ABSTRACT
The extremes of comedy and tragedy are paced, performed, and timed very differently but, as with every scene, an editor must include all available emotions, happy or sad, that affect the characters involved. An editor is marvellously ignorant of how difficult a shot or sequence was to film. Directors, writers, and producers are often far too close to the material by the time it comes to the edit suite to be truly objective. A good director will provide us with a variety of shots that will enable us to achieve this, but it is our job to put them together in a sensible sequence. To ensure our sequence is not used as the latest cure for insomnia, we have to make sure each shot change moves the story on. A cut to the matryoshka dolls opening title sequence, complete with Geoffrey Burgon's marvellous music, and the authors indeed have started.
