About
"You're telling the story with a picture. It's great satisfaction, being able to tell the story, and at the same time learning all different aspects of life. Whether it's science or music or life, or it's sadness, happiness, you're learning and you're telling millions of people that story. Sitting in front of that Moviola, that's happiness."
In his nearly two-and-a-half-hour interview, John Soh discusses his early years in South Korea, where he developed an interest in American films. He talks about moving to the United States and attending Chapman College, where a professor noticed his talents and encouraged him to transfer to UCLA film school. He talks about learning the craft of editing, and his concurrent jobs at F. K. Rockett Co. He discusses joining Wolper Productions, where he edited many of David Wolper's documentary series. He then discusses his long-term association with Jacques Cousteau's television specials. He describes editing the first programs, coming up with concepts, and sorting through the huge volume of film the crews created. He also discusses his work on the filmed documentary The Hellstrom Chronicle (1971), which won an Academy Award as Best Documentary Feature. Other projects he discusses are The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich and Hiroshima. In conclusion, Soh discusses the art and craft of editing, his overall philosophy of telling a story through editing, and the honor of receiving the ACE 2007 Lifetime Achievement Award. Karen Herman conducted the interview in a joint venture with American Cinema Editors (ACE) on February 17, 2007 at Universal Studios in Los Angeles, CA.
Highlights
John Soh on deciding he wanted to be an editor
John Soh on going on expeditions with Jacques Cousteau for The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau
John Soh on what he considers to be the best thing about film editing
John Soh on editing Hiroshima
John Soh on working directly with Jacques Cousteau on editing The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau
John Soh on editing the feature film "The Hellstrom Chronicle" produced by David Wolper
Full Interview
Chapter 1
On his early life and influences
On making films in college; on deciding he wanted to be an editor; on his earliest editing work in television and films
Chapter 2
On editing Beany and Cecil for Bob Clampett; on editing Story Of... for David Wolper; on his time working for David Wolper Productions editing documentaries
On editing the documentary feature film "The Hellstrom Chronicle" produced by David Wolper
Chapter 3
On editing David Wolper's feature film "The Hellstrom Chronicle" and on Wolper's producing style
On how he came to edit The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau; on the challenges of editing The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau
On working directly with Jacques Cousteau on editing The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau; on the challenge of telling a story with the raw footage of The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau
Chapter 4
On creating a story from the raw footage of The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau and on the characterization of Cousteau himself on the series; on going on expeditions with Jacques Cousteau for The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau; on Jacques Cousteau's on-camera persona on The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau
On the rhythm of editing The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau; on the challenge of editing hundreds of hours of raw footage into an episode of The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau
On the craft of editing for television based on the work of Slavko Vorkapić; on editing special effects
Chapter 5
On working with composers as an editor; on editing the documentary short "The Really Big Family"; on editing the documentary feature "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich"
On editing Hiroshima; on advice to aspiring editors; on being honored by the American Society of Cinema Editors
On what he considers to be the best thing about film editing; on his wife
Shows
Beany and Cecil
John Soh on editing Beany and Cecil for Bob Clampett
Hiroshima
John Soh on editing Hiroshima
Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau, The
John Soh on how he came to edit The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau
John Soh on the challenges of editing The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau
John Soh on problems he had synching the dailies for The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau
John Soh on working directly with Jacques Cousteau on editing The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau
John Soh on the challenge of telling a story with the raw footage of The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau
John Soh on creating a story from the raw footage of The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau and on the characterization of Cousteau himself on the series
John Soh on going on expeditions with Jacques Cousteau for The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau
John Soh on Jacques Cousteau's on-camera persona on The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau
John Soh on the rhythm of editing The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau
John Soh on the challenge of editing hundreds of hours of raw footage into an episode of The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau
Topics
Advice
John Soh on advice to aspiring editors
Television Industry
John Soh on advice to aspiring editors
Professions
Editor
John Soh on the craft of editing for television based on the work of Slavko Vorkapić
John Soh on editing special effects
John Soh on working with composers as an editor
John Soh on advice to aspiring editors
John Soh on what he considers to be the best thing about film editing
Post-Production Professionals
John Soh on the craft of editing for television based on the work of Slavko Vorkapić
John Soh on editing special effects
John Soh on working with composers as an editor
John Soh on advice to aspiring editors
John Soh on what he considers to be the best thing about film editing
Genres
News and Documentary
John Soh on editing Story Of... for David Wolper
John Soh on editing The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau
John Soh on editing The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau
TV Movies/Miniseries/Dramatic Specials
John Soh on editing Hiroshima
People
Bob Clampett
John Soh on editing Beany and Cecil for Bob Clampett
Jacques Cousteau
John Soh on how he came to edit The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau
John Soh on the challenges of editing The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau
John Soh on problems he had synching the dailies for The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau
John Soh on working directly with Jacques Cousteau on editing The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau
John Soh on the challenge of telling a story with the raw footage of The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau
John Soh on creating a story from the raw footage of The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau and on the characterization of Cousteau himself on the series
John Soh on going on expeditions with Jacques Cousteau for The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau
John Soh on Jacques Cousteau's on-camera persona on The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau
David L. Wolper
John Soh on editing Story Of... for David Wolper
John Soh on his time working for David Wolper Productions editing documentaries
John Soh on editing the feature film "The Hellstrom Chronicle" produced by David Wolper
John Soh on editing David Wolper's feature film "The Hellstrom Chronicle" and on Wolper's producing style