Growing up in the city of Jinan, the capital of Shandong Province in Northern China, Shuo Wang was inspired by the art of filmmaking from a young age. She knew she would dedicate her life to creating movies and television shows for the masses but did not know the best way to do so. The more she explored film, the more avenues she realized she could take. However, the moment she experimented with editing, she fell in love, realizing that an editor is truly a storyteller, with one of the final inputs in making a film a cinematic masterpiece.
“I found I enjoyed sitting in the editing room and combining individual clips into a clear story. In this editing process, I can choose which take of an actor’s performance to use and control how the story will develop. I also define my editing work as visual storyteller and creator behind the scenes. I feel very accomplished when I see a vivid and powerful story in my editing timeline,” said Wang.
Wang is known for her innate talent and extraordinary work ethic, aiding in the success of any project she takes on. Known for her work in the acclaimed films 100 Days Under, Outlander, A Mistake, and Somewhere Between, Wang’s extensive understanding of her craft is evident.
Despite her continued success, there is one project in particular that stands out for Wang as the highlight of her career. The film Mire recently premiered on June 24th, 2019 at the AltFF Alternative Film Festival held in Toronto, Canada where it was a finalist. Being a new film, it has already seen great success. It was a Finalist at the Rome Independent Prisma Awards, an Honorable Mention at the ARFF Berlin International Awards and the Florence Film Awards, the Silver Award Winner at the Spotlight Short Film Awards, Best Foreign Short at the London Independent Film Awards, and Best Crime Film at the Los Angeles Film Awards.
“It is my honor to be part of this film as an editor. I tried many ways to make the story more powerful and dramatic. These awards, nominations, and feedback from film festivals and film professionals give me a huge sense of accomplishment on my editing work. These affirmations for this film give me more confidence to explore the magic of film editing and support me when I’m faced with difficulties in future projects,” said Wang.
In a small town in the southwest of China, Mire tells the story of a couple and an insurance man who are contriving a carefully prepared scam with the couple's son. However, the situation is not going as well as they expected and eventually gets out of control. Wang was intrigued by the story from the moment she read the script, and knew she wanted to be a part of making it come to life.
“The story happened in a remote small town in the developing area of China, but is one that could be true in many parts of the world. The story is not complicated but full enough to show the dark side of people’s personalities. It includes crime, drama, love, and family in this film. Audiences who see this film will walk away with an understanding of the lesson in the story. For me, I am very glad to see that my editing work could have educational and positive influences on people’s lives. This is the information that I want to convey through the film,” she said.
When Wang began working on the film, she realized from consistently consulting the script that there was just not enough footage to tell the story they wanted to tell. It was slow paced with conflicting issues in the story. Having enough footage is very important to create a powerful story, especially one like this crime and drama story. This made Wang’s work even more difficult to figure out how the editing could reflect a powerful crime story with drama and transform the footage into something mysterious and captivating. As an editor, Wang has the sharp identification ability to choose and change the shots that could push the story forward, almost re-writing the story through editing. This involved cutting out some scenes and shortening others to create a quick and clear beginning, building up tension between the main characters. She also focused on reaction shots, creating drama. Needless to say, this approach was more than effective, allowing the film to become the success it now is.
Keep an eye out for Mire. With its compelling story and artistic editing, it’s a can’t miss.