Editing Martin Scorsese (section)

=== 1963–1972: Short films and feature debut ===
While attending the Tisch School of the Arts, Scorsese made the short films ''[[What's a Nice Girl like You Doing in a Place like This?]]'' (1963) and ''[[It's Not Just You, Murray!]]'' (1964). His most famous short of the period is the darkly comic ''[[The Big Shave]]'' (1967), which features Peter Bernuth. The film is an indictment of America's involvement in [[Vietnam War|Vietnam]], suggested by its alternative title ''Viet '67''.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Finding the boy again |newspaper=[[The Scotsman]] |author=Alistair Harkness |date=April 11, 2002}}</ref> Scorsese has mentioned on several occasions that he was greatly inspired in his early days at New York University by film professor [[Haig P. Manoogian]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.neh.gov/humanities/2013/marchapril/feature/love-and-resolution-appreciation |title="With Love and Resolution": An Appreciation |website=neh.gov |url-status=live |access-date=January 9, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190701161645/https://www.neh.gov/humanities/2013/marchapril/feature/love-and-resolution-appreciation |archive-date=July 1, 2019 }}</ref> Scorsese's first professional job was when he was at NYU he was the assistant cameraman to cinematographer [[Baird Bryant]] on the [[John G. Avildsen]] directed short film ''Smiles'' (1964). Scorsese stated: "It was really important because they were filming on 35mm". He stated he was terrible at the job because he could not judge the distance of the focus. He also worked as a [[gaffer (filmmaking)|gaffer]] for [[Albert and David Maysles]] and as an editor for [[CBS News]], the later of whom offered him a full time position, but Scorsese declined due to his pursuit in film.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56ZTVNQTvvA|title= Martin Scorsese on His First Jobs and a Camera Skill He Never Mastered - The Job Interview|website= [[The Wall Street Journal]]|date= October 18, 2023|accessdate= October 22, 2023|archive-date= October 20, 2023|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231020010433/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56ZTVNQTvvA&gl=US&hl=en|url-status= live}}</ref>

In 1967, Scorsese made his first feature-length film, the black and white ''I Call First'', later retitled ''[[Who's That Knocking at My Door]]'', with his fellow students actor [[Harvey Keitel]] and editor [[Thelma Schoonmaker]], both of whom were to become long-term collaborators. [[Roger Ebert]] saw the film at the 1967 [[Chicago International Film Festival]] and wrote, in Scorsese's first published review: "it brings together two opposing worlds of American cinema. On the one hand, there have been traditional films like [[Marty (film)|''Marty'']], [[A View from the Bridge (film)|''View from the Bridge'']], ''[[On the Waterfront]]'' and ''[[David and Lisa]]'' -- all sincere attempts to function at the level where real lives are led and all suffering to some degree from their makers' romantic and idealistic ideas, about such lives. On the other hand, there have been experimental films from [[Jonas Mekas]], [[Shirley Clarke]] and other pioneers of the New York underground. In [[The Connection (1961 film)|''The Connection'']], [[Shadows (1959 film)|''Shadows'']] and ''[[Guns of the Trees]]'', they used improvised dialog and scenes and hidden and hand-held cameras in an attempt to capture the freshness of a spontaneous experience ... ''I Call First'' brings these two kinds of films together into a work that is absolutely genuine, artistically satisfying and technically comparable to the best films being made anywhere. I have no reservations in describing it as a great moment in American movies."<ref>{{cite news| last=Ebert| first=Roger| author-link=Roger Ebert| work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]]| date=November 17, 1967| url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/i-call-first--whos-that-knocking-at-my-door-1967|title= I Call First / Who's That Knocking at My Door?|access-date=November 15, 2020|archive-date= December 27, 2020|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20201227045136/https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/i-call-first--whos-that-knocking-at-my-door-1967|url-status= live}}</ref>

Scorsese became friends with the influential "movie brats" of the 1970s: [[Brian De Palma]], [[Francis Ford Coppola]], [[George Lucas]] and [[Steven Spielberg]].<ref name="BANDB">{{Cite web |url=https://bedfordandbowery.com/2016/06/brian-de-palma-shed-light-on-a-crazy-rumor-about-scorsese-and-taxi-driver/ |title=Brian De Palma Shed Light on a Crazy Rumor About Martin Scorsese and Taxi Driver |last=Maurer |first=Daniel |date=June 9, 2016 |website=bedfordandbowery.com |url-status=live |access-date=January 9, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181111035443/http://bedfordandbowery.com/2016/06/brian-de-palma-shed-light-on-a-crazy-rumor-about-scorsese-and-taxi-driver/ |archive-date=November 11, 2018 }}</ref><ref name="Adams1">{{cite book |title=Adams, Veronika ''Martin Scorsese'' Ebook.GD Publishing ISBN 1-61323-010-9 |isbn=9781613230107 |last1=Adams |first1=Veronika |date=January 27, 2011}}</ref> It was De Palma who introduced Scorsese to [[Robert De Niro]].<ref name="BANDB"/> During this period, Scorsese worked as the assistant director and one of the editors on [[Michael Wadleigh]]'s documentary ''[[Woodstock (film)|Woodstock]]'' (1970) and met actor–director [[John Cassavetes]], who became a close friend and mentor.<ref name="Thompson">{{cite news |work=[[The New York Times]] |title=The Screen: 'Boxcar Bertha' Tops Local Double Bill |first=Howard |last=Thompson |date=August 18, 1972 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/08/18/archives/the-screenboxcar-bertha-tops-local-double-bill.html|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029223024/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=980CE1DF1631E63BBC4052DFBE668389669EDE |archive-date=October 29, 2013}}</ref>

Scorsese met [[Roger Corman]] after coming to Hollywood to edit ''Medicine Ball Caravan'' and Corman, who had seen and liked ''Who's That Knocking at My Door'', asked Scorsese to make a sequel to ''[[Bloody Mama]]'' (1970). This came to be ''[[Boxcar Bertha]]'' (1972).{{sfn|Wilson|2011|p=33}}<ref name="Thompson"/> It was Corman who taught Scorsese that entertaining films could be shot with very little money or time, preparing the young director well for the challenges to come. Following the film's release, Cassavetes encouraged Scorsese to make the films that he wanted to make, rather than someone else's projects.