The story of the beginning of “editing” in Iranian cinema

Fars News Agency, Cinema Group: In addition to the director, producer and actors, other people are working on a professional film. People who are not and do not act in the production of a movie, there will be no news of a quality movie that the audience enjoys watching.

Editing is one of the most important parts of making a movie. The part where the whole effort of the production team depends on the quality of doing it, and if it is not done carefully, it will deal a blow to a film.

The editor is so important in a film that the Fajr Film Festival has been considering the Crystal Simorgh for decades and awarding it the best editing. Because of this importance, we went to Hassan Ayoubi, an editor with a background in Iranian cinema, and asked him questions about the process of editing in Iranian cinema, which you will read below.

Regarding the beginning of editing in Iranian cinema, Hassan Ayoubi said: The beginning of editing in Iranian cinema dates back to a few years before the Islamic Revolution. In those years, many films did not have anything called editing, and mostly the director or cinematographer of the films did something similar to editing to get the film ready to be shown in cinemas.

He continued: “In the years close to the revolution, people like Abbas Ganjavi and also my teacher Ruhollah Emami, started editing in Iranian cinema in earnest, and this was the beginning for the filmmakers of that time to realize the important category of editing.”

When the “editing” process began

Regarding editing in cinema after the Islamic Revolution, Ayoubi said: “After the revolution, the issue of editing became more serious, why the Fajr Film Festival was formed, and this festival added the award for best filmmaker to the awards for best cinematographer and best director for the first time.” This award became an incentive for different people to discuss editing professionally and focus on cinema. By the end of the analog era, there was a very significant growth in the compilation of Iranian cinema.

Regarding the impact of digital technology on the editing process in cinema, the editor of Iranian cinema said: The emergence of digital editing technology in Iranian cinema has made it easier to work in the field of editing. The entry of our country’s cinema into digital technology was both beneficial and detrimental to Iranian cinema.

“In analog times, the editor had to have enough ability and experience to trust the filmmaker and give his film to the editor to edit, because the slightest mistake would destroy all the traces,” Ayoubi said of the harm of digital technology entering cinematic editing. Be. This was a good thing, because it made the editor grow from the ground up.

Compilation with mastery of several applications

About the digital editing course, he said: In the other digital editing course, anyone could edit a movie by mastering one or more editing software. On the other hand, because it was possible to archive the files, the producer could easily provide a copy of the files to the editor, and it would no longer be possible to delete the files.

The editor of the movie “33 Days” said about the situation of the present editors of our country: In recent years, good editors who had little experience gained more experience by using professors, classes and educational films and raised their level. On the other hand, a convergence between the old and new generations of editing was formed in Iranian cinema, which had positive effects on the level of editing in Iranian cinema.

Compete with world cinema

He clarified about the ability of Iranian cinema editors against foreign editors: Iranian cinema currently has good editors. Some of our country’s film editors have the power to compete with foreign editors, which is a valuable achievement.

“There is a story line in the director’s mind, and according to that story line, he shoots. Now the editor has to be able to use the look that the director has in mind,” Ayoubi said, referring to the great importance of an editor’s work in movies. The script of the film puts the pieces together, on the other hand, the editor has to put himself in the place of the spectator of the film to see if the look that the director intended is fully conveyed to the audience or not.

Simorghi, which is difficult to choose

This editor of Iranian cinema, about how to judge the best editing at the Fajr Film Festival, said: Judging the editing section is a very difficult job. For me, who has edited more than 80 films and experienced judging many times, it is also difficult to distinguish a good editor. Bad editing can be completely detected. The main reason for this is that we do not know how open the editor’s hand was or whether there was a better rush.

The necessity of the presence of an experienced editor in the jury of Fajr Film Festival

He continued: “Sometimes in the editing room, to add a sequence to the film, there is an argument between the director and the editor.” Some directors want all the tracks they have recorded to be used; But an experienced editor says that this very sequence reduces the rhythm of the film.

Ayoubi pointed out: If the Fajr Film Festival wants to be more professional in the section of the best editing award, it is better to have an editor with experience in the jury. Because other than an experienced editor, no one else can recognize a good editor.

* Cinema and theater group suggested news

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