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Film editors literally make the movie, selecting the best takes and “connecting the shots” to make the narrative we see on screen. To grasp their contribution, turn off the sound on a hectic action scene and remember that every angle was laboriously plotted, photographed and rephotographed out of sequence over several days, and delivered to the editor weeks or months later.
When a tobacco brand appears on screen, the director specifically wanted it there. It had to be held at the correct angle, well lit and sharply focused. Among other things, the editor must keep smoking scenes in continuity. Directors have learned to light the cigarette in an establishing shot, then have it held off screen, with smoke drifting into the frame in take after take. Cigarettes no longer jump or shrink in length!
The editor’s hyper-awareness of these details in a scene creates a persuasive moment for the audience. The same obsessive control could also be used to keep tobacco brands invisible, de-emphasize smoking — or eliminate smoking entirely. Why isn’t it?
Film editors with the most tobacco incidents and brand display (2002-2004)
|
EDITOR |
TITLES & RATINGS |
BRAND |
David Moritz |
Knockaround Guys (R) |
Marlboro |
The Life Aquatic (R) |
- |
Paul Hirsch |
The Fighting Temptations (PG-13) |
Montecristo |
Ray (PG-13) |
- |
Stephen Mirrione |
Conf. of a Dangerous Mind (R) |
Marlboro |
Ocean’s Twelve (PG-13) |
- |
Dody Dorn |
Matchstick Men (PG-13) |
Tareyton |
Mick Audsley |
Mona Lisa Smile (PG-13) |
Camel, Winston |
John Bloom |
Closer (R) |
Marlboro |
Jim Clark |
City by the Sea (R) |
Newport |
Joel Cox |
Mystic River (R) |
Marlboro, Winston |
Bill Pankow |
Femme Fatale (R) |
Marlboro |
Thelma Schoonmaker |
The Aviator (PG-13) |
- |
Gangs of New York (R) |
- |
| Ten other editors of youth-rated films with 50+ incidents
|
Martin Walsh |
Chicago (PG-13) |
- |
Brent White |
Anchorman (PG-13) |
- |
Andrew MacRitchie |
Die Another Day (PG-13) |
- |
Leslie Jones |
Starsky and Hutch (PG-13) |
- |
David Weisberg |
Big Trouble (PG-13) |
- |
Larry Bock |
Down with Love (PG-13) |
- |
William Goldenberg |
Seabiscuit (PG-13) |
- |
Pamela Martin |
Saved! (PG-13) |
- |
Vanick Moradian |
Half Past Dead (PG-13) |
- |
Terry Rawlings |
The Core (PG-13) |
- |
Methods: Listed alphabetically within point groups. First group: Film editors with minimum of 3 points awarded as follows: Awarded 1 point for each film with 50+ tobacco incidents, 1/2 point for each film with any tobacco presence; minus 1/2 point for each film without tobacco presence (not listed here); and 2 points for each film with brand display. Second group: Ten other editors with the greatest number of incidents in a youth-rated films, listed in declining number of incidents.
Film sample: Ten top-grossing U.S. films each week between January 1, 2002 and December 31, 2004. Source: Thumbs Up Thumbs Down project of the American Lung Association-Emigrant Trails (Ca.): www.scenesmoking.org.
Updated May 1, 2005. |
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