On a recent visit of his to Manhattan, Andrew Adolphus invited me to a Moroccan restaurant on 72nd and Central Park West which resembled a set from ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark.’ His friend, Jordan, even had a Karen Allen appeal to her. Throughout our conversation I thought, at any moment, she’d swig a shot of Wild Turkey and challenge me to one up her.
But there was no ancient African, solid-gold head hidden under our seat cushion, or a sadistic four eyed Nazi ready to burst through the window and rip out our still beating hearts. We were there to discuss martinis, music and most importantly, editing.
” Editing,” Andrew said between bites of Spanakopita, “is like raising a kid. You have to nurture it, bit by bit, until it grows into something of it’s own.” He nudges his glasses up to bridge of his narrow nose. ” Not that I have kids, but I could imagine.”
Andrew is an award winning editor from Canada who has worked on over 100 music videos, several television series, narrative and documentary films. Recently, Andrew edited the documentary ‘ Rush: The Game of Snakes and Arrows’; a groundbreaking first time portrayal of the Canadian progressive rock band fronted by bassist, Geddy Lee.
Andrew started editing music at age 14 and played drums growing up. Since his first paying gig, an EPK for the Canadian band ‘I, Mother Earth’, Andrew has applied his love of music to every project he’s taken on; from conception to birth.
” Editing and composing a piece of music are similar. When you compose, a songwriter uses notes to tell a story and evoke a certain emotion. Editors do the same, but with images.”
Many editors, unlike Andrew, will attach a song to their timeline in Avid or Final Cut, two popular editing platforms, to establish a sense of rhythm when making cuts. But much like a filmmaker or writer uses music to inspire a scene, Andrew uses music to motivate a cut; injecting the footage with an emotion separate from it’s preexisting mood. By doing this, a scene can end up even more remarkable than the director had intended.
Mr. Adolphus is an editor who understands and exploits the manipulative qualities music has on an audience. But he’d be the first to tell you that a tear from the audience starts with a lump in the throat of the creator.
Raised and schooled in Canada, Andrew aspires to soon move to New York where there are more opportunities to edit in different, quality, genres. ” Genre,” as Andrew stressed, “is never as important as the end result.”
As the lead editor for ‘Party Mommas’ now airing on WE in the U.S, Andrew received a Gemini Nomination (much like the American Emmy’s) for Best Editing.
” Party Mamma’s is a lot like ‘My Super Sweet 16′,” he concludes, “Only more Canadian…or slightly French.”
I left Andrew to finish his meal with the Kate Allen look alike. We shook hands and exchanged information for his next visit to New York. I pushed through the velvet curtains, past the candle lit stone alley, and up the moist steps to the street level where, instead of finding Camel drawn carriages, yellow cabs were occupied for blocks on end.
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Below are links to Andrew’s work on Youtube.
golden dogs “never meant any harm”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NI7odVzpckk
raptile feat. xzibit “make y’all bounce”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mB_CHjk-xY
sarah slean “lucky me”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3b5eSUbYjQ
classified “find out”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raWZCJNKWvc
classified “no mistakes”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-369pUBb-ag
death from above 1979 “romantic rights”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzNrYRqH35Q
death from above 1979 “blood on our hands”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOr3QsJpMZI
big black lincoln “pimpin’ life”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ldevid2GYpM
brassmunk “big”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_MLgFDNCyo
metric “dead disco”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRopPJDZSig
metric “the list”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEaZA2typWk
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