How will this cut?Â
I've been editing for as long as I've been filming, and the two have never really felt like separate jobs.
The camera gathers the pieces.
The edit finds the story.
When I'm behind a camera I'm already thinking about the edit. Where does this shot begin? Where does it end? What comes before it? What comes next? Does it move the story forward — or does the film simply need a moment to breathe?
How will this cut has been one of the questions I've asked myself throughout my working life.
My approach to editing is simple. Emotion first. Story second. Pace and rhythm  follow. A technically perfect cut is pointless if it happens at the wrong emotional moment. Sometimes a shot needs to last. Sometimes the audience needs another piece of information. The best edit is the one you barely notice.
Walter Murch's In the Blink of an Eye put into words many of the things I'd learned instinctively: editing is ultimately about what the audience is feeling, what they're thinking, and where you want to take them next.
That's also why editing has always influenced the way I shoot. I'm looking for connections — reactions, details, changes of perspective, beginnings and endings — the pieces that allow a sequence to become a story.