Press Release
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Acclaimed film editor Walter Murch, who recently received an Academy Award nomination (his fourth) for Best Film Editing for his work on "Cold Mountain," will publish the story of editing this blockbuster picture with Peachpit Press mid-2004.
Behind the Seen: Walter Murch on Feature Film Editing, Final Cut Pro, and the Future of Cinema (0735714266, $34.99), written by screenwriter and director Charles Koppelman, details Murch's editing work on "Cold Mountain." This particular filmmaking experience is unique in that Murch chose to edit the multi-million dollar motion picture with the modestly priced Final Cut Pro software. Murch, and director Anthony Minghella, afforded Koppelman unusual access during the creative process, giving him an inside perspective from which to tell the story. He recounts the decision to use Final Cut Pro, the relationship between the technology and art (and craft) of movie making, how Final Cut Pro was set up and configured for "Cold Mountain," how the software's use affected the work flow, and its implications for the future of filmmaking.
Above all, the book is a documentary-a you-are-there account of what seemed to many a risky, high wire endeavor. Through on-location reporting, interviews, photos, personal communications, and anecdotes, readers get an intimate view of Murch's work process and how "Cold Mountain" progressed in post-production. The book includes Murch's vision, approach, musings, and thoughts on storytelling as he shaped "Cold Mountain" under the intense pressures of completing a major studio film.
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Walter Murch is widely recognized as "the film editor's editor." A consummate craftsman, he has been editing film and mixing sound since starting on Francis Ford Coppola's film "The Rain People" (1969). He edited sound on "American Graffiti" (1973) and "The Godfather Part II" (1974), won his first Academy Award nomination for "The Conversation" (1974), won his first Oscar for "Apocalypse Now" (1979), and won unprecedented double Oscars for sound and film editing for his work on "The English Patient" (1996). Most recently he helped reconstruct "Touch of Evil" to Orson Welles' original notes and edited "The Talented Mr. Ripley." Mr. Murch, along with George Lucas and Francis Coppola, was a founding member of northern California cinema. As a picture editor, sound designer, and sound mixer, he is one of the few universally acknowledged masters in his field.
Author Charles Koppelman has been writing screenplays and directing video and film since the early 1980s, including the independent feature film, "Dumbarton Bridge," award-winning documentaries, and commercials. His next film project is "The Old Days," co-written with Barry Gifford.
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