Requiem for an Editor

Bad editing is easy to spot, but good editing can be rather hard to define. Plenty of movies are considered to have good editing simply because the editor remains invisible: The film doesn t feel edited, and therefore it maintains the illusion of cinema. But what about a film like Requiem for a Dream It is widely considered to be an example of good editing, yet its editing style is unconventional and even overwhelming at times. For heavens sake, editor Jay Rabinowitz even breaks the 180degree rule So why is Requiem for a Dream an example of good editing I can almost guarantee that, if youve seen it, mentioning the movie recalls those breakneck montages full of fast cutting and exaggerated sound effectsthese montages, which director Darren Aronofsky coined hiphop montages, are surely notable, but they aren t the only unique aspect of the movies editing. This video breaks down a scene from Requiem for a Dream to get to the heart of why its editing is so effectiveand affective. Hint: it also ha