The Right Wrong Fix

Brian De Palma got studio notes on ‘Carlito's Way’. The scene was too long. Way too long. Cut it down. So he did the opposite. He made it longer.

The scene in question: Al Pacino's character caught in the middle of a drug deal he can sense is about to go wrong.

De Palma understood the studio was right that something felt off. But their diagnosis was wrong.

The scene wasn't too long.
It wasn't long enough.
De Palma knew he hadn’t set up the suspense properly.

So they re-cut - expanded it, made it much longer. Added the body language, pauses, extra cuts that weren't in the first version.

The studio see the new cut. They’re delighted.

Their send the notes: “it’s much better now it’s shorter.”

The fix isn't always the obvious one.

The skill is knowing which is the right fix to make. This is difficult, of course, but that's kinda the point.

We're conditioned to cut, compress.

But longer can feel shorter. Darker can feel lighter. Complex can feel simple.

And I don't think an AI knows how to be Benny Blanco from the Bronx.