Point Park University’s cinema arts program held a two-day Cinema Showcase which included a talk from The Last Jedi editor Bob Ducsay.
Mr. Ducsay described his path to becoming a film editor on one of cinema’s biggest properties: starting small, working with Rian Johnson and others to establish himself. He took a pay cut to do 2012’s “Looper,” a Bruce Willis sci-fi hit directed by Mr. Johnson. It got his foot in the proverbial door with Disney, which led to “Star Wars.”
“And after 30 years, I’m an overnight success,” he said, laughing.
Mr. Ducsay, who spent 19 months working with Mr. Johnson, the “Last Jedi” director and a former University of Southern California grad school buddy, said the editor’s job is “to serve the director’s vision and the director’s point of view.”
And should that vision include footage that gets in the way of how the film is paced, it’s jettisoned. He described a deleted scene in which Finn (John Boyega) throws shade at Phasma (Gwendoline Christie) before cutting off her hand and blasting her.
“It really stopped the film,” Mr. Ducsay said.
