T. Schoonmaker: You can slap the audience in the face

July 4, 2010, 12:01 AM

Three-time Oscar winner Thelma Schoonmaker, at KVIFF to present a meticulously restored version of her late husband Michael Powell and Eric Pressburger’s 1948 masterwork The Red Shoes, says that four decades as Martin Scorsese’s editor has taught her much about the importance of using the right film techniques at the right times.

You’ve said that Scorsese demands quiet on his film sets and will often speak to his actors in a whisper off to the side when he needs something from them. Why is that so important?
When I talk to film students, there are so many egos in the film business I try and tell them that respect is a very critical part of how Marty directs. He has so much respect for the actors – that’s very important for filmmakers to learn. There are so many egos and jealousies… that’s what we love about The Red Shoes because it’s just as much about filmmaking as about the world of ballet.
Does that obsession with performance limit what you can do technically afterwards to fix problems?
We hate to do looping afterwards because Scorsese says, “I didn’t spend all that time getting that performance to then go into a room where a man is standing in front of a screen with a microphone and try and get the same thing.” But sometimes I need the line – it’s not intelligible, maybe it was poorly recorded – and he will not, will not [record it in the studio]. That’s why he gets such great performances – it’s the respect!

You will find the complete Will Tizard´s interview with Scott Cooper in today´s edition of the Festival Daily.

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T. Schoonmaker: You can slap the audience in the face

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