on location, which shows how much Spielberg appreciated what the editors job is and how important it is to the story and tone of the film.

Michael Kahn, ACE Discusses the Use of Slower Cuts in a Scene from "Jurassic Park." from Manhattan Edit Workshop on Vimeo.

Above you have a famous scene from Steven Spielberg's Jurassic park and below is a couple of scenes from a 1968 episode of the sitcom Hogan's Heroes both edited by Kahn. This I think shows the incredible versatility of an editor whether its comedy of serious thriller he knows how to put together a piece of footage into a coherent and ultimately unnoticeable way. This is after all the sign of a good editor the person behind the scenes that if done well is not remembered.