Meet Yujie Tang | Film Editor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Yujie Tang and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Yujie, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
The reason that I chose to pursue a career in filmmaking goes back to high school time. To put it in a simple way, the movies I watched then hugely shaped my understanding of everything, and I thought some day I would really want to make a movie that would impact others. In high school, in between heavy loads of study I liked to watch movies just to relax. But as I watched more and more movies, I got constantly touched by many of them. Among some really influential works there were “The Green Miles”, “The Longest Yard”, “Invincible”. Those movies taught me so much about humanity, compassion and so many other things that school was not going to cover. Movies have played an equally important role as all my teachers. As I went on to college, movies had always been by my side casting light on my life journey. When I had to choose what I was going to do with my life, I thought I had to do something to impact other people, and that’s when I realized to pursue a career in filmmaking is what I had always wanted.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My most recent work “Cocoon Love” is something I’m extremely proud of. It has been selected in Palm Springs International ShortFest, Out on Film in Atlanta, Norwich Film Festival, Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film Festival, Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival, Cinéfest Sudbury, and many other film festivals. But I’m not proud of this film just because it’s been selected by so many festivals. I’m proud also because “Cocoon Love”, as a sweet and unique film, gets fully presented with my creative effort in editing.

I have to say Xiaowen Wang is a great director, knowing exactly what she wants. She was trusting and appreciated all my creative thoughts on the film. When I worked with her on the director’s cut, we moved scenes around and shortened some less important story bits. Every decision we made, the film got better. In the end, we worked out a film that tension was built through performances preserved by carefully made editing decisions. That really sets this film apart because nowadays most movies try to create tension merely through the manipulations of editing, which is more likely to harm the flow of the character’s emotion. “Cocoon Love” is a character-driven film and breaking the character’s emotion flow is the last thing we want to do. Therefore in the end, we are now able to appreciate a film that all the power comes from the performances in a subtle way, which is the best case it could be, because of creative editing decisions. That’s why I’m very proud of the work and I believe Xiaowen is even more proud since the outcome exceeds her expectations. Hence consequently, being selected in festivals becomes less of a surprise to us.

Of course, creating something this beautiful is never easy, especially at the beginning. With months of careful study of the characters and the footages, I grasped the essence of each scene in this film and laid the footages on the timeline creatively in support of the theme of the film. I tried various combinations of the footages just to find the best way to convey each exquisite emotion from the characters. The thing is, cutting the first cut, the editor’s cut, there isn’t anything to tell you at which point you’ve done your job. There were moments when I thought a certain edit was not good enough and decided to change a bit but only made it worse. So it is crucial that an editor should keep a clear mind and be able to step aside and look at the work objectively. So by spending a lot of time constantly changing my edits and changing some back, I managed to come up with a first cut that I liked. When Xiaowen, the director, saw the first cut, I saw satisfaction in her eyes and it was worth all my effort.

Apart from “Cocoon Love”, there are many past projects that I’m also proud of. “Thicker Than Water”, “Old House”, “TJ” have all been selected in a lot of film festivals and they are all great films that I am honored to be editing. All these projects also helped me a lot on my path to success. Along the way, most important lesson I’ve learnt to work in this industry is to establish a good relationship with the all the people you’ve worked with. Connections are just as important as what you are capable of in this industry if not more.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I’d like to go to the Griffith Observatory a lot. First of all, I like the view of LA. It is spectacular. And secondly, it also reminds me of my years of hard work that leads to today and of many other people striving just like me. So to me, the view is relaxing and also inspiring.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are many people that have been extremely important to me along my journey. As a film editor, it is key to have a trusting director if you want your work to sparkle. Like the case of my recent film “Cocoon Love”, I was so lucky to work with director Xiaowen Wang. She is a director with vision and yet trust my vision. During the time I worked with her on the director’s cut, it was inevitable that there were going to be different opinions between us. However she could always look at our differences from a very objective perspective and make the right decision. That is, with no doubt, a trait of a great director. So to me, it is no surprise at all that “Cocoon Love” is able to make its way into so many film festivals. Therefore, a big shoutout to Xiaowen Wang, a great director I’ve worked with!

And of course, all my past films have made great contributions to what I’m able to achieve today. There are quite a few films that has gone far in festivals and I would also like to give a shoutout to the directors. Their trust and advice has laid the ground work of the achievements of the films and my own. So here is a shoutout to Rachel Bass, director of “Thicker Than Water”, and a shoutout to Kunlin Wang, director of “Old House”!

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yujie-tang-ba82ba118/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpsdyPwm7VQ

Other: IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7772733/