Gladiator Movie Editor Pietro Scalia

Thanks to murphsplace.com for this article.  It proves once again how movies are made from the artistic ideas, creativity, and visions of many people including big, Hollywood studios like Dreamworks and great actors like Russell Crowe:

From Editing Art Comments by Pietro Scalia, editor on Gladiator:

"One of the things I'm really proud of is the first shot.  It's an example of how writing is done editorially.  The "hand over the wheat" shot was not in the script.  Ridley had shot it for part of the heaven sequence.  I used it at the beginning of the film for two reasons.  One was the poetic beauty and power of the image.  For me it represented a cinematic and thematic clue.  Ridley had intended to start with a closeup on Maximus.  With the "hand over the wheat" shot, the idea was to show Maximus' soul or inner state.  You go inside of him.  That shot contains the theme for the entire film.  Visually and thematically it's a poetic shot.  It's up for interpretation, but it will linger with you, and it's used and repeated all the way to the end.  It fit well as a thematic link to Homer's "Odysseus."  To me it shows how you can anchor a film and how material gets unified in the editing process by consolidating themes and by empowering an image with multiple meanings."

Take a break in your day with incredible Gladiator actor, Russell Crowe!