NPRSpeak

[Steve Kl.]

On Wed, 17 Jul 2002, Brooke Pierce wrote:

> As for pen and ink journalists and the liberties they take ... I've been
> "doing journalism" for the last couple years and have often been struck by how
> easy it would be to cast the interview subject in a terrible light - or bathe
> him in an angelic glow, depending upon one's desire.

The editor wields amazing power. The Criterion Collection put out a 3-DVD
set of Brazil. One of the DVDs plays the shortened (butchered, really)
edited-for-TV version that has an audio overlay that describes scene by
scene, and often beat by beat, the choice that was made by the editor for
tv in order to basically turn the story around 180 degrees. The TV version
was dubbed the "Love Conquers All" version (it has a happy ending) and
it's extremely interesting to see how they re-arranged and sliced scenes
in order to play up to the Love Conquers All motif.

-- Steve