Peer Review: Patric Ryan

Who are three contemporaries that you admire?

I am super excited to see the next project from Director Fausto Becatti (Familia London, Bioscope Johannesburg) and editor Daniel Mitchell (Work London). They are spreading their wings internationally with a stunningly unique feel to their work. 

MindsEye Director Matthew Walker is someone I have worked with and have a close eye on. This guy seems ready to explode both locally and across the Atlantic. He is passionate, disciplined in traditional filmmaking while keeping a very contemporary feel to his work. 

 I do find the learning incredibly rewarding. How much of that knowledge I use day to day is unclear. Once I have it, I believe it is subconsciously applied to my work and how I live my life.

Fredrik Bond’s consistency in creating incredibly well crafted work is always great to witness. Another editor I am always excited to see cutting is Ryan Boucher out of The Editors in Australia. I have seen his process and he is certainly one of the greats. 

In terms of new talent, I am very excited for editor Hannah Yerbury’s career, she is starting out, but I have witnessed her in the suite cutting with Reset's Sam Hargrave, and it was amazing to see her work. Sam is known more for his feature directing but seems to be doing some super exciting commercial projects. All the above have the ideas, the energy, and all the smarts. They make me excited about the industry.

Above: Fausto Becatti, Fredrik Bond, Matthew Walker

Please share 3-4 pieces of work that exemplify great Editing

In an off the cuff list of my favourite commercial edits, I have to start with what I consider the best, Smirnoff Love, Directed by Fredrik Bond, and Edited by Tim Thornton Allan. This may appear bias because I know them both very well, but at the time I first saw the spot I did not, and at that moment I knew that those were two people I wanted to work with. It’s a great example of a structure where the edit drives the story, rather than a scenario where the edit simply enables a structure dictated by the story. It is a powerful and emotive film with hidden delicacy showing a unique sensibility to the craft. In my opinion it is perfect.

By far, I have met and spent time with more people in the edit suite than the world outside. Every experienced Director, AdPerson, artist, producer or actor teaches me something if they are aware of it or not. 

Second is 2019’s Nordstrom’s An Open Mind Is the Best Look from Editor Peter Brandt. This is a wonderful edit, It has energy where it is needed, it embraces peacefulness while allowing time for viewer thought and reflection. I guess it’s helped by the extended duration but nevertheless those elements all feel effortlessly cohesive.

Third would be Honda Everything, From Scott Lyon and Editor Rich Orrick. The edit is impressive, but possibly outweighed by what I imagine to be an incredible process inside the suite. I may be wrong but I suspect they were helped by a responsible schedule and a client patience we seldom see these days. 

What do you like most about the work that you do?

Collective knowledge, people’s ideas and the way they work to solve problems, push techniques or interact with others. By far, I have met and spent time with more people in the edit suite than the world outside. Every experienced Director, AdPerson, artist, producer or actor teaches me something if they are aware of it or not. Editing on location has widened the net to include knowledge from Cinematographers, Gaffers, VFX Supervisors and Production Designers. I do find the learning incredibly rewarding. How much of that knowledge I use day to day is unclear. Once I have it, I believe it is subconsciously applied to my work and how I live my life.

The skill that is most valuable to my work is the discipline of Creative Triage. The idea being that you consider the story as the vitals of the project. 

What was your journey to becoming an Editor?

For most of my generation of editors, video capture cards were widely available sometime within our high school years. We were finally able to move away from tape to tape skate video editing to non-linear editing on computers. I found a love for it there. With a little research and a few golden introductions I joined the post production industry in Johannesburg. 

What is the most valuable skill you’ve learned in your career?

I would imagine the skill that is most valuable to my work is the discipline of Creative Triage. The idea being that you consider the story as the vitals of the project. During the assembly or review stages, ideas or comments are quickly assessed in terms of impact to the story. 

It sounds trivial but so much of what we do is committing thousands of frames, audio samples and ideas to our short term memory. Rest allows our brains to organise and archive this information.

Those that have a greater influence on the story will be addressed first which in some way eliminates others. For example, the time spent addressing a change to a shot that was not essential to the story, may be wasted when a later task changes the story. This process is all in aid of saving time for more creative tasks, while protecting the bones of the edit.

What is one thing every Editor needs?

Rest. It sounds trivial but so much of what we do is committing thousands of frames, audio samples and ideas to our short term memory. Rest allows our brains to organise and archive this information. A deep understanding of our projects frees up mental space for more creative tasks.