Editing on “The Pool”
1/28/2009
We just came across this analysis of “The Pool” on JJ Murphy’s Independent Cinema blog… with a lot of discussion on the role of the editor, our fearless leader Barry Poltermann:
“Smith would shoot a scene and editor Barry Poltermann would assemble a rough cut on the fly. They would view it and then proceed from there. In some ways, it could be described as a more documentary approach applied to narrative filmmaking, and the resulting film represents an amazing accomplishment.”
Murphy ends by saying:
“Barry Poltermann’s editing of The Pool is nothing short of remarkable, and this final cut, which differs from the one originally shown at the Sundance Film Festival, is the best I’ve seen. The post-production sound work by Didier Leplae and Joe Wong has impeccable nuance: the wind rustling through the vegetation when Venkatesh, Jhangir, and Ayesha visit the fort; the clown horns of street traffic which mark the passage of days; or the whir of a small bird as it darts through the frame that makes the last cut of the film even possible.”