Walter Murch Quotes

Powerful Walter Murch for Daily Growth

About Walter Murch

Walter Murch is an esteemed American film editor, sound designer, and writer, renowned for his pioneering work in the field of post-production and audio technology. Born on April 1, 1943, in Oakland, California, Murch developed an early interest in both cinema and music, leading him to study electrical engineering at Stanford University with the aim of designing sound equipment for film studios. However, his passion for storytelling through cinema led him to abandon his studies and work as a sound technician on various film sets. This decision would eventually lead to Murch's collaboration with Francis Ford Coppola on some of the most iconic films in cinematic history, including "The Conversation" (1974), for which he received an Academy Award for Best Sound, and "Apocalypse Now" (1979). Murch is also known for his work on the original "Star Wars" trilogy, specifically "Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back" (1980) and "Return of the Jedi" (1983), where he created many of the films' groundbreaking sound effects. In addition to his technical achievements, Murch is also a respected author, publishing several books on the craft of filmmaking, including "In the Blink of an Eye" (1995) and "The Future of the Moving Image" (2011). Throughout his illustrious career, Walter Murch has been recognized for his innovative contributions to film, earning numerous accolades, including four Academy Awards. His influence can be seen in modern filmmaking, as he continues to push the boundaries of what is possible in post-production and audio design. As Murch himself once said, "The role of the artist is to make the chaos beautiful."

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"The secret of editing is taking the incoherent and making it coherent."

This quote by Walter Murch emphasizes the essential role of an editor in organizing disjointed elements into a harmonious, cohesive narrative or piece of work. It highlights that through careful selection, arrangement, and refinement, the editor transforms seemingly chaotic or unrelated parts into a meaningful, logical whole. This skillful process is key to storytelling, making the incoherent understandable and engaging for audiences.

"If you listen, really listen—even to music—the sounds in the world are richer and more beautiful than you may realize."

Walter Murch's quote underscores the importance of active listening in perceiving the richness and beauty of life's sounds. It suggests that by truly focusing on and engaging with our environment, we can find deeper appreciation for its subtleties, whether through music or everyday noises. This heightened awareness opens up a world of undiscovered beauty hidden within the commonplace, inviting us to rediscover the wonders that surround us.

"It's not just about what we choose to include, but also what we choose to exclude."

This quote emphasizes the importance of deliberate decision-making in the creative process. When creating something – whether it be a film, a piece of art, or even a written work – every choice made about inclusion impacts the outcome. However, the choices about what to exclude are equally significant because they shape the character and focus of the final product by setting clear boundaries and focusing attention on key elements. In other words, the art of exclusion is as important as the art of inclusion in creating something meaningful and impactful.

"The first cut is always the deepest."

The quote "The first cut is always the deepest" implies that initial experiences or decisions, particularly those involving separation or loss, tend to be most impactful and painful because they set a strong emotional precedent for future events. It suggests that as one moves forward in life, subsequent separations or disappointments may not hold the same intensity of feeling due to desensitization or adaptability. However, the first instance leaves an indelible mark and is remembered most vividly.

"Editing is a way of telling a story that can't be told any other way. And it's a very powerful way because you're not just telling a story, you're imposing an order on chaos."

Walter Murch suggests that editing, in the context of filmmaking or storytelling, is a creative process that imposes structure onto raw, disorganized material, transforming it into a coherent narrative. This act of structuring and organizing not only tells a story but also wields significant power as it shapes audience perception and understanding. It's a unique mode of communication, allowing artists to convey narratives in ways that would otherwise be impossible.

I was greatly influenced by musique concrete when I was, like, 10. I was completely mesmerized by the idea that you could make music out of sounds. So that's been a constant influence on all my work.

- Walter Murch

Been, Concrete, Constant, All My Work

Sound is a huge influence on peoples' attention.

- Walter Murch

Attention, Sound, Huge, Huge Influence

Every film is a puzzle really, from an editorial point of view.

- Walter Murch

View, Editorial, Puzzle

There are many, many nouns for the act of looking - a glance, a glimpse, a peep - but there's no noun for the act of listening. In general, we don't think primarily about sound. So I have a different perspective on the world; I can construct soundscapes that have an effect on people, but they don't know why. It's a sort of subterfuge.

- Walter Murch

Sound, Why, About, Glance

I believe that one of the secret engines that allows cinema to work, and have the marvelous power over us that it does, is the fact that for thousands of years we have spent eight hours every night in a 'cinematic' dream-state, and so are familiar with this version of reality.

- Walter Murch

Believe, Fact, Secret, Engines

I believe every editor should stand to edit. That's just my particular soapbox. Some things are so delicate and depend on such fine, delicate work. One frame in one direction or another can make such a difference and it is, in that, like brain surgery.

- Walter Murch

Some, Delicate, Soapbox, Brain Surgery

Take any writer you want in the 19th century: they wrote with quill pens, dipping a piece of goose feather in ink and writing. And yet we read those novels today, and if we're sensitive to them, we respond to them with an immediacy that is stronger than anything written today on a word processor.

- Walter Murch

Feather, Goose, 19th Century, Immediacy

Blinking is some way of tabulating - a kind of carriage return, click, or save to disk - that helps the process of 'Okay, now change the subject.' Every time you move your eyes, there's an interruption in the visual field - you go momentarily blind when your eyeballs are moving.

- Walter Murch

Blind, Some, Carriage, Interruption

My job as an editor is to gently prod the attention of the audience to look at various parts of the frame. And that - I do that by manipulating how and where I cut and what succession of images I work with.

- Walter Murch

Audience, Succession, Editor, Gently

If you want to freak your cat out, stare at your cat. If you want to reassure your cat, stare at your cat, then very deliberately and very slowly blink. Like that. The cat will also deliberately, slowly blink back at you, and I almost guarantee that she will start to purr. That's a feline reassurance.

- Walter Murch

Back, Very, Almost, Reassurance

When I'm actually assembling a scene, I assemble it as a silent movie. Even if it's a dialog scene, I lip read what people are saying.

- Walter Murch

Silent, Movie, Read, Dialog

Film is really the one art form that can effectively use silence. Music and theater can play with silence, but they can't sustain silence without losing energy, whereas film can go into a silent mode and stay there for minutes at a time.

- Walter Murch

Play, Without, Use, Whereas

'The Conversation' was the first film I edited on a flatbed machine - a KEM editing machine. I've been using Final Cut or the AVID for 12 years now, so I was interested in looking at this film and seeing if I could tell if it had been edited the old way.

- Walter Murch

Tell, Been, Cut, Avid

I re-mastered 'The Conversation' a few years ago for DVD. 'The Conversation' was the first film I edited on a flatbed machine - a KEM editing machine. I've been using Final Cut or the AVID for 12 years now, so I was interested in looking at this film and seeing if I could tell if it had been edited the old way. Truth be told, I couldn't.

- Walter Murch

Tell, Been, Cut, Avid

There's a big link between trains and film. One of the first filmed objects was a train. The clickety-clack of the projector and the clickety-clack of the train are similar. There is the idea of the voyage - every voyage is a story. I wonder if film would have been invented without the train.

- Walter Murch

Big, Idea, Been, I Wonder

I think every age has a medium that talks to it more eloquently than the others. In the 19th century it was symphonic music and the novel. For various technical and artistic reasons, film became that eloquent medium for the 20th century.

- Walter Murch

I Think, Reasons, Became, Eloquent

Every film is hard work, and a few lucky people do get Oscars for what they do, and it's recognition for all that hard work on a certain level. If you didn't do the hard work, you wouldn't be standing there. On the other hand, people do a lot of hard work and don't get Oscars, so it's a mixture of glory and injustice at the same time.

- Walter Murch

Injustice, Lucky, Other, Certain Level

I would be happy if they just gave out nominations and there weren't any Oscars. But winning them is definitely an experience - to get up there and make a speech. Every film is hard work, and a few lucky people do get Oscars for what they do, and it's recognition for all that hard work on a certain level.

- Walter Murch

Happy, Recognition, Lucky, Certain Level

The word processor is a better tool than a quill pen because you can do so much more with it, but on the other hand, what you have to say and how you say it is the ultimate determination.

- Walter Murch

More, Other, Ultimate, Tool

Film editing is now something almost everyone can do at a simple level and enjoy it, but to take it to a higher level requires the same dedication and persistence that any art form does.

- Walter Murch

Art, Almost Everyone, Almost, Persistence

You can always make a film somehow. You can beg, borrow, steal the equipment, use credit cards, use your friends' goodwill, wheedle your way into this or that situation. The real problem is, how do you get people to see it once it is made?

- Walter Murch

Cards, Goodwill, Beg, Borrow

One of the rules of the road is that if you want to create the sense of silence, it frequently has more pungency if you include the tiniest of sounds. By manipulating what you hear and how you hear it and what other things you don't hear, you can not only help tell the story, you can help the audience get into the mind of the character.

- Walter Murch

Tell, Other, Frequently, Hear

This applies to many film jobs, not just editing: half the job is doing the job, and the other half is finding ways to get along with people and tuning yourself in to the delicacy of the situation.

- Walter Murch

Doing, Other, Half, Tuning

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