Do you have a preference for any one aspect of the whole filmmaking process?
I think I enjoy editing the most. It’s the nearest thing to some reasonable environment in which to do creative work. Writing, of course, is very satisfying, but, of course, you’re not working with film. The actual shooting of a film is probably the worst circumstances you could try to imagine for creating a work of art. There is, first of all, the problem of getting up very early every morning and going to bed very late every night. Then there is the chaos, confusion, and frequently physical discomfort. It would be, I suppose, like a writer trying to write a book while working at a factory lathe in temperatures which range from ninety-five to negative ten degrees Fahrenheit. In addition to this, of course, editing is the only aspect of the cinematic art that is unique. It shares no connection with any other art form: writing, acting, photography, things that are major aspects of the cinema, are still not unique to it, but editing is.
