Have you seen Moneyball? The movie about the Oakland A’s and its record breaking winning streak was developed from a book by former Wall Street insider Michael Lewis. Billy Beane, manager of the A’s, hired a math and statistics guy on a whim, and together, they use numbers to find hidden gems in other teams’ baseball lineups. It sounds kind of dry, doesn’t it?
Well, it’s not and part of the credit for turning math into magic is due to film editor, Christopher Tellefsen. A couple of weeks ago, he was nominated for his first Academy Award. The New York Times had an interview with Chris about what it takes to be an Oscar nominated editor, and wrote it up for today’s paper. A clip from the movie, Moneyball, demonstrates what Christopher sees, the shots he uses and why he selects them to describe an abstract concept (it looks like principal component analysis) in a film for the sports lover in the general audience.
And the reason why all of this is important is because Christopher is married to Bev who is a sister to
….
Katiebird!
We’re nearly peeing ourselves with excitement for Christopher and looking forward to catching a glimpse of him and Bev on the red carpet. And it goes without saying that we hope he wins. Moneyball is a terrific movie with one of the tensest baseball game scenes I’ve ever seen. It had me on the edge of my seat and as afraid to watch for fear of jinxing it as Billy Beane himself.
(note to Bev: Katie and I think lavender is your color and you should wear the Spanx in the dressing room when you try the dresses on)
Filed under: General | Tagged: Academy Award, Best editing, Brad Pitt, Christopher Tellefsen, money |
The Confluence 
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Thank you Riverdaughter — I’ve been wondering what you thought of the way statistics and math was handled.
I’m so proud/happy/excited for Chris — and thrilled that my sister will surely be on The Oscars (if only for a second) when they call his name.
He’s made so many movies that I just love – Edgy Independents, comedies, big budget studio projects, serious dramas… Oh, and Man on the Moon to name just a few of his 20+ films…
I’ve been an Oscar watcher my whole life (well, since I was 10 the year Mary Poppins was in contention) and I’m shivering with excitement over having The Oscars in the family!
[EDITED to add that I had to go in and get this comment out of moderation.]
We need to throw an oscar party this year.
By the way, it really was a good movie and that scene at the baseball game at the end was tense. I think that shows what a good editor he is. I almost couldn’t look. Very well done.
Katie,
Tell him congratulations. I saw the movie, the editing was excellent. Sometimes you notice editing because it is bad. Sometimes you don’t notice it because it is just workman like. Sometimes, if you are someone who pays attention to such things, you notice really good editing. That is what Chris delivered this time.
The movie it’s self was very good. Loved the story and the acting, not so much Brad Pitt as the other guy.
Bravo and best of luck to your brother-in-law, katiebird. Basebball’s not my thing so his movie has not been high on my list to see before now and the Oscars. It just moved to the top of the list!
Love it! Thanks for the article, Riverdaughter. I’m forwarding it to Chris right away. First big party (after the nominee luncheon last Monday) one week from today!! Shopping: an obnoxious emergency.
Glad to know you’re with me in spirit. xx -Beverly
JeanLouise, One thing we keep hearing about Moneyball is that people who don’t even care about baseball love it. That’s because MB isn’t really about baseball! When you see it you’ll know what I mean!
Katiebird, love you!