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From Kev Franzi’s Journeys in Time –
“ That which Kev has joined together…”
I was appalled - how dare he say that!
trimmed and perforated with a single
I had just spent two years learning the art lever action. Another boon for Editors
and craft of Film Editing, and my film was that any cut could be altered and
splices were a joy to behold - even if I do re-made without losing a single frame
say so myself. Then, I discover this article simply by peeling the tape off. (Two
written by the revered High Priest of frames were lost using the old overlap
cinema writers, Roger Manvell, stating splice.)
that “the physical cutting, scraping and
sticking together of two pieces of celluloid (A raft of tape splicers for 8mm and Super
to edit a film is an archaic and inefficient 8 film appeared during the 1960s and 70s
procedure”. How dare he - after all the but these I would rather not know about.)
time and effort I had just spent learning
the craft. The complete answer to Roger Manvell’s
vision came of course with the computer
Of course he was right, but at that time and computer editing. Today a stream of
(c. l952) I vigorously opposed his video images can be assembled, cut and
observation. Roger Manvell did not have pasted with a touch or two of the mouse.
the answer to the perceived problem but
he was certain a more efficient form of A whole sequence can be edited while the
editing film would evolve, and evolve it old time editor fills his (or her) cement
did - slowly over the next 30 to 40 years. bottle and waits for the first splice to dry
- so I’m told. Sadly, my 93 year old brain
The first breakthrough came with Dr. Leo is just not geared to work at that speed, so
Catozzo’s Construzione Incollatrici my mouse won’t wear out quite as fast as
Rapide or CIR tape splicers. These little some of the others. In spite of RM’s
wonders reduced splicing time to about prediction I would spend almost half a
half that taken by the scrape and stick century using “the inefficient” cut, scrape
method. Pre-perforated splicing tape had and glue method (plus a half million tape
been around since the mid 1950s but its splices) before embracing the computer
use was slow and fiddly compared with mouse.
Dr. Leo’s wonderful splicer that used
plain Mylar type tape to join the film with
a butt splice. This was then neatly
4 REEL DEALS March 2024