Entertainment Production News

Contender – Editor Jabez Olssen Talks 'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey'

Posted by Carlos Aguilar

Thu, Jan 3rd, 2013

"The challenge that Jabez Olssen faced in editing director Peter Jackson‘s The Hobbit was the immense scale of the production, which shot what will ultimately be three films over one extended 18-month shooting schedule. “The fact that we had a big cast and a big story – the shear amount of footage, was probably the biggest challenge more than any individual piece of it,” said Olssen. Originally planned to be two films, well into production the decision was made to break the story into three parts. This change in the structure meant that the filmmakers did not have to lose as much of the story in editorial.

Although Olssen concentrated on editing An Unexpected Journey, the first part of the story, because the trilogy was not filmed in continuity, dailies for the whole screenplay came into editorial as they were shot. At least Olssen – who worked as an assistant editor and additional editor on two films from the Lord of the Rings trilogy – had the advantage of improved technology over those films. He was able to have the Avid on set for the entire production of The Hobbit. This allowed him to pull selects and review cuts with Jackson whenever the director had downtime during the shoot, speeding up the editing."

Read the full article

News Stream

© 2013 Red Forward — All Rights Reserved.