Walter Murch
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Walter Scott Murch (born July 12, 1943) is an American
film editor Film editing is both a creative and a technical part of the post-production process of filmmaking. The term is derived from the traditional process of working with film stock, film which increasingly involves the use Digital cinema, of digital ...
, director, writer and
sound design Sound design is the art and practice of creating auditory elements of media. It involves specifying, acquiring and creating audio using production techniques and equipment or software. It is employed in a variety of disciplines including filmmaking ...
er. His work includes '' THX 1138'', ''
Apocalypse Now ''Apocalypse Now'' is a 1979 American psychological epic war film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The screenplay, co-written by Coppola, John Milius, and Michael Herr, is loosely inspired by the 1899 novella '' Heart of Darkn ...
'', '' The Godfather I'', '' II'', and '' III'', '' American Graffiti'', '' The Conversation'', ''
Ghost In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...
'' and '' The English Patient'', with three
Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
wins (from nine nominations: six for picture editing and three for sound mixing). For his work on ''Apocalypse Now'', Murch was the first person to receive a credit as "Sound Designer." Murch was also the editor and re-recording mixer of '' Apocalypse Now Redux''. In 1998, producer Rick Schmidlin chose Murch as his editor for the restoration of
Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American director, actor, writer, producer, and magician who is remembered for his innovative work in film, radio, and theatre. He is among the greatest and most influential film ...
's '' Touch of Evil''. Murch is the author of a popular book on film editing, '' In the Blink of an Eye'', and is the subject of
Michael Ondaatje Philip Michael Ondaatje (; born 12 September 1943) is a Sri Lankan-born Canadian poet, fiction writer and essayist. Ondaatje's literary career began with his poetry in 1967, publishing ''The Dainty Monsters'', and then in 1970 the critically a ...
's book '' The Conversations''. Famed movie critic
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
called Murch "the most respected film editor and sound designer in the modern cinema." David Thomson calls Murch "the scholar, gentleman and superb craftsman of modern film", adding that in sound and editing, "he is now without a peer."


Early life and education

Murch was born in New York City, New York, the son of Katharine (née Scott) and Canadian-born painter Walter Tandy Murch (1907–1967). He is the grandson of Louise Tandy Murch, a music teacher who was the subject of the 1975 documentary film '' At 99: A Portrait of Louise Tandy Murch'' and of Mary Elizabeth MacCallum Scott, a Canadian physician, educator and Christian medical missionary, who with her husband Thomas Beckett Scott MD, established the Green Memorial Hospital in Manipay, Sri Lanka (then Ceylon). As a boy, he began to experiment with sound recording, taping unusual sounds and layering them into new combinations. He attended The Collegiate School, a private preparatory school in Manhattan, from 1949 to 1961. In the summer of 1961 he worked as a music librarian and production assistant at Riverside Church's newly founded radio station WRVR, now WLTW. He assisted with the July 29th 1961 live broadcast of a 12-hour folk music Hootenanny produced by Izzy Young. This featured, among many other acts, the first radio performance of the 20-year-old
Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...
. Murch then attended
Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...
from 1961 to 1965, graduating
Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...
in the liberal arts. Murch spent the university school year 1963–1964 in Europe, studying Romance Languages and the History of Art in Italy at Perugia and in France at the Sorbonne. While at Johns Hopkins, he met future director/screenwriter Matthew Robbins,
cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...
Caleb Deschanel, and philosopher Andrew Feenberg, with whom he staged a number of
happening A happening is a performance, event, or situation art, usually as performance art. The term was first used by Allan Kaprow in 1959 to describe a range of art-related events. History Origins Allan Kaprow first coined the term "happening" i ...
s. In 1965, Murch and Robbins enrolled in the graduate program of the
University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...
's film school, encouraging Deschanel to follow them. There all three encountered, and became friends with, fellow students such as
George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker and philanthropist. He created the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founded Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairman ...
, Hal Barwood, Robert Dalva, Willard Huyck,
Don Glut Donald F. Glut (; born February 19, 1944) is an American writer, motion picture film director, and screenwriter. He is best known for writing The Empire Strikes Back (novel), the novelization of the second ''Star Wars'' film, ''The Empire Strikes ...
and John Milius; all of these men would go on to be successful filmmakers. Not long after film school, in 1969, Murch and others joined
Francis Ford Coppola Francis Ford Coppola ( ; born April 7, 1939) is an American filmmaker. He is considered one of the leading figures of the New Hollywood and one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. List of awards and nominations received by Francis Ford Coppo ...
and Lucas at
American Zoetrope American Zoetrope (also known as Omni Zoetrope from 1977 to 1980 and Zoetrope Studios from 1980 until 1991) is a privately run American film production company, centered in San Francisco, California and founded by Francis Ford Coppola and Georg ...
in San Francisco. Murch and his family settled in Bolinas, California, in 1972.


Career

Murch started editing and mixing sound with Francis Ford Coppola's '' The Rain People'' (1969). Subsequently, he worked on
George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker and philanthropist. He created the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founded Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairman ...
's '' THX 1138'' and '' American Graffiti'' and Coppola's ''
The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American Epic film, epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling The Godfather (novel), 1969 novel. The film stars an ensemble cast inc ...
'' before editing picture and mixing sound on Coppola's '' The Conversation,'' for which he received an Academy Award nomination in sound in 1974. Murch also mixed the sound for Coppola's ''
The Godfather Part II ''The Godfather Part II'' is a 1974 American epic film, epic crime film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, loosely based on the 1969 novel ''The Godfather (novel), The Godfather'' by Mario Puzo, who co-wrote the screenplay with Cop ...
'' which was released in 1974, the same year as ''The Conversation''. He did picture editing and sound design work on ''
Apocalypse Now ''Apocalypse Now'' is a 1979 American psychological epic war film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The screenplay, co-written by Coppola, John Milius, and Michael Herr, is loosely inspired by the 1899 novella '' Heart of Darkn ...
'', for which he won his first
Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
in 1979 and he was also significantly involved in the re-editing work that resulted in the extended '' Apocalypse Now Redux'' in 2001. In 1985, he directed his only feature film, '' Return to Oz'', which he co-wrote with Gill Dennis. After the film failed at the box office and displeased many critics with its dark and surreal imagery, he never directed another film. In 1988, Murch was one of the editors on ''
The Unbearable Lightness of Being ''The Unbearable Lightness of Being'' () is a 1984 novel by Milan Kundera about two women, two men, a dog, and their lives in the 1968 Prague Spring period of Czechoslovakia, Czechoslovak history. Although written in 1982, the novel was not publ ...
,'' directed by
Philip Kaufman Philip Kaufman (born October 23, 1936) is an American film director and screenwriter who has directed fifteen films over a career spanning nearly five decades. He has received numerous accolades including a BAFTA Award along with nominations fo ...
. Murch edits in a standing position, comparing the process of film editing to "conducting, brain surgery and short-order cooking" since all conductors, cooks, and surgeons stand when they work. In contrast, when writing, he does so lying down. His reason for this is that where editing film is an editorial process, the creative process of writing is opposite that, and so he lies down rather than sit or stand up, to separate his editing mind from his creating mind. Murch has written one book on film editing, '' In the Blink of an Eye'' (1995),Murch, Walter (2001). ''In the Blink of an Eye: A Perspective on Film Editing'' (Silman-James Press). . which has been translated into many languages including Chinese, Italian, Hebrew, Spanish, French, German, Hungarian and Persian. His book describes many of his notable techniques used in his film editing. One of his most praised techniques he refers to as "the rule of six" referring to the six criteria in a film that he examines when making a cut. In his book, Murch also describes editing as more of a psychological practice with a goal of anticipating and controlling the thoughts of the audience. Before this, he wrote the foreword to Michel Chion's ''Audio-Vision: Sound on Screen'' (1994).Chion, Michel (1994). ''Audio-Vision: Sound on Screen'' (Columbia University Press). . He was also the subject of
Michael Ondaatje Philip Michael Ondaatje (; born 12 September 1943) is a Sri Lankan-born Canadian poet, fiction writer and essayist. Ondaatje's literary career began with his poetry in 1967, publishing ''The Dainty Monsters'', and then in 1970 the critically a ...
's book ''The Conversations'' (2002),Ondaatje, Michael (2004). ''The Conversations: Walter Murch and the Art of Film Editing'' (New York: Random House). which consists of several conversations between Ondaatje and Murch; the book emerged from Murch's editing of ''The English Patient'', which was based on Ondaatje's novel of the same name. In 2007, the documentary ''Murch'' premiered at the
San Francisco International Film Festival The San Francisco International Film Festival (abbreviated as SFIFF), organized by SFFILM, is held each spring for two weeks, presenting around 200 films from over 50 countries. The festival highlights current trends in international film and vid ...
, which centered on Murch and his thoughts on filmmaking. In 2012, Murch's translations of short stories by the Italian writer Curzio Malaparte were published as ''The Bird That Swallowed Its Cage''.


Innovations and awards

While he was editing directly on film, Murch took notice of the crude splicing used for the daily rough-cuts. In response, he invented a modification which concealed the splice by using extremely narrow but strongly adhesive strips of special polyester-silicone tape. He called his invention "N-Vis-O". In 1979, he won an Oscar for the sound mix of ''
Apocalypse Now ''Apocalypse Now'' is a 1979 American psychological epic war film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The screenplay, co-written by Coppola, John Milius, and Michael Herr, is loosely inspired by the 1899 novella '' Heart of Darkn ...
'' as well as a nomination for picture editing. The movie was among the first stereo films to be mixed using an automated console. Additionally, the film is the first to credit anyone as
Sound Designer In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the br ...
, a professional designation that Murch is widely attributed to have coined as a means to help legitimize the field of post-production sound, much in the way William Cameron Menzies coined the term "Production Designer" in the 1930s.Caldwell, John Thornton (2008). ''Production Culture: Industrial Reflexivity and Critical Practice in Film and Television'' (Duke University Press). ''Apocalypse Now'' was also notable for being the second film released in a Dolby sound system that has come to be known as 5.1, with three screen speaker channels, low-frequency enhancement, and two surround channels (one more channel than standard surround sound arrangements at the time). The movie was initially seen and heard in this 70mm six-track format in only 17 theaters, some of which also featured prototypes of the Model 650 subwoofer developed by John and Helen Meyer. In recent years, Murch has asserted that the Meyer Sound subwoofers were more "emotionally significant" to the film's presentations than were the two surround channels. In 1996, Murch worked on
Anthony Minghella Anthony Minghella (6 January 195418 March 2008) was a British film director, playwright, and screenwriter. He was chairman of the board of Governors at the British Film Institute between 2003 and 2007. He directed ''Truly, Madly, Deeply (film), ...
's '' The English Patient'', which was based on
Michael Ondaatje Philip Michael Ondaatje (; born 12 September 1943) is a Sri Lankan-born Canadian poet, fiction writer and essayist. Ondaatje's literary career began with his poetry in 1967, publishing ''The Dainty Monsters'', and then in 1970 the critically a ...
's novel of the same name. Murch won Oscars both for his sound mixing and for his
editing Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written language, written, Image editing, visual, Audio engineer, audible, or Film editing, cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing p ...
. Murch's editing Oscar was the first to be awarded for an electronically edited film (using the Avid system), and he is the only person ever to win Oscars for both sound mixing and film editing. In 2003, Murch edited another
Anthony Minghella Anthony Minghella (6 January 195418 March 2008) was a British film director, playwright, and screenwriter. He was chairman of the board of Governors at the British Film Institute between 2003 and 2007. He directed ''Truly, Madly, Deeply (film), ...
film, '' Cold Mountain'' on Apple's sub-$1000 Final Cut Pro software using off the shelf Power Mac G4 computers. This was a leap for such a big-budget film, where expensive Avid systems were usually the standard
non-linear editing system Non-linear editing (NLE) is a form of offline editing for audio, video, and image editing. In offline editing, the original content is not modified in the course of editing. In non-linear editing, edits are specified and modified by speciali ...
. He received an Academy Award nomination for this work; his efforts on the film were documented in Charles Koppelman's 2004 book ''Behind the Seen''.Koppelman, Charles (2004). ''Behind the Seen: How Walter Murch Edited Cold Mountain Using Apple's Final Cut Pro and What This Means for Cinema'' (New Riders Press) . In 2006, he was awarded an honorary doctorate of letters by the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design in Vancouver, Canada. In 2009, Murch's work was the subject of a tribute, "The Art of Walter Murch," a program in "The Professionals," a series by the California Film Institute at the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center. In 2012, Murch was invited to serve as a mentor for the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, an international philanthropic program that pairs masters in their disciplines with emerging talents for a year of one-to-one creative exchange. Out of a gifted field of candidates, Murch chose Italian film editor Sara Fgaier as his protégée. Previous film mentors for the initiative include Mira Nair (2004),
Stephen Frears Sir Stephen Arthur Frears (born 20 June 1941) is a British director and producer of film and television, often depicting real life stories as well as projects that explore social class through sharply-drawn characters. He has received numerous a ...
(2006),
Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...
(2008) and Zhang Yimou (2010). Murch is the 2012 recipient of the Nikola Tesla Award given by the International Press Academy Satellite Awards for "Visionary Achievement in Filmmaking Technology". Previous recipients have included Douglas Trumbull,
James Cameron James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker, who resides in New Zealand. He is a major figure in the post-New Hollywood era and often uses novel technologies with a Classical Hollywood cinema, classical filmmaking styl ...
, Roger Deakins, Dennis Muren and George Lucas. In 2015, Murch was presented with the Vision Award Nescens, at the 68th Locarno Film Festival, for his contributions to cinema. The two previous recipients of the award, initiated in 2013, were Douglas Trumbull and Garrett Brown. In 2016, he was awarded an honorary doctorate of media by the Southampton Solent University in Southampton, England along with Anne Coates who received an honorary Doctorate of Arts. Murch has a long term association with the University of Hertfordshire; initially contributing an oral history interview with The Elstree Project in 2013. There is a dedicated post-production lab on the Hertfordshire campus named for Murch which opened in 2015. In 2018, Murch was awarded an honorary doctorate of arts by the University, for his contribution to the film industry in the county of Hertfordshire, his contribution towards The Elstree Project, and the Film and Television Production degrees. Murch and Hertfordshire's Head of Post-Production lecturer Howard Berry teamed up to create the documentary ''Her Name Was Moviola'', which received its premiere in 2024. Students from Berry's film degree worked on the film as crew. In 2024 he was awarded the ACE Career Achievement Award at the 74th American Cinema Editors Eddie Awards in March. In May of that same year, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Ravensbourne University London for his outstanding contribution to cinema and his seminal writings on the craft of film editing. He is the only film editor to have received Academy Award nominations for films edited on four different systems: * '' Julia'' (1977) using upright Moviola * ''
Apocalypse Now ''Apocalypse Now'' is a 1979 American psychological epic war film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The screenplay, co-written by Coppola, John Milius, and Michael Herr, is loosely inspired by the 1899 novella '' Heart of Darkn ...
'' (1979), ''
Ghost In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...
'' (1990), and '' The Godfather Part III'' (1990) using KEM flatbed * '' The English Patient'' (1996) using Avid * '' Cold Mountain'' (2003) using Final Cut Pro 4 Murch is also Honorary Associate of London Film School.


Personal life

Murch married Muriel Ann "Aggie" Slater at Riverside Church, New York City on August 6, 1965. Directly after marrying, the couple took a 6,000 mile motorcycle trip zig-zagging across the United States and Canada. They have four children and have lived in Bolinas, California since 1972.


Filmography


Feature films


Restorations and Re-edits


Television


References


External links

*
Walter Murch Articles
a
Filmsound.org

Transom Review

Behind the Scenes with Film Editor Walter Murch
interview at NPR All Things Considered, November 8, 2005
Edison-Dickson Kinetophone Project 1894



Return to Oz – Ultimate Movie Site
Material relating to the Murch-directed ''Return to Oz''.
"Retouching Evil"
by Michael Sragow, '' SF Weekly'', September 9, 1998.
"Mixing Apocalypse Now"
by Larry Blake, '' Mix Magazine'', August 1, 2001.
"A Digital Cinema of the Mind"
article by Murch in ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''
Literature on Walter Murch
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murch, Walter 1943 births American film editors American sound designers American sound editors Artists from New York City Best Editing BAFTA Award winners Best Film Editing Academy Award winners Best Sound BAFTA Award winners Best Sound Mixing Academy Award winners CAS Career Achievement Award honorees Film theorists Johns Hopkins University alumni Living people People from Bolinas, California USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni