We recently connected with Sam Vallone and have shared our conversation below.
Sam, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What was the most important lesson/experience you had in a job that has helped you in your creative career?
One thing I’ve learned while editing is the importance of sitting down and just watching the footage before you start cutting it. I like to get things done quickly, and in editing, you’ve got to take your time. I often used to rush through my first pass of a film, and this caused the final product to suffer. As a result, I’ve drilled it into myself that I have to sit down and watch. every shot, every take, all the way through. The more I do this the more I see its benefits, which is both wonderful and terrible, because this process takes a long time. Watching everything helps you to get to know the footage and the actors you’ll be working with. You pick up on little things you would have missed if you just jumped straight into it and picked the last take the crew got of each shot.
My first lesson in how important this process is came during my first year at AFI. I was showing my first cut of a film to the director (and a class full of editors) and I was incredibly nervous. While discussing a dinner scene, someone said they wished there was a shot of the husband that we could cut to. I chimed in and said that we didn’t have anything like that, to which the director replied that we most certainly did. Sure enough, when I looked back at the footage I saw that I had completely missed it. To make matters worse I had even used a small section of the beginning of that shot which showed an empty chair and a plate of spaghetti. Had I looked closer I might have wondered why a still shot of spaghetti was 6 minutes long. It was a moment I hope to never repeat. I wasn’t presenting the best version of the film I had been given. Ever since that night, I keep the memory in the back of my head to remind myself why it’s so important that I watch every second of the footage when I start editing.
Something I find especially interesting about taking this approach is the way that the filmmaker’s intent starts to jump out at you the longer you watch the footage. As you keep combing through the shots, you start to notice patterns; and before you know it, a new way to cut the scene forms in your mind that you wouldn’t have tried otherwise. By just going through the footage and taking notes, you let your mind wander and piece things together. I’ve found that by doing this, I’m also more likely to deliver something to a director and have them go: “Oh that’s exactly how I pictured this!”
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Ever since the first film projects I did in college, I’ve loved the power of editing. You can have such a dramatic effect on the way someone feels while watching your movie, and there are so many intricate ways that you can manipulate a story. When I take a job, I get all of the footage that was taken during the shoot and assemble it into the finished product. While I work on a movie, it goes through many different iterations as the director and I try to find the best version of the film. I often think of editing as a puzzle with countless solutions. There are so many ways that you can cut two shots together, but they’re not all equal. Some are more effective than others, some are near perfect, and some just don’t work at all. Finding those perfect moments is what I love about editing. As you search through the footage and try so many different ways to put two shots together, eventually you find one of those combinations that makes it all click.
Over the last few years, I’ve gotten really into horror movies, both watching them and working on them. Horror is a genre that I hadn’t given much thought to before I started at AFI. The first film I did there was a horror and it kickstarted my fascination. As I’ve worked on more horror projects, I’ve found a deep appreciation for the style. I love working with sound and horror movies make incredible use of it. One of my favorite steps in working on a horror movie is when I’m able to get into the weeds of sound design and create creatures that don’t exist or find ways to create a sense of unease with sound. These movies are visceral and affecting, and surprisingly not dissimilar to comedies in their mechanics. In both genres, it’s all about timing. As an audience, something is either funny/scary…or it isn’t. There’s no worse feeling than showing a work-in-progress film to someone and having them sit stock still during a joke/scare. That’s when you know you’ve got to spend a lot more time with that moment.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
In the past, I tended to push back on ideas without trying them first. In my head, I couldn’t picture how they would play out, so I assumed they wouldn’t work. I challenged myself to unlearn that mindset. A lot of editing is trial and error, and the key is always being open to anything. Even if it feels like there’s no way an idea will work, you have to be sure. I had to use this lesson just last week. I was in a session with a director and a cinematographer, and they had an idea for a way we could tweak a sound effect. I was quite fond of this particular effect, it was a cool low double voice for a horror scene, and thought it sounded just fine as it was. I knew I had to give it a fair shot though, and tried it anyway. As I heard the effect after making the change, I couldn’t deny it…it brought the whole moment together. Often, when I follow this advice and try everything, I’m pleasantly surprised by an idea that I was so certain wouldn’t work. I think this attitude comes down to being a team player. When you’re editing a film, you have to put your ego aside. You’re here to help bring someone else’s vision to life, and everyone on the team deserves to have their voice heard. As an editor, you’ll get to leave countless little traces of yourself across the film, but you have to remember that someone else brought this idea to you. Your work is to help them find the best version of their film possible, and you can only do this by being fully open to trying anything and everything.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
One of the most rewarding parts of what I do is being able to bring people’s visions to life. When I start working on a film, I have a hard drive full of clips, and by the end, we have a fully finished movie. Throughout the process, I am working with the director and other team members to ensure we are delivering the best version of the film possible. Talking with the team and hearing that they’re happy with the way the movie is shaping up reminds me of why I love to do this. When everything comes together and we can all be proud of what we’ve made, and each see the things we brought to the project working together, it’s immensely satisfying.
Contact Info:
- Website: samvallone.com
- Instagram: @iamsamiamm
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-vallone-283b08133/
- Other: Email: Samvallone@gmail.com