Dorothy of Oz

It's been a long time since my last post, and a big reason for the delay has been my latest gig. I'm Associate Editor on an animated feature called "Dorothy of OZ". It's based on the sequel written by Roger Baum, great-grandson of Frank Baum, author of the classic, "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz".  Click the "read more".


I've been on this film since last November, and the job has taken a toll on my schedule. What I want to attempt doing now, is chronicle the journey I've been on and share some of the experiences I've had here.

The cast is very strong, with Lea Michelle (Glee) as Dorothy, Martin Short as a new character called the Jester, and Jim Belushi, Dan Aykroyd and Kelsey Grammer playing the Lion, Scarecrow and Tin Man respectively. There are more fun characters as well. Collider did a good write-up on it a few months ago.

Lea Michelle and some early concept art for Dorothy:

I'm working under veteran film editor Dan Molina. He has several notches on his belt as a film editor, including An American Tail, Cats Don't Dance and Chicken Little, just to name a few. He's a great editor and an even greater guy. I couldn't have asked for a better man to show me the ropes in the feature editing realm.

People ask me all the time if I miss doing sound design and sound editing full time. The answer is "yes!", but I also love the creative input you have as a picture editor. For instance, usually when you're working a sound job, you get the work print of the latest cut of the film sent to you to hash out sound ideas, cut dialogue or fx, whatever. It's a highly creative process, and with care, your sound tracks will transform the images on film into a new world.

The beauty of picture editing is that you get to have influence on the story itself. The pacing, the order of the shots and direct access to the director during the early cuts all have a profound effect on the film. This is what attracted me to cutting picture on a large scale.

It's issues like these and more that I'll be discussing in future posts.
Stick around.