Noted film editor Andrew Bird may not be clued in to the controversy surrounding dubbed films, but he touched a chord with the local filmmakers when he said that dubbing “absolutely kills a film”.
“I would rather read subtitles of foreign films than watch a dubbed version with bad sync,” he said, responding to a question at a workshop. The ongoing 5th Bangalore International Film Festival (BIFFes) is also offering an opportunity to film technicians to hone their skills and Mr. Bird was here to conduct a workshop.
His workshop, at Ramda Hotel on Sunday, was on the importance of film and sound editing. Over 50 technicians participated in it and Mr. Bird explained to them the importance of editing and sound recording in films, showing pieces of works he had edited.
The British-born film editor has worked on 14 films so far, mostly German. They include The Future, Soul Kitchen, The Edge of Heaven, She a Chinese, Love and Other Crimes, Comrades in Dreams, Head On, Cowboy and Angels, Die Boesan Aten Lieder, Solina, In July, Absolute Giganten and Kurz and Schmerzols.
The Edge of Heaven and Soul Kitchen are being screened at the festival. The first one even fetched him the German Film Award for best editing.
In his address, he said sound made all the difference in some of the films by supplementing the content. He also underlined the need to provide “real” background sound to situations, which enhanced the visual quality. The Edge of Heaven was “made on the editor’s table”, he said, adding that he prefers working on finished footages rather than visit the sets.
