When we think of Raging Bull, the iconic black and white images that appear in our heads are evidence of the amazing cinematography of Michael Chapman. He insisted on gaining the weight necessary to pull off his performance, halting production twice to gain weight while Schoonmaker and Scorsese edited what they had shot so far. Livesay has been quoted as saying that he achieved his effects through 'acting,' and the use of doubles and makeup, which Schoonmaker illustrated with several clips, but De Niro, of course, would hear nothing of this. It was a favorite film of Scorsese's, and an inspiration for the physical transformation Scorsese needed from De Niro when he had to go from the trim figure of a prize-fighter to progressively higher weights. She began by discussing how much De Niro's physical appearance in Raging Bull, the story of the life of tragic prizefighter Jake LaMotta, was influenced by British filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, whose 1943 film The Life and Death of Colonel Blimpfeatured veteran actor Roger Livesay going through a tremendous physical appearance in the film, from young man to the older Colonel Blimp. Schoonmaker, sitting on a couch on an otherwise bare stage, had a floor to ceiling screen behind her (and the ceilings were very high). Powell and Pressburger, Color & Black and White The line was for a festival screening, ironically enough of a new boxing documentary, Champs. As I made my way to my seat, though, I wondered if anyone in the other line knew that just a few feet away, one of the best boxing movies ever made was being broken down by one of its architects. No doubt, I thought, they are here for the panel with Scorsese's long-time collaborator, Thelma Schoonmaker.

When I arrived at the SVA Theater on 23rd Street in New York, there was a long line outside. Click through for a breakdown as well as some other inside tips from the artist who helped bring this masterful vision to the big screen.

What we in the audience got was a granular breakdown of the editing and film techniques, as well as other production information, about the painstaking work that went into making Raging Bull, consistently voted one of the Best Films of the 1980s. On Friday, as part of the Tribeca Film Festival, Martin Scorsese's longtime editor, Thelma Schoonmaker, sat down to discuss what was advertised as a look at her career.

Raging bull in color