In the edit suite with Duarte Lobo

Duarte cuts every film we make, and he holds the only key to the edit suite, a room the size of a cupboard at the back of the bench. We asked him what happens behind that door.

He answered between renders, with the door half open and one eye on a progress bar.

Most films are cut too long

What’s the first thing you do with a client’s footage? I watch all of it once, without stopping. Then I write down the three moments I still remember an hour later, and the film gets built around those.

And everything else? Most of it goes. Clients pay for every second they shot, so they want to see it. Viewers don’t care what anything cost.

Sound comes before picture

Where does an edit start? With the sound. A film that sounds right looks right; the reverse is never true. I lay the music and the room noise first, then cut the picture to them.

How do you know a cut is ready? It has to pass three viewings before anyone else sees it:

• Muted. It should still make sense with no sound at all.

• On a phone. Small, in daylight, held at arm’s length.

• By someone new. Usually Felix, who hasn’t seen a single frame.

Why the door has one key

Why only one key? Because a half-finished film looks finished to anyone who walks in. Somebody sees a rough cut, falls for a temporary song, and you spend a week getting it back.

One key means nobody sees a cut before it’s ready, including us.

Does the rule ever bend? Once a year, at the studio dinner, when we watch everything we made together. Then the door stays open all evening.

What to send before a shoot

What should a client send before we film? One film they love and one they can’t stand. Two links tell me more than a ten-page brief, and the one they hate is usually more useful.

And on the day? A quiet room and twenty minutes with the person who knows the product best. Most of the good lines in our films came from those twenty minutes rather than the script.

Duarte’s door is shut most afternoons, but ours is open.