From the Publisher
In the Blink of an Eye is celebrated editor Walter Murch's
vivid, multifaceted, thought-provoking essay of film editing.
Starting with what might seem to be the most basic editing
question: Why do cuts work? The treats the reader to a marvelous
'ride' through the esthetics and practical concerns of cutting
film. Along the way, he offers his insights on such subjects as
continuity and discontinuity in editing, dreaming, and real life;
the criteria of a good cut; and the blink of an eye as both an
analog to and an emotional cue for the cut. New to this second
edition is Murch's lengthy meditation on the current state of
digital editing.
About the Author
Walter Murch has been honored by both British and American Motion
Picture Academies for his picture editing and sound mixing. In
1997, Murch received an unprecedented double Oscar for both film
editing and sound mixing on The English Patient (1996, dir. A.
Minghella), as well as the British Academy Award for best editing.
Seventeen years earlier, he received an Oscar for best sound for
Apocalypse Now (1979, dir. F. Coppola), as well as British and
American Academy nominations for his picture editing on the same
film. He also won a double British Academy Award for his film
editing and sound mixing on The Conversation (1974, dir. F.
Coppola), was nominated by both academies for best film editing for
Julia (1977, dir. F. Zinnemann), and in 1991 received two Oscar
nominations for Best Film Editing for the films Ghost (dir. J.
Zucker) and The Godfather, Part III (dir. F. Coppola).
Among Murch's other picture editing credits are for The Unbearable
Lightness of Being (1988, dir. P. Kaufman), House of Cards (1993,
dir. Michael Lessac), Romeo is Bleeding (1994, dir. P. Medak),
First Knight (1995, dir. J. Zucker), and The Talented Mr. Ripley
(1999, dir. A. Minghella)
Murch was the re-recording mixer for The Rainpeople (1969, dir. F.
Coppola), THX-1138 (1971, dir. G. Lucas), The Godfather (1972, dir.
F. Coppola), American Graffiti (1973, dir. G. Lucas), The
Godfather, Part II (1974, dir. F. Coppola), and Crumb (1994, dir.
T. Zweigoff), as well as all the recent films for which he has also
been picture editor.
He has also been involved in film restoration, notably Orson
Welles' Touch of Evil (1998) and Francis Coppola's Apocalypse Now
Redux (2001).
Screenplays on which Murch has collaborated include THX-1138,
directed by George Lucas, and The Black Stallion (1979,
uncredited), directed by Carroll Ballard. Murch directed and
co-wrote the film Return to Oz, released by Disney in 1985.