|| John Ottman at Popcorn Taxi

John Ottman, film editor and composer, appeared at Popcorn Taxi during August. The event was hosted by Peter Whitmore ASE and the discussion with John was led by Bill Russo ASE.

The Popcorn Taxi with John Ottman showed what an amazing thing it must be to be a power player in Hollywood. Particularly when you're only 41 years old and have never done any leg work as an assistant... Mr. John Ottman, who edited and scored THE USUAL SUSPECTS, X-MEN 2 and is currently working on SUPERMAN RETURNS forged a friendship at film school which today ensures both regular work and impressive film credits.
 

GETTING HIS START

While studying at USC film school, John met production assistant Bryan Singer while cutting a film for one of their fellow classmates. Singer got on well with Ottman and asked him to edit a short film he had made. On Singer's first feature, PUBLIC ACCESS, John played editor and at the eleventh hour was also asked to write the score. PUBLIC ACCESS received the Grand Jury Prize at the 1993 Sundance Film Festival and gave Bryan Singer status as an up-and-coming Hollywood director.

Having forged a creative and friendly relationship with Singer, the director wrote it into his contract that John both score and edit THE USUAL SUSPECTS. For SUSPECTS,  Ottman set up a flatbed in his living room and said he ended up with pieces of film in every room of his house.  Ottman stated that the first workprint was "patched together and stained with blood". Ottman told the audience that his experience on THE USUAL SUSPECTS made him decide never to edit from home again. He listed two reasons for this – firstly, he could never escape the film, or work – it was always there. The second reason was that working from home interrupted his sleep. And it interrupted his sleep because Bryan Singer was in the habit of rocking up at 3am - with mates - so they could watch the film. After finishing the cut, Ottman had two weeks to score the film.

EDITOR vs. COMPOSER

It was really interesting hearing John discuss editing versus composition. It really was clear how much he prefers scoring - but because both processes involve pace, rhythm and timing he recognises that they can be similar. John said he doesn't understand how people can listen to the radio when editing - particularly when they're listening to rock music while cutting a love scene. When asked if he composes while editing, John stated that he does not, but believes he does subliminally create pregnant pauses for music. He continued saying that editors, besides cutting to temp tracks,  have a sort of metronome in their heads which they also work to for pace and rhythm.

WELCOME TO HOLLYWOOD BABY!

John Ottman has a secure position in Hollywood. He is the only editor Bryan Singer will work with and because of this, on Singer’s films, Ottman has full control of his post process. He doesn't answer to producers, he answers to Bryan - a man who has infinite faith and trust in his abilities. Ottman talked about how Hollywood scripts are never subtle and always written to excess. This “over-writing” occurs because producers and studios need to have story driven home to them - they need the clearest picture possible before they will greenlight something. Ottman said that whole portions of a script are written even though they are redundant and exist to be cut at a later date. While Ottman doesn't edit for anyone else, he does score a number of films each year. His experiences when not working for Singer sees a much lesser degree of control over his work, with studios having more of a say over how things end up. Ottman’s power will depend on the power of his director.

It was refreshing to hear that Ottman does get “freaked out” when starting a new film. BUT, he said, he still feels confident - and this is because he has come to a place in his career where he is comfortable in his own skin. He realises that the work he does, even if it is disliked, is not crap - its just him.

John Ottman receives royalties from the films he scores. He talked about actors, producers and directors all receiving royalties also. Ottman became quite passionate when stating that he thinks editors should also be able to enjoy film profits. He justified this saying that the person who ultimately makes the movie, who puts it all together - is the editor. He said that the American film payscale for editors, in relation to the work they do is out of whack - especially since during a film, the story is told three times - in the script, in the shoot and in the edit. He did concede though that editors - even the best ones,  have a "snowball's chance in hell" of obtaining royalties.

SUPERMAN 

Ottman is currently in Sydney cutting SUPERMAN RETURNS for Bryan Singer with co-editor Elliot Graham. Effectively the pair take alternate scenes and work on them. Elliot will take over all editing duties when Ottman starts composing the score (he is using John Williams' original score as his base theme, because he recognises that SUPERMAN has an established theme and therefore, is not going to let his ego or vision change it).  The editors and assistants on SUPERMAN RETURNS have seven Avids here in Australia and will use more when they return to LA. Ottman mentioned there is always one Avid spare - Bryan Singer's Avid, which he can use to let his friends see the film.

All in all, it was an excellent night and provided a great insight into the life of an editor cutting big budget Hollywood films. Bill Russo ASE did a great job facilitating the discussion. It was an interesting and informative event which saw Ottman signing autographs at the end of it... THAT’S HOLLYWOOD BABY!


For more information on this event, please head to the program vault on the POPCORN TAXI website. 

 

Emma McCleave.