The editor’s take

Newbie film editor Shameer Muhammed on editing and spot-editing

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The recently-released trailer of IDI owes its slickness to, among other factors, its editor Shameer Muhammed. He went through hours of footage to get the right mix of shots, from those filmed, condensing it to a few minutes of explosive action. He is also responsible for the impressive Charlie . When it comes to editing, independently, he may be only two films old, but he is a spot-editing veteran of around nine years. Spot editors work on location, sifting through the content shot during a day’s filming and editing it. The final editing happens later with the film’s editor who sees the film in its totality and editing it.

Traditionally Malayalam films have always, generally, had a spot editor on location, the trend is only catching up elsewhere, he says.

Shameer’s CV, as spot editor, is impressive –

Grandmaster ,

Kalimannu ,

Salaam Kashmir ,

Memories ,

Jawan of Vellimala ,

Baalyakalasakhi ,

Ennu Ninte Moideen – are some of the films. A spot editor’s job doesn’t have the comforts of editing in a studio; instead he/she has to be part of the rough and tumble of filming. “My job, as spot editor, was to trim the day’s shoot. It makes the director’s job easy; he can choose from those sequences,” Shameer explains.

One of his areas of specialisation is spot-editing fight sequences. He laughs and says it’s not a big deal as long as the spot editor has an eye for perfect shots. “For instance, what you see on screen might seem like a single shot, but in reality it is a combination of shots from various angles. The key is to use material in such a way that it has maximum impact. I try to make the most of the good shots available,” says Shameer. He did the spot-editing for the stunt Akshay Kumar-starrer

Gabbar is Back . The stunt master for the film was Stunt Silva, who worked on Rajadhiraja where Shameer was the spot editor. The stunt master contacted him for Gabbar... He has also spot-edited stunt scenes for Tamil films such as Valiyavan and the Sharat Kumar-starrer Sandamarutham , and a Telugu film too. He has also edited several commercials.

A student of Chethana Media Institute, Thrissur, he started as assistant to the late Kishore Te who edited films such as Aadukalam . Here, Shameer started his career (as spot editor) with director B. Unnikrishnan and subsequently worked on most of his films.

He went independent, as film editor, with

Charlie , an experience he holds close to his heart. “It was my first time and of course it was anxious but I had the full support of the team. Martin chettan knew what he wanted and he gave me the freedom to work,” he says. Praise has come his way for

Charlie from his peers and that has made him happy. He was staggered by the response to the promotional song, ‘Sundari penne’ for

Charlie, viewed several lakh times.

So, how is editing a song different from editing a fight sequence? “It may sound the same, but it is very different…a song is edited to a rhythm, to the music while a fight is all about impact which comes from repetitive scenes. A song is clutter-free, neat. Anyway, an editor is as involved with a film as its director.”

IDI releases in August.