INTERVIEW with Guangping 'Ben' Niu
Can you explain to the audience your career?
I started my career as a trailer editor in Beijing. I made many popular trailers for many Chinese blockbusters, such as The Wandering Earth, Kung Fu Yoga, Little Door Gods, and Detective Chinatown.
Even though I enjoy cutting trailers, I always want to cut narrative films. So, I joined the editing program of the American Film Institute in 2019. And I am about to get my master's degree this year. I met so many unique and interesting souls here. Cutting their films made me the luckiest guy in the world.
How many years have you been making movies?
Seven years. I started my career in 2015.
Why did you start making movies?
At age seven, I watched my first film on a VHS at my best friend's home. I have been so fascinated by the world with 24 fps since then.
I love all kinds of films. And I knew that I wanted to be a filmmaker when I was young. In college, I started to make shitty shorts with my friends. We wrote our scripts, directed them, and cut them all by ourselves. During this process, I enjoyed the editing part the most. That's when I knew that I wanted to be an editor in the future.
After all these years, I realized that making movies allows me to see the world from different perspectives. I can discover so many interesting, unique and great souls through different stories while working with different people in a team.
We have seen that you have done the editing of this project, let's tell a little more about this project. How long did it take you to edit it?
The film is about friendship, which is a topic I have always loved. And the director is a great friend of mine. So, when he invited me to join this journey with him, I was super thrilled. It took me seven days to finish the first cut. And it took us about a month to lock the picture.
What program do you use for editing?
Avid Media Composer.
I pretty much tried all the different editing programs. They are all great. However, I love how everything is structured and organized in Avid.
Some editors assist in the shooting to take notes on the director's intention etc. How is your work with the director? Since there are directors who do not set foot in the editing room throughout the process, but instead there are other directors who are very involved in this process. Can you tell us more about how you worked?
That's true. Different directors have different ways of working with their editors. Especially in today's world, people can talk through the internet and share notes through emails.
I will always encourage the director to sit in the editing room with me after I did the first cut. Because I feel great ideas always come from in-person discussions. Also, when I watch the cut with others, I will naturally obtain a new point of view. And this new point of view will make me realize what's working and not working immediately.
If you could go back, what would you change about this project? (1 thing only)
Each project has its fate.
However, I wish I could make the scene where Luke and Bagsy meet at the train station shorter.
What are you happiest about this project?
For me, the way they shoot this movie is a wild adventure. And I am so thrilled to be part of it.
Everything the audience sees on the screen is improvisation. We don't have a fully written script. All we have is a logline of the story and a simple logline for each scene.
Make a wish to the movie gods. What do you ask?
Have a bunch of close friends and keep making movies together until I meet God himself.
What kind of cinema do you like? Genre, directors, actors?
I am just a huge fan of movies. I can have a great time watching a silly blockbuster or get into a trance watching a slow-burn art house movie. That's the magic of this art form.
Imagine that all the movies are going to be lost. If you could save 3 movies, what would they be?
In the Heat of the Sun (1994), Directed by Wen Jiang
The Godfather (1972), Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
City Lights (1931), Directed by Charles Chaplin
If you have more projects underway, can you give us a bit of information?
It's a unique and heartfelt story about the father and son relationship. It's called Someday All This Will Be Yours.
Also, my current project, The Cowboy Pecan Pie, is almost done. My entire team put lots of effort into it, especially our director Paul Cadenhead. We love it. We can't wait to show it to the world.