Editing Natural Born Killers: lessons from Brian Berdan
Editor Brian Berdan joined Kingdom of Dreams to unpack Natural Born Killers, a project where the cut has to carry more than continuity. This episode is about rhythm, collaboration with directors, and the moments that only appear once you are willing to lose footage you love.
Great editorial craft rarely announces itself. In the Natural Born Killers conversation, Brian Berdan keeps returning to story clarity: what the audience must feel beat by beat, and which images are expensive noise. That is the difference between a cut that is busy and a cut that is alive.
Steal one habit from this episode: name the purpose of a sequence before you touch the timeline. If you cannot say it in a sentence, the cut will wander.
Go deeper on Kingdom of Dreams
- → EP 235: Brian Berdan on Natural Born Killers
- → EP 239: Brian Berdan on s
- → EP 243: Ivan Victor on s
Browse more editor conversations in the Kingdom of Dreams archive.
Original Kingdom of Dreams craft take based on our conversation with Brian Berdan (EP 235). Not a reprint of any single article.