8A - Monday, April 8, 2013
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
8A - Monday, April 8, 2013 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
FRAME BY FRAMEd
Afilm editor's' Playbook'
FINE ARTS COLUMN
Finding the
fun in thrift
shopping
Jay
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havinga kind of tortured fun."
us behind the - Cassidy added that as an edi-
tor, he getsto have the final word
enes of cinema at the end of a very long, collab-
orative effort.
By CARLY KEYES "The editing process is like the
Daily Arts Writer third re-write of the script, if the
work on the set is the second re-
April 5, Jay Cassidy, two- write in that it's an interpretation
Academy Award nominee by the actors and the director,"
lm editing and University he said. "As an editor, you get the
sat down for an interview satisfaction of getting to be there
idio A of North Quad fol- when (the film) gets to become
by a student question and what it is."
er session. Cassidy has now had the final
don't think you get.writer's word on almost 50 films, includ-
I think you just get to the ing influential documentaries
f your talent," he said. "A such as "An Inconvenient Truth"
isn't going to be as good as and "Waiting for Superman," and
an make it in the time that celebrated narratives like "Into
ave. It's going to be as good the Wild," which garnered him
can make it with the brain his first Academy Award nomina-
'that you have." tion and posed one of an editor's
lowing graduation from the greatest challenges - what gets
rsity, after spending most of to stay in the film and what gets
me photographing for The left on the cutting room floor.
gan Daily and making films Sean Penn had penned a five-
e Ann Arbor Film Festival, hour script. "And this is some-
ly landed a job in 1972 edit- thing when we watched it, it's so
olitical advertisements for depressing, you know, you just
pany in Washington called wanna die," he said. "I mean, it's
nheim Productions. five hours long!"
s pretty heavy when you're "But in 'Into the Wild,' you're
ars old), cut this ad together dealing with amazing perfor-
iddenly it's on national TV," mances and extraordinary pho-
ly said. tography and staging, and you
er four years, Cassidy's true always want good stuff like that.
or narrative film took him More is usually better, but quan-
Angeles where he enroll'd tity doesn't always get you better.
American Film Institute. There are a lot of movies that are
asked if Cassidy knew he really expensive that are really
d to be a film editor at this lousy. Hundreds of millions of
he described the nature of dollars will get spent on some-
orking world in Hollywood. thingthat's nothing."
ere is no tolerance for Cassidy's second Academy
ody who wants to try Award nomination came five
thing or is not sure what years later for his work on the
ants to do," Cassidy said. recent critically acclaimed "Sil-
's the wrong thing to say. ver Linings Playbook." This
anies like people.who say, first-time pairing between Cas-
nt to do this' or 'here's my sidy and director David O'Russell
' "proposed another common chal-
sidy said he also wanted to lenge faced by a film editor: work-
on the trade that would be ing with a director to achieve the
enjoyable. right vision.
you spend any time on "It's a relationship, and it's
e) sets, you realize that scary because as an editor you
aren't a lot of people really have a lot of power over the mate-
g fun there," Cassidy said. rial," Cassidy said. "It's a touchy
le are lugging lights around marriage, and David had cold
etting up scenes. The only feet."
n who is really having fun
6
"I'1 have what she's having."
But ultimately, Cassidy said
that what the director wants,
the director gets and that "final
word" is always a shared deci-
sion.
"If (the director) wants to
specify everything and you're on
the payroll, you gotta do it," Cas-
sidy said. "If he says, 'I want to
put the scene in upside down,' in
it goes! But that doesn't mean he
doesn't listen to other people."
"'Silver Linings Playbook'
wasn't a question of 'final cut.'
Harvey Weinstein (the film's pro-
ducer) is a great force; he's like an
old time Hollywood studio head.
He beats you and wants you to
push back because he wants to
know that the best version of this
movie has been made. And that's
the final cut."
Cassidy mentioned that
O'Russell and Robert DeNiro
(who acted in the film) each
have a child whose life has been
compromised by emotional and
behavioral issues. These real
emotional motivations behind
"Silver Linings Playbook" hooked
him onto the project.
"There's enough people who
make movies, and they're just cal-
culations," Cassidy said. "I'm not
necessarily interested in those,
but I am interested in somebody
who passionately wants to tell a
story."
Cassidy described what it was
like to work with Jennifer Law-
rence, who won the Academy
Award for Best Actress for her
performance in the film.
"On one hand, she's this grown
up, but on the other hand, she's
like a teenager talking about
surfing with her friends, and
it's like, 'Who is this person?'"
Cassidy described. "It's like an
angel came down to Louisville,
Kentucky (where Lawrence is
from). Take her out of 'The Hun-
ger Games,' and you just have a
bunch of teenagers killing teen-
agers."
At the end of event, Cassidy
left the students with one final
piece of advice.
"Stay out of show business,"
he said. "You go to Hollywood,
and you're a free agent, sure, but
freedom is just another word for
nothing left to do. You rise and
fall on luck and talent and hard
work. So, if you have certain
expectations on how your life is
going to turn out, you better fac-
tor that in."
This is what it would
have always come down
to. I could feel it, as
sweat coated my palms, that
this moment was what my life
had always
waited for. I
was casual,
nonchalant at
first. I hadn't
wanted to
show my
weakness, my
hand. ANNA
Gradually, SAIC.S"A
the anticipa-
tion started
to build. I'm sure everyone
knew - everyone could see
that I was going to lose this
battle. There's no way to win
when destiny is on the line. I
picked the two perpetrators
up, holding them side by side
as if the light could shine down
and give me a hint as to what to
do. Which one to pick. Because
in my hands, I held the most
beautiful finds of my thrift
shop exploration: "Checkpoint"
and "Gardemariny," two Rus-
sian films from my childhood.
My life had become a bad
Mackelmore song. How was -
I supposed to pick? How
can anyone pick between
something as important and
meaningful as these two dis-
coveries? I'm no native thrifter.
In fact, this was my first out- .
ing, and it was looking like
I was going to leave broken-
hearted either way.
"Por que no los dos?" My fel-
low adventurer asked, and sud-
denly, my whole world shifted.
Finding something amazing
while thrifting is like winning
a prize. Because, believe it or
not, thrifting is most certainly
an art. There's no way you can
spend four hours on a Satur-
day morning digging through
old clothes, dusty vinyls and
broken appliances without
despairing.
The best part comes at the
very beginning of each store:
You size the space, the collec-
tion of random items, brim-
ming with possibility ... and
you begin your search. Some
places are cooler than others,
and are much more inviting.
We found a working blender for
$10. Magic.
But toward the middle of the
shopping experience, some-
thing slightly terrifying begins
to occur. Islowly started fall-
ing asleep while standing, as
the fourth store we visited
blurred by. Everything looked
the same - I was even bored of
the grandmother sweaters.
And then, like a beacon of
hope, I found the Russian mov-
ies. It was as if the thrift-shop
gods were telling me to keep
searching. And though waking
up at 8 a.m. on a Saturday was
terrible, the finds were worth
it.
Thisisn't news to most
thrifters. They scavenge the
shelves and hangers in hopes
of finding true gold within the
rubble. But despite the awesome
deals and the envious finds, the
greatest thing about thrifting is
the amazing opportunity to find
rare, old items that hold much
more value from a sentimental
point of view.
Popping tags
and saving
checks
Not limited to the experi-
ences of a 6-year-old Russian,
sentimental items are every-
where. They can creep up on
you at Value World as you flick
through books, only to stumble
upon "Memoirs of a Geisha"
with an insert that reads; "To
David, who has only brought me
hope to fill my memoirs with."
That's real life.
Novels, films, albums -
thrifting to find the finer things
in life is like opening the door
to a whole new thrift shop
adventure. No longer focusing
on the 99-cent sheets, taking
time to notice the smaller, qui-
eter things can lead to an artsy,
intriguing shopping quests.
I ended up with neither Rus-
sian film, but with good reason:
The longer I stared at the mov-
ies, the more I realized I loved
the idea of hunting more than
the result. I went on to find
crazy paintings, fun posters
and a book I've been meaning
to pick up. But the movies shall
remain a symbol - for every-
thing possible to find as long as
you remember to look.
Sadovskaya is wearing you
grandad's clothes. To ioin,
e-mail asado@umich.eda.
6
*I
.0
Defending the antics and gags
of USA's crime-comedy 'Psych'
By REBECCA GODWIN
DailyArro Writer
I love USA's show "Psych." I've
loved it ever since it began in 2006,
and I could barely contain my
excitement when the long-await- 4
ed seventh season finally started
back in February. But when I tried
to share my love with a group of
friends, they stared at me in con-
fusion. They, like so many other
people, had no idea what "Psych"
was, which is a complete shame -
because it's easily one-of the most
entertainingshows on TV.
The show centers around
Shawn Spencer (James Roday,
"Don't Come Knocking"), whose
father, a former police officer,
.trained him from a young age to
have remarkable powers of obser-
vation and retention. Shawn uses "He started it."
these skills to call in tips to the
police, a good deed that ultimately the masses m
results in him being accused of a greater variet
crime. He manages to avoid jail from run-of-t
by claiming to be a psychic and elevated satir
offering to help the police. The references (
lie proves so successful that he 1980s).
decides to open his very own _
psychic detective agency - thus
begins "Psych."
If the premise sounds a bit Dont
ridiculous, don't worry. It's sup-
posed to be. There is very little
about the series that isn't silly, but TWat
that's what makes it so fantastic. Y
There are so few shows on TV
right now that are willing to poke
fun at themselves, while "Psych" A major sc
rarely stops. the show is tl
One of the best parts of the bits the cast h
show is that jokes are never over- viewers have
blown and obvious. Too many enjoy. One of t
other comedies rely on overused around Shawi
or outrageous gags to ensure no duce his bu
one misses the punchline, but best friend, B
the writers on "Psych" don't care (Dul? Hill, "T
if you don't understand every his realname.
joke. This refusal to pander to Doughnut Hi
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RAY-J'S NEW JAM?
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BECOME A MUSIC WRITER OR
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[
eans the show has a Jacob "Jingly" Schmidt and Hum-
y of humor, ranging mingbird Saltalamacchia are just
he-mill slapstick, to a few of the many names Shawn
e, to obscure movie has come up with over the years.
usually from the Some of the funniest jokes,
though, are created when the
writers address events happening
inthe real world. A prime example
be a rabid can be seen in the countless jabs
at CBS's "The Mentalist," a show
that was created after "Psych."
That show's main character, Pat-
ch this. rick Jane (Simon Baker), just hap-
pens to possess many of the same
abilities Shawn has.
Each episode is also 100-per-
ource of humor on cent unique, and while story lines
:he many continuing between characters carry over
as implemented that every week, you will never find
come to expect and Shawn and Gus in the same situa-
he best bits revolves tion twice. In just the first few epi-
n's inability to intro- sodes of the seventh season, the
siness partner and pair has already joined the circus,
urton "Gus" Guster hunted for Bigfoot and stopped a
'he West Wing"), by serial killer on an online dating
MC ClapYo Handz, website. Not to mention the many
olschtein, Jonathan homage episodes, the most recent
of which was a shout-out to the
cult classic "Clue," the 1985 movie
based off of the board game.
But the best part about, the
whole show is how dedicated and
thankful the cast and crew are
to their fans. Many of them con-
nect with fans on a regular basis
through various social media plat-
forms, often live-tweeting an epi-
sode. In 2011, the show even had
its own"FanAppreciation Day" in
New York City, where they had a
Q&A panel session as well as tons
of contests and giveaways. They
even allowed fans to choose the
ending to the highly anticipated
100th episode.
There are dozens of other
things I love about "Psych," and
if you tell me you've never heard
it, don't be offended if I tell you
to "suck it" and then follow that
up with a "don't be a rapid por-
cupine." You'll just have to watch
the show to figure out what I
mean.
40
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