THE MAGAZINE FOR FILM & TELEVISION EDITORS, ASSISTANTS & POST-PRODUCTION PROFESSIONALS
THE SUMMER MOVIE FEATURING ISSUE Christopher
IN THIS ISSUE Robin Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again The Darkest Minds Incredibles 2 AND MUCH MORE!
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04 12 Letter from the Editor 49 In Memoriam Editors Without Borders William B. Stich, ACE BY EDGAR BURCKSEN, ACE BY JACK TUCKER, ACE 08 26 What’s New! ACE Internship News & Announcements 46 Program Preps Short Cut Comic the Next BY JOHN VAN VLIET Generation of Editors BY EDGAR BURCKSEN, ACE 14 Aspects of Editing 30 Midnight in Mercy Invisible Art/ BY BONNIE KOEHLER, ACE Visible Artists BY NANCY JUNDI 18 40 Tech Corner 34 OLLIE is not just a dog Meet Kristin Bye BY HARRY B. MILLER III, ACE Karen Schmeer Film Editing Fellowship Recipient 22 BY NANCY JUNDI Global Editing Perspectives 36 South Africa NAB Show BY DR, NIKKI COMINOS, S.A.G.E. ACE’s Black Panther panel is a hit, as suppliers such as 52 Adobe, Avid and Blackmagic Cuts We Love meet in Las Vegas The Sixth Sense BY ELLEN GALVIN BY ADRIAN PENNINGTON 43
features
40 43 46 49 The Darkest Minds Incredibles 2 Mamma Mia! Christopher Robin Maryann Brandon, ACE, Stephen Schaffer, ACE, Here We Go Again Matt Chessé, ACE, scares up a and Brad Bird reunite Peter Lambert enjoys the reunites a grown-up supernatural actioner the superhero family insane endorphin rush of Christopher Robin with his BY WALTER FERNANDEZ JR. BY ADRIAN PENNINGTON creating an ABBA musical “willy, nilly, silly old bear” BY ADRIAN PENNINGTON
02 CINEMAEDITOR QTR 2 / 2018 / VOL 68 Cover image: Christopher Robin (Ewan McGregor) and his longtime friend, Winnie the Pooh. Photo by Laurie Sparham. ©2018 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved. FOR YOUR EMMY® CONSIDERATION OUTSTANDING SINGLE-CAMERA PICTURE EDITING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
CINEMA EDITOR MAGAZINE REVISION 1 NETFLIX: OZARK PUB DATE 06/04/18 TRIM: 8.5” X 11” BLEED: 8.75” X 11.25” LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Editors Without Borders
t is one of ACE’s main goals to propagate, inform and educate Ithe moviemaker and society in general with events such as the Eddie Awards, Invisible Art/Visible Artists, EditFest and, of course, CinemaEditor. Next up is EditFest London, which takes place June 30 at BFI Southbank. The day will feature several editor panels including such talent as Una Ni Dhonghaile; Andrew J. McClelland; Eddie Hamilton, ACE; John Venzon, ACE; and Martin Walsh, ACE; as well as a featured conversation with Chris Lebenzon, ACE. Another ACE initiative that has truly transcended international borders is the Petition for Editors’ Recognition in cooperation with the Motion Picture Editors Guild, which aims to give editors their creative due at film festivals all around the world by pushing for editing award categories. Establishing contacts around the globe to persuade all kinds of international film festivals to honor editors has familiarized us with lesser-known communities and organizations of editors that helped in the effort. It turns out that there’s a vibrant array of formal and informal groups of editors that gather to advocate all the professional and creative aspects of our jobs. This led to the genesis of an idea to find ways to connect all these organizations, clubs and communities. As the preeminent honorary society of editors, ACE seems to be the perfect organization to take a leading role in bringing all the creative challenges, struggles and concerns of other editors together. On the recommendation of the International Relations Commi- ttee of the ACE Board of Directors, last year CinemaEditor inaugurated the Global Editing Perspectives column, each time featuring another country’s editors organization; in this issue we highlight South Africa. The ACE Board of Directors has been diligently working with the International Relations Committee to find ways to strengthen our bond with editors around the world because we realize that motion pictures are not bound by borders and so neither should we be. –Edgar Burcksen, ACE
04 CINEMAEDITOR QTR 2 / 2018 / VOL 68 Photo by Peter Zakhary. FOR YOUR EMMY® CONSIDERATION OUTSTANDING SINGLE CAMERA PICTURE EDITING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
“ON EVERY LEVEL, ‘THE CROWN’ IS DESERVING OF PRAISE.” VULTURE
CINEMA EDITOR MAGAZINE NETFLIX: THE CROWN PUB DATE 06/04/18 TRIM: 8.5” X 11” BLEED: 8.75” X 11.25” Official Periodical of the American Cinema Editors, Inc. Founded November 28, 1950.
EDITORIAL STAFF
EDITOR IN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL EDITOR EDITORIAL CONSULTANT Edgar Burcksen, ACE Adrian Pennington Carolyn Giardina
ART DIRECTOR EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Luci Zakhary Peter Zakhary
BUSINESS AFFAIRS PRESIDENT Stephen Rivkin, ACE PRODUCTION MANAGER PRODUCTION COORDINATOR PRODUCTION ASSISTANT ADVERTISING & DISTRIBUTION Jenni McCormick Marika Ellis Gemmalyn Brunson Peter Zakhary VICE PRESIDENT Alan Heim, ACE
ADVISORY BOARD SECRETARY Lillian Benson, ACE Edgar Burcksen, ACE Harry B. Miller III, ACE Andrew Seklir, ACE TREASURER CONTRIBUTORS Stephen Lovejoy, ACE
Edgar Burcksen, ACE, is the Editor in Chief of and Bonnie Koehler, ACE, has been a film editor for a regular contributor to CinemaEditor magazine. He also five decades, from Moviola to digital, from Star Wars to serves on the ACE Board of Directors. Law & Order: SVU. She is currently at work on an essay collection about her experiences on the cutting room BOARD OF DIRECTORS Walter Fernandez Jr. was the Editor in Chief of floor:Nobody Dies Tonight. CinemaEditor magazine from August 2010 until June Anita Brandt Burgoyne, ACE 2013. He has worked in marketing and distribution at Harry B. Miller III, ACE, serves as an associate Jacqueline Cambas, ACE IMAX and the MPAA. He has written for CinemaEditor on the ACE Board of Directors. His recent credits include since 2003. Turn: Washington’s Spies and The Predator. Tina Hirsch, ACE Maysie Hoy, ACE Ellen Galvin, After working in the TV and enter- Adrian Pennington is a journalist, editor and mar- tainment industry for more than 40 years – the past keting copywriter whose articles have appeared in the Bonnie Koehler, ACE 13 years as ACE Sponsorship & Advertising Director – Financial Times, British Cinematographer, Screen Inter- Carol Littleton, ACE Ellen moved to Henderson, NV with her husband, Gary. national, The Hollywood Reporter, Premiere, Broadcast, Travel, family and friends now take top spots on her RTS Television and The Guardian. He is co-author Mary Jo Markey, ACE bucket list, along with finishing a novel based on her of Exploring 3D: The New Grammar of Stereoscopic Michael Ornstein, ACE parents’ lives. She continues to support and consult with Filmmaking (Focal Press, 2012) and his favorite film of ACE and CinemaEditor. all time is Gilda. Sabrina Plisco, ACE Kevin Tent, ACE Carolyn Giardina is an award-winning journalist and Jack Tucker, ACE, Emmy®-nominated editor and first- author who serves as tech editor at The Hollywood ever recipient of the ACE Robert Wise Award, was Reporter, for which she writes its Behind the Screen at the helm of CinemaEditor magazine at the close of blog. She is also co-author of Exploring 3D: The New the 20th century. He has recently produced the docu- Grammar of Stereoscopic Filmmaking (Focal Press, mentary feature, American Empire, with his partner, 2012). One of her first assignments at the start of her director Patrea Patrick. ASSOCIATE BOARD career was a feature story about editing – and she has Kate Amend, ACE enjoyed covering editors ever since. John Van Vliet has worked in animation and visual effects for more than 32 years. Although his involvement Mark Andrew, ACE Nancy Jundi has been a contributing writer to Cinema- on bad pictures far outnumbers the good ones, all have Editor since 2006. She is a technical consultant and provided raw material for his drawings – for which he’s Edgar Burcksen, ACE communications strategist in the Los Angeles area for grateful. Visit MigrantFilmWorker.com for more. Harry B. Miller III, ACE post-production facilities, non-profit organizations and tech start ups.
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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR LETTERS, SUBSCRIPTIONS, OR SUBSCRIPTION RATE Jenni McCormick OTHER CORRESPONDENCE $39 for one year. Subscription cost includes CinemaEditor Magazine printed magazine and online access. 5555 Melrose Avenue Marx Brothers Building, Room 108, BACK ISSUES Los Angeles, CA 90038 Please indicate which issue(s). Cost is $10 per issue. THE ACE CREDO PH 323.956.2900 MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO American Cinema Editors The objects and purposes of TO ADVERTISE OR FOR ADVERTISING RATES Credit cards accepted. CinemaEditor is complimentary Peter Zakhary [email protected] to ACE members. the American Cinema Editors are to advance the art and science DIGITAL ADVERTISING QUESTIONS ACE WEBSITE QUESTIONS Libby Higgins [email protected] Kate Higgins [email protected] of the film editing profession; to increase the entertainment CinemaEditor Magazine is published quarterly by the American Cinema Editors. The views expressed in this value of motion pictures by periodical do not necessarily reflect the views of the Board of Directors or the membership of ACE. Reproduction in whole or part without written permission is prohibited. ©American Cinema Editors, Inc. All rights reserved. attaining artistic pre-eminence and scientific achievement in the STAY CONNECTED creative art of film editing; to bring into close alliance those Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter film editors who desire to advance American Cinema Editors (ACE) @acefilmeditors the prestige and dignity of the film editing profession. American Cinema Editors website www.americancinemaeditors.org FOR YOUR EMMY® CONSIDERATION OUTSTANDING NONFICTION PICTURE EDITING IN ALL CATEGORIES 100
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Jake Pushinsky, ACE 40 Zumbrunnen, ACE, who died in 2017. Booze (published by Shotgun Honey). 70 Fabienne Rawley, ACE 70 40
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70 in Los Angeles. Most recently, Derek and his crime fiction has appeared in Josh Schaeffer, ACE 20 40 40
edited Cut Off, a psychological thriller the anthologies: Orange County Noir, Phillip Schopper, ACE 40 70
Arthur Tarnowski, ACE 10 directed by Jowan Carbin that premiered 44 Caliber Funk: Tales of Crime, Soul 40 at the New Orleans Film Festival in and Payback. He’s scripted the Hong Will Znidaric, ACE 100 100
October 2017. Kong kickboxing film, Raw Target, and 40 Throughout this year Derek will meet the indie musical, Open House. Advertiser Index 40
100 40 with numerous editors, both informally For more information, a synopsis, IFC Glow 40 and in mentor-mentee relationships that and purchasing options for Fast Bang 01 Mindhunter 40 100 40
will provide him with editing challenges Booze, visit www.ShotgunHoney.com. 03 Ozark 100 100 ® and feedback on his work. With the sup- A bonus story penned by Maddox, 05 The Crown CURB YOUR LAST WEEK TONIGHT ® ◊ 30
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port of Adobe, Avid and PIX Systems, “Smotherage,” is available on the ACE 3% ENTHUSIASM WITH JOHN OLIVER BARRY he’ll further develop his technical skills. website www.americancinemaeditors.org. 09 HBO FYC 30 11 Petition for 70
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CANYON dESIGN GROUP • 4929 WILSHIRE BLVd., SUITE 500 LOS ANGELES, CA 90010 (P) 323 933 2203 • CONTACT: JUdY KEMPER • EMAIL: [email protected] how long his journey took him to get Paul Machliss, ACE, said for rising IAVA 2018 LETTERS to where he is today, was so refreshing! filmmakers to not ever give up, to give it The following are excerpts of letters I am only at the beginning of my career; your all, and to never stop trying. I love sent by Inner-City Filmmakers students seeing and hearing that not everyone had how he said that. I completely agree. that attended the 2018 an easy way in, gives me so much hope. It’s sometimes challenging to break into Invisible Art/Visible Artists event –Valentina Argueta, Class of 2015 the business but if I keep trying and I walked in expecting to hear why a certain NEVER give up, I do believe I will get cut was made in this year’s nominations I just wanted to say thank you so much there and make it. for best editing for a motion picture for giving me and other ICF students the –Alyssa Briseno, Class of 2017 but I learned WAY more than just that. opportunity to help out at the IAVA event. One thing that really affected/inspired We met so many wonderful editors. It was wonderful being able to have a one- me was from Paul Machliss, ACE, and The editors on the panel shared their on-one conversation with Paul Machliss, Jonathan Amos, ACE, which was that stories about how they got started in the ACE, and to hear all the valuable advice post-production doesn’t have to be a industry, which was very inspiring. Some he had to share. I learned that going into solitary art! And, that it can be just as of them, like myself, came from very an industry like this takes hunger and invigorating as production itself! humble beginnings. It gives me hope that passion, not only luck. His kind words and –Amir Malekpour, Class of 2017 someday, I can be where they are today. willingness to spend a couple of minutes –Cristhian Arias, Class of 2016 talking to me and sharing his experience Your event exceeded my expectations! As is something I will never forget. an individual aspiring to be a professional I learned so much about each editor’s I loved hearing what Tatiana Riegel, editor, it was amazing to hear advice from experience and joy in editing these ACE, had to say and seeing how much of Oscar®-nominated editors and especially legendary films. I am extremely grateful a talented and successful woman she is in to get the chance to meet one of my that we were able to attend. I am an up- the industry. She is such an inspiration to favorite editors, Tatiana Riegel, ACE. and-coming film editor that loved every me and I felt so encouraged and motivated –Jessica Decena, Class of 2016 moment of hearing everyone speak. I was seeing what she has accomplished. so moved by each of their stories and how The whole event was such a dream The nominee panel was great! I really they became the amazing editors they come true and I’m so grateful that I was loved hearing how these amazing editors are now. I now feel like if I really push given the opportunity to soak up as much got to make these incredible movies. myself as hard as I can, I can become just information and knowledge as possible. Hearing Johnathan Amos, ACE, share as amazing as those editors. –Stephannie Moreno, Class of 2017
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10 CINEMAEDITOR QTR 2 / 2018 / VOL 68 PETITION FOR EDITORS RECOGNITION
he American Cinema Editors Board of Directors • Sundance Film Festival T has been actively pursuing film festivals and • Shanghai International Film Festival, China awards presentations, domestic and international, • San Sebastian Film Festival, Spain that do not currently recognize the category of Film • Byron Bay International Film Festival, Australia Editing. The Motion Picture Editors Guild has joined • New York Film Critics Circle with ACE in an unprecedented alliance to reach out • New York Film Critics Online to editors and industry people around the world. • National Society of Film Critics
The organizations listed on the petition already We would like to thank the organizations that have recognize cinematography and/or production design recently added the Film Editing category to their Annual Awards: in their annual awards presentations. Given the essential role film editors play in the creative process • Durban International Film Festival, South Africa of making a film, acknowledging them is long • New Orleans Film Festival overdue. We would like to send that message in • Tribeca Film Festival solidarity. Please join us as we continue the effort to • Washington DC Area Film Critics Association elevate the perception of editors everywhere. • Film Independent – Spirit Awards • Los Angeles Film Critics Association You can help by signing the petition to help get • Chicago Film Critics Association recognition for film editors by asking these • Boston Film Festival organizations to add the Film Editing category to • The International Animated Film Society – their annual awards: Annie Awards • Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror – Saturn Awards
Please sign our petition at: www.EditorsPetition.com Now endorsed by the Motion Picture Sound Editors, Art Directors Guild, Cinema Audio Society, American Society of Cinematographers, Canadian Cinema Editors, and Guild of British Film and Television Editors
Committee for Creative Recognition IN MEMORIAM
illiam Britton Stich, ACE, passed away after a battle with cancer at his home in Sahuarita, Arizona, on Dec. 17. He was 70. W Born in Lancaster, Wisconsin, Stich spent his childhood in Bakersfield, Calif., where he attended Bakersfield High School and was active in football, basketball and track. He continued his education at Bakersfield College. I only met Bill once, which is strange since our careers were very similar. We both joined the Air Force in the ‘60s, served in Vietnam at Tan Son Nhut, were discharged as Sergeants and went into the film business at about the same time. Antonioni filmBlow-Up was a great inspiration to Stich. After seeing the film, he bought himself a camera and became passionate about photography, shooting extreme angles like David Hemmings did in the movie. His passion was to extend into his editing. After the Air Force, Stich returned to Bakersfield College and then transferred to USC and graduated from its School of Cinematic Arts. There he learned and developed a love for editing. He began editing for his fellow students and was thrilled to discover that this was a career he could go into in the film industry. William B. Stich, ACE Bill started at Warner Bros. in the mail room, the typical 1947 - 2017 entry-level position at that studio. Many of the clerks sat around talking about the great movies that they would make, but not Bill. As an active person he was always willing to jump on the bike and deliver messages and mail. He became well known and appreciated. He soon was moved into the editing department. His friendly personality and willingness to work allowed him to move up to editor. Stich received six Primetime Emmy® nominations and seven ACE Eddie nominations. He won an ACE Eddie for Fatal Vision, a television miniseries that he edited with the late Parkie Singh. Among his other credits are: The Sopranos, Fantasy Island, T.J. Hooker, Homefront, Knight Rider, The Young Riders, In the Heat of the Night; and such TV movies as: The Lost Battalion, Brotherhood of the Rose, 44 Minutes: The North Hollywood Shoot-Out, Master Spy: The Robert Hanssen Story and Deadly Medicine. Bill was loved by his friends. Much of the content of this memorial was given me by his friend, Ron Kelly, who explains, “He was outgoing, friendly, upbeat, athletic, kinetic and always moving.” He is survived by his wife, Linna; daughter, Candace; and granddaughter, Raelynn. –Jack Tucker, ACE
12 CINEMAEDITOR QTR 2 / 2018 / VOL 68 Photo courtesy of the Stich family and American Cinema Editors. Introducing DaVinci Resolve 15, revolutionary tools for editing, color correction, audio post and now VFX, all in a single application!
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Cinema Editor_DaVinci Resolve 15_US.indd 1 30/04/2018 10:33 AM Here’s a glimpse of my time with Nick: Nick Ray is passed out in the passenger seat of my Karmann Ghia, his long, black leather-clad legs folded into the cramped space like a stork. I have his seat pushed all the way back but it’s not enough. The streets are empty as we drive through the warehouse district of San Francisco near the ferry terminal. Fog is tumbling Midnight in off the bay. It’s just after 2 a.m. I’m shivering, but my coat’s tucked around Nick because the heat’s not working and I think he’s in shock. His head has fallen back onto my shoulder like a sleeping child. I’m relieved to feel his breath warming my neck as he struggles Mercy to breathe. I was afraid that this time he was dead for sure. I know he’s drunk and on meth and heroin and god-knows-what injectable, BY BONNIE KOEHLER, ACE snort-able, pop-able drugs, but this time feels different, like he’s not This following is an excerpt from the essay collection, Nobody going to make it back from wherever he goes. Dies Tonight: 40 Years on the Cutting Room Floor – A Hollywood I paged my boyfriend, an intern at Mercy Hospital in the Haight, Memoir by Bonnie Koehler, ACE. from my cutting room at American Zoetrope when Nick collapsed on the floor in a seizure. “Bring him to me. Faster than an ambulance,” he said. “They’ll tip henever I hear Scott Joplin’s Maple Leaf Rag, incon- off Herb Caen1. He’s a heater.2” gruously, I think of the great noir film director of the Looking back on that night now, I have no idea how I got a man W late ‘40s and ‘50s, Nicholas Ray, the way I knew him who was 6’4” down that long stairway and into my car. Did I use the in 1974. I see his imposing, slightly-stooped frame, his lion- freight elevator through the Automatt Recording Studio below to the sized head with its regal mane of silver hair, his black eyepatch loading dock? Did I give the beefy security guard in the parking and movie-star smile. I see the large chunk of turquoise hanging lot the rolled, cocaine-covered C-note falling out of Nick’s pocket around his neck, his oversized, seashell ears and his penetrating to help me? I think both. left eye smiling at me ironically. Nick suddenly jerks awake and looks around, alarmed to “I know too much,” he was fond of confiding in his deep, find himself speeding through the neon streets of Skid Row, Joe whiskey-and-cigarettes voice, “Like Jesus, they have to kill me.” Cocker on the radio. Then he would whisper: “When they say I’ve fallen from grace – “Stop!” he yells in his stentorian voice. “We’re out of Tanqueray!” they admit it! Don’t you see? They admit that I’ve known grace. “Really, Nick. Not now.” And that’s enough.” “STOP or I’ll jump out of this limo and sue the damn studio I was the perfect foil for Nick Ray. He was proud that he was for all they’re worth!” jaded and loved that I was not. I made him laugh. He was a mess He opens the door. when I knew him, but charismatically commanding in a rundown, I slam up to a liquor store on the corner just as the metal grate elegant way. He gave off the impression, even then, well into his bangs down for the night. I look Nick in the eye. long, self-destructive decline, of being someone who could tell you “Just play your part, Angel, and the world opens up,” he says, the key thing you had to know. The elusive and essential thing, that oozing a lot of charm for someone who’s dying. only he could see. The thing that would galvanize you as an artist. I buy him a green bottle of gin and miraculously both survive When I knew him Nick was a dying elder in the wandering the experience and find him still in the car when I return. He’s been tribe of story catchers. The closed clan’s secrets were woven into thrashing and gotten tangled in the seat belt. an oral history, passed on only in parables. They would never be “I could make the sun come out!” he roars as I struggle to re- written down. You had to be by the fire when they were incanted and buckle his shoulder strap. “That was in Spain, 1951. I was betrayed! women rarely were. I was grateful that fate had tossed us together They made me shoot it in winter. But by God I made the sun come for a while. Nick let me in. out for 61 days in a row and it was a HIT!” Nobody knew for sure how to make a great movie. Thus, Nick’s We pull into the ER. allure to a small cult of French, German and American filmmakers Freddy’s waiting with two orderlies and a wheelchair. Nick hides who idolized him even then, or idolized what he had been: the Orson the gin and flips up his collar like an Italian as they roll him in, Welles of the noir genre who directed over 20 successful Hollywood making an entrance. films in rapid succession. He might anoint them. Or some of the I rifle through Nick’s leather messenger bag, ignoring everything pixie dust left on his cloak might blow their way. And they, the in it until I find his wallet, looking for a Directors Guild insurance next generation, owed him. He was a pioneer who had flown too card or Social Security card, so I can confirm he’s on Medicare. close to the sun and was now in free-fall. We filmmakers were a But I find nothing except his expired California license with his DOB reverential tribe after all, I remember thinking proudly. We took as 8/7/1911. He’s only 63 years old, too young for Medicare? That care of those who had come before us. That’s how it seemed to me can’t be right. He looks 85. How young was he then when he made anyway, when I was 23. all those films? I’m just putting it all together under the fluorescent
14 CINEMAEDITOR QTR 2 / 2018 / VOL 68 1 Gossip columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle. 2 A celebrity in illegal distress. CUT ABOVE THE REST
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ACE_AD_8-5x11.indd 1 4/24/18 2:30 PM I fluff his pillows and manage, “Good night, sweet prince.” He squeezes my wrist and mumbles in retort: “We know what we are, but know not what we may be,” getting the last Hamlet word, as he succumbs to sleep. Freddy and I walk down the shadowy hall and around to the windows on the opposite side of the floor in the run-down hospital. We look back across the shaft at Nick’s room, but the lights have been turned out now and the glass is dark. “Hungry? Got sardines and an orange,” Freddy says as we head to his monk’s cell. “And raisins.” He pulls a crushed red box out of his pocket. He stops at the three-legged grand piano in the abandoned ballroom next to the interns’ quarters and plays Maple Leaf Rag, singing the chorus from the 1899 vintage sheet music: “I can hypnotize dis nation, I can shake the earth’s foundation…” I fall asleep on the narrow bed listening to ragtime and looking out the window toward Nick, relieved that the director of Rebel lights in the ER, sirens roaring towards us. I try to reach Francis’ Without a Cause and In a Lonely Place didn’t die on my watch. lawyer on the sticky pay phone for help but get no answer. Not yet anyway, not tonight. Nick is rolled out of the admittance office yb a blushing nurse re- During the next three days as Nick regains his strength in the buttoning her blouse with one hand. She’s agreed to overlook their hospital I take notes on a new narration he’s writing for the film strict insurance policy and admit him after all. Nick winks at me. we’re re-cutting together. Francis invited Nick to San Francisco Freddy does a work-up, running a battery of tests, blood panels, when he saw him in Cannes where Nick was screening his x-rays. He concludes that as far as he can tell: work-in-progress experimental feature out of competition. “Technically, Nick’s dead. He has no vitals. I have no idea why It’s a heavily montaged, split-screen film that Nick began a couple he’s alive. Everything’s wrong with him, including malnutrition, of years ago while mentoring a group of college students in cirrhosis of the liver, no oxygen in his blood, dehydration upstate New York. Our cutting room at Zoetrope is down the hall and extreme toxicity. Told me a very funny story, though. A few from Walter Murch and Richard Chew editing The Conversation days’ rest and a steady diet will allow him to keep killing him- and the legendary Hollywood editor Doug Stewart cutting Phil self a while longer.” Kaufman’s film, The White Dawn. We’re in good company. As the nurse wheels him out of the exam room Nick pulls But unlike theirs, Nick’s work habits are erratic. Throughout a Bolex 16mm camera loaded with fresh film out of his bag and the three months we’ve been working together, he’s been disap- hands it to me. pearing every few days. “Track me with a rolling dolly shot, Angel.” Francis, busy with the second Godfather, hired me to cut I give him one of the clean eye patches I keep in my bag and brush for Nick and look after him, but it’s an impossible task. Clearly his hair. He flashes a Clark Gable smile for the camera. Freddy leads I’m screwing it up. Nick Ray is hooked to an IV while chain- the procession, wheeling an IV as we head for the elevator. smoking on oxygen, seducing the nurses and eating his way “Tuck your elbows tight against your body to steady the through the Mercy medicine cabinet. camera,” Nick directs. “Circle me now and land in a loose medium. “The most important story is the price of love. That’s what all my Don’t throw a shadow, don’t you see. — Now you’ve got it, Angel. films are about,” he says one night when I bring fresh coffee. Manipulate me, the moment. It’s all fiction.” “For the narration?” I ask. An hour ago he was writhing in pain on the floor with foam “For you. Remember that when you make your own films, coming out of his mouth. Now he’s directing me directing him. Angel,” he says. We enter the men’s ward on the seventh floor. There are a When we return to Zoetrope we have our most productive dozen metal beds lining the windowed wall facing the shaft to the editing week yet. Friday evening, he bows and kisses my hand as courtyard. The only lights outside at this hour are from the morgue he leaves for dinner. The next day he’s not there. Or the day after in the basement below, working overtime. The nurse whirls Nick that. When Nick doesn’t return by the end of the following week, around so that he doesn’t see the bed being prepared for him. Francis throws up his hands. We pack up the film and ship the Its former occupant disappears into a black rubber body bag. boxes back to New York. The zipper makes a long, ripping death rattle. Freddy kneels in front I never see Nick Ray again. of Nick to distract him from the morbid spectacle as the corpse is Five years later, in San Anselmo while I’m cutting in the song, wheeled away. Nick lifts his cane and knights him, touching each Heat Wave, with George Lucas on More American Graffiti, George shoulder with noblesse oblige. gets word that Nick Ray has died. I stop the KEM. Orderlies snap fresh sheets on the bed. Nick is lifted in. Freddy “Oh,” I say. “I knew him once.” hooks him up to the IV and gives him an injection. “I know,” George says. “Keep cutting.”
16 CINEMAEDITOR QTR 2 / 2018 / VOL 68 Above: Nicholas Ray in The American Friend (1977). Photo by AF Archive/Alamy Stock Photo. RBG
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BY HARRY B. MILLER III, ACE
LLIE is the title of a movie being made for Fox. Well, it is When I traveled it wasn’t clear exactly how this all would work. actually the name of a dog, but is also the code name for I’ve never done this before. It isn’t the first time I’ve stepped off a O this film I am editing along with Billy Weber. Production cliff like this. I’ll figure it out. started in February of 2017, went for about five months with two I brought my laptop, a MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, mid units shooting around Vancouver, British Columbia. Post-production 2014) that has been an incredible workhorse on many projects has been going ever since. To clarify and modify the movie’s story, I’ve edited the last couple of years. For displaying on an external Fox studio executives approved a three-week additional shoot. monitor I brought a Blackmagic Design Intensity Extreme. It is That started March 12 and finished (mostly) by the end of March. neither intense, nor extreme, but it does a fine job connecting to What was second in importance to shooting great new material a monitor via HDMI. And a second monitor, to which my laptop was being able to see what was shot cut together as quickly as would connect via HDMI. possible. The producers and directors (there being two units shooting On my work drive I had transferred the current cut of the movie. every day) wanted to see before the next day’s shooting if they were All the media in every sequence/reel. I was fairly sure I couldn’t getting all the pieces necessary to tell the story. fit the entire movie plus the new material on 8TB, so our assistant, I volunteered to make that happen. Michael Nouryeh, transferred just the dailies media that was in the To complicate matters, nearly all shooting would happen at night cut. We used Automatic Duck Media Copy for that. on exterior locations. And the weather could be a factor: The year Automatic Duck Media Copy (ADMC) works by looking at an before it had rained for all but five days during production. I was a bit Avid sequence and copying the media in that sequence to another apprehensive. Working nights, in the rain? What have I gotten into? location. To do this, my workstation at Fox had to be booted from But the schedule worked in my favor. Working with executive a second internal drive. ADMC does not work on Mac OS prior to producer John Starke it was decided that every day I would receive Sierra (10.12). Our office systems are at 10.9. Fortunately, I had dailies directly from set, edit that material, then output cut sequences previously installed Sierra on a second internal drive. to go back to both sets each night. With crew turnaround, travel, Jeez. Did I ever say this was easy? Like traffic, it was one of transfer and compression time, it left about seven hours to cut dailies those experiences that at every turn, there’s another roadblock. into coherent scenes. On-set crew call was generally at 7 p.m., So, each reel of the movie was exported as an AAF with no so dailies could leave set for editorial at about 7 a.m. every day. media. The computer was re-booted on the Sierra drive. ADMC Working with camera original media would be too difficult. would take each AAF, find the media files on the attached ISIS The movie was being shot with Arri digital cameras, at 3.2K storage, then copy the full clip onto the external 8TB drive. What resolution. The file sizes alone would make transferring and storing makes this work well is Avid Media Composer’s media databases, dailies too cumbersome. But each unit had a video assist operator. that keep track of every piece of media. They were recording every take, with sound, in a compressed The master Avid project was copied to the external drive as format. Using that media was ideal. well. Thus, Avid could open the movie and see all the dailies clips First unit and second unit were assigned a portable LaCie 4TB organized, like with the master project. each. The video assist operator would transfer all recorded media Next hurdle was how to edit the material from set. I was fairly to that unit’s drive by the end of their day, and transportation would sure that compressing the dailies into DNxHD media would take bring it to the production office. There my post PA, Cole Doran, too much time. Thus, this was going to be my biggest test of AMA- would transfer each unit’s dailies to a master LaCie 8TB desktop linked media. AMA stands for ‘Avid Media Access.’ With the drive from which I would work. correctly installed plug-ins, AMA allows Avid to link to camera
18 CINEMAEDITOR QTR 2 / 2018 / VOL 68 original media without any additional processing. And media from A drawback to this process is there is no time to look through video assist would work. dailies, organize bins, check sync or any of the normal dailies tasks. There are serious drawbacks to working like this. Media Com- Look at the coverage, slam a cut together and send it to set. And poser works best with media it generates. It is compressed, but it apologize for being sloppy. can be very fast. And it essentially can never be lost or unlinked, The two video assist operators used two very different systems as is possible with AMA. Avid very smartly keeps track of all the for recording and managing video assist media. First unit’s Justin imported media in a very strict file structure, with a complex file Johns used a video recorder, a Raptor HD Quad from Playback naming system. AMA-linked media can be named anything and Technologies in Burbank. “Video assist has always needed to put anywhere. Thus, can be unlinked and lost. instantly recall what may be hundreds of hours of multicam footage Every day Cole Doran would copy on-set media to a Video- (SD or HD) using a small portable and DC-powered system,” AssistMedia folder on the work drive, and in a sub-folder by day and according to Steve Irwin, the company president. The media output unit (‘1st-20180312’ for day one of first unit). In Media Composer, is H.264 QuickTimes. I would create a bin of the same name and through the Source On second unit, Dave Joshi used a QTAKE setup. QTAKE is Browser, link the video clips of that day. software that runs on a Macintosh computer and creates QuickTimes. Curiously, the frame recorded by the camera on this production ProRes 422 LT, which were sent to editorial. is much larger than the final projected image. The highlighted area in the center represents the final image.
In order to make a usable cut sequence, each shot had to be re- framed. Fortunately, Avid has added the ability to non-destructively alter source settings. By right + clicking an image, a menu selection for Source Settings can be selected. The performance of an edit system declines when the CPU and hard drives are taxed heavily by playing linked video. And H.264, from the first unit, was problematic. Michael Krulik of Avid shared the following. “This is due to H.264 being Long GOP and highly compressed. Playback will require a powerful computer to properly decode the frames. ProRes LT is an I-Frame video like DNxHD so requires less CPU and more bandwidth from the storage.” Not that I understand all of that. But H.264, slow, ProRes, fast. But neither file type played as well as regular Avid media. There were several quirks I could never quite get around. When media from set was linked, the clips defaulted to stereo pairs. I could modify to get dual mono, but found at odd times they’d end back up as stereo. I decided to live with it and cut with a stereo dialogue track. Then, when I would group multicam clips, the audio came up as two mono tracks. Once the day’s dailies were cut, outputs were made for the set By changing the size to ‘71,’ the frame is resized to the correct and, at the producers’ request, I drove to set every day to review aspect ratio for this project. with the director. Source settings can also be used to apply a LUT, adjust playback It isn’t a process I’d want to do for a long time. But for three rate, and/or change audio sync for one or multiple selected clips. weeks it was tolerable. And did we get everything we need?
20 CINEMAEDITOR QTR 2 / 2018 / VOL 68 Photos courtesy of Harry B. Miller III, ACE.
SOUTH AFRICA BY DR. NIKKI COMINOS, S.A.G.E.
An increasing number of successful movies, actors and motion rent resume plus three references. We welcome membership picture professionals have become known internationally and applications year round. have joined the ranks in Hollywood. ACE has been in contact with SAGE aims to promote the art of editing through several its vibrant South African sister organization, SAGE, and we asked initiatives. For instance, we have enjoyed a collaborative rela- them to introduce themselves. tionship with Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) since 2012. As part of the festival, we have hosted master classes and panel discussions with award-winning editors. DIFF introduced he South African Guild of Editors (SAGE) is a voluntary, an award for best editor in 2016 after consultation with SAGE. non-profit organization that represents film and video This drive was spurred on by a petition led by ACE and Motion picture editors, assistant editors, sound editors – and Picture Editors Guild’s Committee for Creative Recognition. most recently, virtual-reality editors. In its 20-plus years In collaboration with Encounters Documentary Festival and Tof existence, SAGE has become a key stakeholder in the South Refinery Cape Town, SAGE also launched the first South African African film and television industry and aims to promote the art edit lab for documentary films, the Encounters SAGE Rough Cut of editing. With a core body of around 120 members, the guild Lab. We hope to have a documentary edit lab every year, with the represents most of the best talent in the post-production industry possibility of extending the lab to include a feature film section. in South Africa today. As a guild, SAGE hosts social events for editors to network As the only representative body of post-production professionals and share work experiences with each other, for morale as well in South Africa, we represent post-production workers’ interests as technical and/or creative support. It also actively promotes at industry and government levels. We facilitate master classes, the development of editing skills and alerts members to job workshops and social events. For producers looking to hire, our opportunities via the SAGE mailing list. website provides quick access to a verified list of members, their To support editors’ freelance work, SAGE has created an post-production skills and contact details. The SAGE accreditation ‘Independent Contractor Agreement’ with legal counsel for team carefully reviews all applications, which require a cur- independent contractor post-production professionals, which can
22 CINEMAEDITOR QTR 2 / 2018 / VOL 68 Top: Johannesburg, South Africa stock photo. Bottom (L-R): One of the various technical/creative workshops held by SAGE around South Africa; Encounters Documentary Festival “Rough Cut Lab” in conjunction with SAGE; Another technical/creative workshop. Photos courtesy of SAGE. be adapted to their specific project needs. Our ‘Pre-Employment Checklist’ provides a number of questions and issues that should be raised before any contract is signed. We also have an ‘Employees vs. Independent Contractors’ document which provides clarifica- tion about the rights of employees. It also enables editors to determine when they are independent contractors and when they are employees. Our ‘What to Expect from an Editor’ document helps producers and post professionals better understand the various job roles in the industry. SAGE has published an annual rate card of recommended salaries for editors for the last 16 years. This is calculated using four main principles: inflation matching, skills growth, a spread of rates, and rates and conditions comparable to cinematographers. To further promote the art of editing and editors as artists, We urge professionals to consider that the rate card represents a SAGE acknowledges the creative input of editors with the broad spread of possible rates, while covering a wide range of acronym, S.A.G.E. This is the highest honor the guild can bestow job types, genres, durations, locations, funding models, labor on a member. Applications for the acronym are available to a full conditions and budgets. member whose body of work is considered to exhibit a consistently Not everyone will improve their skills at the same rate, which high standard of editing as judged by the acronym subcommittee. is why we maintain a spread across all levels of experience. In 2012 the application process was revised to align itself with the While aimed at freelancers, the rates can also be used as a starting standards of our international counterparts, making it a rigorous point for full-time employment negotiations. We also take into process for both the applicant and committee. account that experience does not necessarily equate to the number According to our constitution, applications for acronym accredi- of years spent working in the post-production industry, but rather tation require that the editor: the specific years of experience doing a specific task. We urge • Be a current member of SAGE, with a minimum of five years everyone to consider job sustainability when negotiating rates, paid membership. and also to keep in mind that the average career span from entry- • Be a full member for at least one year before applying. level to retirement is 40 years. • Have at least five years industry experience as an editor. We have an anonymous ‘job offer reporter,’ which we encourage • Demonstrate their ability to advocate the role of editors in post-production professionals to fill out whenever they receive the industry. or accept a work offer and we forward job offers through our • Submit a body of work that is considered to exhibit a con- mailing list. This helps SAGE better understand the real-world sistently high standard of editing. rates and conditions that editors are being offered. SAGE also Being internationally relevant is a priority for SAGE. There- follows up on employers who don’t pay in a timely fashion on fore, it has been of vital importance that SAGE participate in behalf of its members. the commentary and submission process of the South African SAGE has run a survey of post-production for editors Copyright Amendment Bill (still in its legislative cycle). The South and producers since 2014 which helps keep the guild in touch African government’s review of South Africa’s 1978 Copyright with the challenges and perceptions of the sector. This survey Act has given SAGE an opportunity to advocate for editors’ rights covers questions about rates, time given to complete projects, and access to royalties, as practiced by EU countries such as relationships with directors and expectations of editors as well as Austria, Germany and Finland. other aspects of the job. Our original proposal was submitted to the government in late 2015 and our presentation of that submission was made to Parliament last August. The presentation was well-received. In addition, a report on transformation in our sector – or the lack of it – was drafted for submission to the committee. The guild is presently run on a voluntary basis by the members of the executive committee, all of whom are post-production professionals. The core is about eight people at any given time. SAGE is also represented on the South African Screen Federation, which in turn represents the broad film industry to government, the Department of Arts and Culture as well as the National Film and Video Foundation. And SAGE is active in the judging of the South African Film and Television Awards.
For more information on SAGE, visit: www.editorsguildsa.org
24 CINEMAEDITOR QTR 2 / 2018 / VOL 68 One of the various technical/creative workshops held by SAGE around South Africa. Right: SAGE edit masterclass at the Durban International Film Festival. Photos courtesy of SAGE.
ACE Eddie Awards. Here, this year’s interns, Qingya Li and Luke ACE Internship Program Palter, share their stories. Li enthusiastically admits that being selected as an ACE intern Preps the Next has changed her life: “The ACE Internship Program has not only led me toward my goal of being a film editor, it also has brought Generation of Editors me into the most amazing community of talented editors and assistant editors. I have seen myself grow exponentially in technical, professional and personal ways. I would not have had the confidence in myself that I have now without this program.” As an ACE intern, she assisted at the annual ACE Internship get-together and lecture series, as well as ACE Blue Ribbon judging event, Eddie Nominee Cocktail Party and ACE Eddie Awards. “I’m so honored to be part of the ACE family now,” relates Li, who was born and raised in Beijing. “I moved to California to pursue my film dreams after [being] admitted to Chapman University, where I graduated in 2016 with a Master of Fine Arts in film production with editing emphasis. My graduate studies have provided me with profound knowledge of film production and allowed me to fully immerse myself into every project’s post-production as an editor or assistant editor. I want to thank my professor, Paul Seydor, ACE. I certainly couldn’t have made it into this program without him as my mentor at Chapman. I’m truly grateful for all his support and guidance that has inspired me all these years.” Palter similarly called his experience “the most transformative in my entire life. It has given me the chance to develop a core group of editing mentors and, more importantly, friends who I hope to know for years to come. It’s also taught me more about the art of networking, how to actively seek out new relationships in the industry, and how to enjoy that process. As an introverted kid, I grew up practicing many ‘alone-time’ activities: building Legos, watching fantasy movies, assembling Stikfas figures. This year’s interns, Qingya Li and “The thoughtful, minute craft of putting a story together has Luke Palter, share their experiences always intrigued me and a career in post-production became my dream early on,” he adds, explaining that in high school, he edited BY EDGAR BURCKSEN, ACE his AV club’s 24-hour film contest entry, which would go on to be selected for SXSW’s Student Film Showcase. He also attended NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts’ film & TV program and signed up CE is an organization that not only celebrates, supports and for all the Avid and Pro Tools classes. informs about the accomplishments of its members and He relates, “Taking a leap of faith, I moved to Los Angeles A all editors, but also shows a keen interest in educating and during my last semester for an internship position at a commercial helping young editorial talent break into the business. editing company – it was time to relearn how to drive! In May It gives aspiring editors the opportunity to demonstrate their of 2017, I graduated and was fortunate enough to be hired at the skills in the ACE Student Editing Award competition and gain real- commercial company as their staff runner/PA. I made daily runs world experience through the ACE Internship Program. Last but not all over Santa Monica, happily paying my dues to the industry, but least, the ACE Diversity Program pairs underrepresented members hoping for some way to get closer to the Hollywood movies and of the post-production community with mentors, to help them face the story-building I loved as a kid. I finally came across ACE’s the hurdles of breaking into the business. Alums of these programs Internship application online and jumped at it. I wrote a paper, go on to become successful editors themselves. Among them are begged for recommendations and applied. This felt like buying a John P. Bernardo, who won the ACE Student Editing Award in 1994 lottery ticket … and then, in January, I was selected as one of the and then earned an ACE Eddie Award for Black-ish in 2014; and 2018 ACE Interns! former ACE intern Joi McMillon, ACE, who was nominated for an “At the Intern Orientation Meeting, I met Christopher Cooke, ACE Eddie Award and Oscar® in 2016 for Moonlight. ACE; Troy Takaki, ACE; Tyler Nelson; Carsten Kurpanek and Each year, the ACE Internship Program selects two partici- Sabrina Plisco, ACE; my mentors over the course of the program. pants who are given the opportunity to intern in Hollywood I also bonded with Qingya Li. We both received great advice from editing rooms, as well as attend activities that lead up to the annual two previous ACE interns, Israel Vasquez and Emily Kraklow,
26 CINEMAEDITOR QTR 2 / 2018 / VOL 68 Above: 2018 ACE Interns Qingya Li and Luke Palter. Photo by Eben Stewart. both of whom were extremely helpful and accessible throughout “The three assistants’ teamwork and workflow were perfect the course of the program. I learned that as an ACE Intern I would for that stage of the show and I’ve learned that every project has be shadowing some of the world’s finest post-production artists a tailored system like this. Charlie shared with me how important for four weeks in order to absorb their technique and prepare for it is for an assistant editor to structure their work in such a way my own career. I promised myself I would ignore my introverted so it always serves the editor. An obsessively-organized Avid bin nature and build up some confidence. This was too amazing an or script is meaningless when it is too confusing to be understood. opportunity to be shy.” This advice taught me how, at its core, the post industry is extremely For her first week in the program, Li shadowed editor Michael collaborative. It requires healthy communication and teamwork, Ornstein, ACE, and assistant editor Lisa Cossettini on TV series rather than simply the fastest set of hands. I can’t thank the post Madam Secretary. “I also took advantage of shadowing assistant team on Venom enough for hosting me for the week. I also want editors Richard Glazerman and Michael Lim as they were working to thank the energetic post PA, Damian Gonzalez, for letting me on different episodes at different stages of post,” she says. “I got in early each morning, as well as the VFX editor, Tom Reagan, for to witness the stages of the editor’s cut, the director’s cut, and the sharing his workflow on the picture. locked cut all at the same time. Starting with a traditional TV show “Sabrina Plisco, ACE, my mentor, was cutting in the same really helped me build a thorough understanding of how assistant building, and I want to thank her for sharing her editing knowledge editors work in the motion picture industry. The assistant editors on the feature, A Dog’s Way Home.” walked me through every step of prepping dailies, building line- Each year, Herb Dow, ACE, coordinates a tour of various post stringouts, making turnovers and adding temp SFX, music and facilities in Los Angeles. During the second week of the Internship VFX. They also showed me all kinds of paperwork that assistant Program, that tour included FotoKem, CBS Digital, Larson Studios, editors need to prepare, such as continuity, ADR and VFX lists. the post department of Disney-ABC Television Group, Ross 424 and I really appreciate that Michael O. and Lisa took me under their editing technology developer BeBop Technology. Palter reports that wing, always generously included me in their viewing sessions and at FotoKem “we learned how a physical film is developed, digitized, asked my opinions. I have learned so much by just observing the screened and preserved for archiving. I may be revealing my young communication and collaboration between them. I want to thank age, here, but some aspects of the tour felt like exhibits in a museum! everyone in the editorial and post department: Michael O., Lisa, It was humbling to watch the intricate craft of handling real film Richard, Michael L., Wendy Smith, John Murray, Tony Palermo, stock, and I’m so glad that the tactile art lives on. At CBS Digital, Drew Ysais, Catherine Linebarger and Julie Brown for being patient Qingya and I watched VFX artists construct an effects sequence with my questions and helping me learn. for The Man in the High Castle. The artists modeled, textured and Palter spent his first week at Sony Pictures Studios with the composited corpses floating in a dark lake. It was gruesome and post-production team behind upcoming Venom, led by editors Alan technical and awesome. Baumgarten, ACE, and Maryann Brandon, ACE. “I shadowed “We witnessed a fire elements shoot for This Is Us (not realizing assistant editors Charlie Spaht, Ben Cox and Jane Tones, all of its looming impact on my childhood love for Crock-Pot® dinners) whom were approachable and friendly to me. Venom was receiving and experienced the fantastic Stranger Things VR demo. At Larson the last of its dailies, so I watched while Ben organized the new Sound, we attended mix sessions for SMILF and Walk the Prank, footage and assembled scene bins with pixel-perfect accuracy; and listened to a hypnotic ‘hands-pass’ Foley session for an episode Charlie methodically, deliberately performed ScriptSync; and of Designated Survivor. At ABC’s post-production office, post vp Jane nurtured Maryann and Alan’s additional requests for temp Bruce Sandzimier explained the structure of a post team from a music or sound design. managerial perspective. I finally understand who is who when the post-production credits roll! Qingya and I trekked to Ross 424 and toured its professional and simultaneously blissful mixing stage.” He continues that during the tour, “we spent an evening at Local Hero with Fred Beahm, who had us trying on the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift [VR headsets], and learning how the program Assimilate Scratch is used to stitch together 360-degree stories.” Adds Li: “Lastly, we visited BeBop Technology, where we were introduced to ‘cloud-based editing.’ With the processors, editing software and media data in the cloud, anyone can work on projects anywhere as long as one has a laptop that can access the internet. There is no doubt that learning new technology will be a huge plus in helping our careers as assistant editors.” The pair thanks Rand Gladden at FotoKem; Keven Scotti, Chloe Warden and Aaron Daly at CBS Digital; Richard Ellis at Larson Studios; Bruce Sandzimier at ABC Studios; John Ross and Nancy Ross at Ross 424; and “all the amazing people we encountered during our visit.”
Above (L-R): Luke Palter with mentors Justin Robertson, Mark Andrew, ACE, and Sabrina Plisco, ACE. Photo courtesy of Luke Palter. CINEMAEDITOR QTR 2 / 2018 / VOL 68 27 The Voice editor Robert Malachowski, Jr., ACE, who introduced me to the rest of the editorial department,” Palter relates. “I shadowed daytime assistants David McBride, John Alpino and Garland Young as they taught me the technical practice of stacking, syncing and grouping 18 live cameras rolling on the show. In addition to organizing all this footage, the trio of assistants daily serves a team of 20 editors on The Voice. The team’s incredible support for one another (and their almost-healthy obsession with the Star Wars canon) gets them through it – and you couldn’t ask for a more humble and proficient team. In addition to learning from them, I received valuable editing lessons from Omega Hsu, ACE; John Homesley; Noel Guerra and Matt Antell. Whether it was an in-depth tutorial on the Avid ‘Replace’ function with Omega, emailing and networking strategies with John, musical performance editing with Noel, or comedic timing with Matt, I learned that life as an editor is filled with equal parts humanity, technology and storytelling. I can’t thank them enough for their time and for answering my overexcited questions.” During his third week of the program, Palter shadowed the Li spent her last week at the post-production office of Shed post team behind FX series Snowfall. He recalls: “Organized and Media, a non-scripted TV company with multiple series running at passionate assistant editor Susy Benaim took me under her wing the same time. “I had the pleasure to meet Justin Robertson, ACE, on Episode 203, edited by Hunter Via, ACE. Susy went in-depth the editor of the show, Who Do You Think You Are?, and to see how he describing her daily routine and taught me that the quick pace worked closely with the producers and story producers. I shadowed of scripted television requires preparation for every upcoming assistant editors Russell Wheat, Mike Starr, Chance Mayfield, Scott stage of the episode, from editor’s cut, director’s cut, producer’s Johnson, Nate Dusek and the digitizers, Laura Hartung and Dune cut, network cut, through the final locked cut and CTM. Susy had Harman. I want to thank them for teaching me the technical skills turnover settings organized long before the first camera rolled on and giving me hands-on experience so I could soak up every task. production, and she arrived an hour early each morning to get a I was so grateful that I had the opportunity to try offloading, ingest- head start on dailies. I saw how this impeccable work ethic freed ing, transcoding, stacking, syncing, grouping and Avid ScriptSync her to pursue the more creative aspects of the cut – if dailies were with their guidance. Undoubtedly, they helped me fully prepare done sooner, Susy could perform more sound design and rough myself for what’s coming next in my career. They showed me the im- assemblies of scenes for Hunter, who valued Susy’s input on the portance of multi-tasking and having an attention to detail because, story as much as his own. not like scripted TV shows or features, the assistant editors who “They shared a bond between editor and assistant which was so work on reality can have multiple shows in post simultaneously. It is encouraging for me to see,” Palter continues. “I found out that both crucial to maintain an efficient and accurate workflow all the time. Hunter and Susy were also ACE Interns, and they proclaimed it as “I would like to thank Paul Rosenthal and Tiffany Phelps for the chief reason for their success. It’s hard to believe I’ve joined arranging to interview me on the last day of my internship and such an esteemed, yet friendly and supportive family! I can’t thank offering me the position as a digitizer after my internship. I truly Hunter enough for letting me on to the show, and Susy for setting appreciate all the invaluable opportunities they have given me.” such a great example as an assistant.” Looking back, Palter concludes: “The connections I’ve made The third week of Li’s internship was spent at the editorial through this program are beyond what I could’ve imagined (and, department of a major studio feature, which she couldn’t identify let’s be clear, I was very excited about the program long before it due to non-disclosure agreements. “Since it has a huge amount began). The ACE community has welcomed me not as the ‘green,’ of VFX shots, it’s extremely fun to learn how the assistant editors naive youngster I probably am, but as their capable mentee and process such large amounts of dailies and VFX renders every day. friend. The mentors have genuinely invested in my future in a way I want to thank everyone on the post team. They welcomed me no one else has. I’m forever grateful to my mentor, Sabrina Plisco, with open arms and they were always willing to help me learn as ACE, especially, for helping me navigate a parting email to my past much as I could.” employer. I also want to thank Carsten Kurpanek; Tyler Nelson; The last week of his internship, Palter joined NBC’s The Voice. Chris Cooke, ACE; Troy Takaki, ACE; Mark Andrew, ACE; John The ACE program includes a week with an unscripted series since Axelrad, ACE; Herb Dow, ACE; Stephen Lovejoy, ACE; Nena Erb, many of the first opportunities for assistant editors are on non- ACE; Lori Jane Coleman, ACE; Diana Friedberg, ACE; and Vince union reality shows. Anido, ACE, for all the encouragement and support. The Voice, however, is a union job, mainly because it’s so Li concurs: “They have taught me so well, in every way, to massive, but it shares many common elements and multi-camera become a better assistant editor and a better person. My experience workflows of a non-union reality show. “I was guided by seasoned in the ACE Internship Program has been beyond amazing.
28 CINEMAEDITOR QTR 2 / 2018 / VOL 68 Above: Luke Palter and Qingya Li with ACE President Stephen Rivkin, ACE. Photo by Peter Zakhary. The unique opportunity of meeting talented editors and assistants They give a shout-out to Adobe for its generous support of the through the program and making profound connections with them ACE Lecture Series, hosted at the Egyptian Theatre; to Avid, Adobe has brightened both my professional and personal life. I’m forever and Blackmagic Design for their generous software donations; grateful to ACE for their commitment to education and generosity and to Larry Jordan, ACE, for providing them with his assistant to sponsor the Internship Program that makes all the difference and editor online training course, Master the Workflow. Finally, apart I want to especially thank my mentor, Chris, who has always been from thanking each other, Li and Palter thank all the ACE program patient and enlightened me from the interview to every ‘footprint’ finalists and they hope that they can continue passing their job I stepped along my journey.” opportunities around and supporting one another. “We’ve all been The pair thanks the totally-on-top-of-things Jenni McCormick, blessed with a great start!” Gemmalyn Idmilao-Brunson and Jasmine Staehle for keeping them busy and engaged during all of the ACE events. Also, they thank Thelma Schoonmaker, ACE, who personally sponsored their tickets Information about ACE programs for up-and-coming editors can be to the Eddie Awards. found at www.americancinemaeditors.org Invisible Art/Visible Artists
BY NANCY JUNDI
he annual Invisible Art/Visible Artists panel featuring the Three Billboards’ Gregory expounded upon the evolved role of year’s Oscar® nominees for Best Film Editing was held the first assistant. “What the assistant does in the technical process T March 3 – the day before the 90th Academy Awards® – depends on the kinds of films you work on budget-wise. So often for a capacity crowd at Hollywood’s Egyptian Theatre. we don’t have VFX editors and so the assistant is doing everything, The panel included Jonathan Amos, ACE, and Paul Machliss, sending lists here and there,” said Gregory. “I love to involve my ACE, nominated editors of Baby Driver; Lee Smith, ACE, for assistant more into the actual film, to hear their opinion.” Dunkirk; Tatiana S. Riegel, ACE, for I, Tonya; Sidney Wolinsky, Machliss and Amos shared that while filming musical action ACE, for The Shape of Water, and Jon Gregory, ACE, for Three film Baby Driver began in February of 2016, they had initially Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. begun layering the music for it during 2011. Director Edgar Wright Introduced by ACE President Stephen Rivkin, ACE, and had been selecting songs for the film that Machliss then treated like moderated by ACE Vice President Alan Heim, ACE, the event was a DJ might in making sure elements rolled into one another. free and open to the public in the effort to continue educating both “Edgar did a table read,” recalled Machliss, “which I then took students and film fans about the art of editing. with the music and sound effects to basically make a 100-minute Riegel said for I, Tonya, it was challenging to get the tone right, radio play of Baby Driver so you could actually listen to the whole as the story of disgraced figure skater Tonya Harding balanced some thing and imagine the car chases in your head. That of course led to difficult, as well as comedic, moments. She also revealed that she a lot of animatics work between our animatics editor, Evan Schiff, actually studied political science before beginning her career as an and Edgar. The two of them did a lot of work to cut those original apprentice working with Howard Smith, ACE, on River’s Edge. sequences to show a sort of proof of concept and to get Edgar’s The idea of reviving apprenticeships in the edit room received vision. It’s so important on films like this to get teams involved, and a hearty round of applause from the crowd. “I think an appren- picture cutting can help to inform so many other departments.” ticeship is just a natural progression into assisting, a natural “The animatics,” Amos added, “were built to show the journey progression into editing, so yes, bring them back,” said Christopher of the car through the streets, but when you film the actors you Nolan’s longtime collaborator Smith, who took home the Oscar can’t place them into the animatics so you have the additional the next day. “The more the merrier. We call them PAs now – character story and that’s where the complexity of the sequence so why don’t we call them apprentices and then they’re in the comes in, because it all must be syncopated to the music. union, which would be really good.” There were certain gags which had to be played at certain points
30 CINEMAEDITOR QTR 2 / 2018 / VOL 68 Photos by Peter Zakhary. in the music, so we were kind of constrained by this structure, which is unusual because as editors we tend to edit and someone comes in to score. In this instance, we were so tied to the music that compressing the material was the big challenge.” Smith admitted that WWII epic Dunkirk had very little dialogue for a feature, meaning that it was “almost like editing a silent film. Almost from the first frame you’re dropped into the action and there was no backstory or German POV. The ‘enemy’ is all they’re referred to and there’s no cutting to the war office or cutaways to explanatory sequences. You’re just with them. It was a time-bending scenario. “I remember reading the script thinking, ‘I hope we’re not making a $100 million art film.’ This could have been a film that made no money, but it did do well and I’m so grateful a studio took the chance on this film.”
During the discussion, Oscar winner Heim (All That Jazz) asked the panelists if they tend to cut for the big screen or consider the rise of mobile viewing when editing their features. The Shape of Water editor Wolinsky, who also earned two Eddies for his work on HBO’s The Sopranos, as well as an Emmy® for his work on Boardwalk Empire, responded, “The great action movies were cut on a Moviola, and editors were making their judgments based on those small screens. You don’t necessarily need the big screen to accomplish a lot of what is loved.” The program concluded with an audience Q&A. ACE thanks platinum sponsor Blackmagic Design; gold sponsors Avid, NAB Show and Motion Picture Editors Guild; and silver sponsor Adobe Systems.
Photos by Peter Zakhary. CINEMAEDITOR QTR 2 / 2018 / VOL 68 31
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#NABShowNY Co-located with Meet Kristin Bye Karen Schmeer Film Editing Fellowship Recipient
BY NANCY JUNDI
ristin Bye was awarded this such a supportive community and look histories to have crossed their desks as well year’s Karen Schmeer Film Edit- forward to a year of mentorship, listening, as the surprising journeys that led each of ing Fellowship during the 32nd learning, sharing and growth.” the writers to their craft. SXSW Conference, held last Like several of the Fellows before her, “Kristin is a naturally-talented editor KMarch in Austin, Texas. Bye comes from a wildly eclectic and who combines an artistic approach to Sponsored annually by ACE, the artistic background. Born and raised in storytelling with an uncommon sensitivity KSFEF was established to develop an the Pacific Northwest, she graduated from to the human condition,” says KSFEF board emerging documentary film editor by the University of Washington in Seattle, president Garrett Savage. “In addition to offering opportunities for creative growth where she earned a degree in International her technical and creative strengths, her and professional community building. Studies and then furthered her education humble, cheerful and energetic person- The Fellowship pays tribute to the legacy in language, art and design in France ality makes her a valuable collaborator. of Karen Schmeer, ACE, who edited for three years. We look forward to supporting Kristin as projects including the Academy Award®- Bye’s work began to garner notice she advances in her career and finds her winning The Fog of War in addition to when she teamed with the late designer- voice as an artist.” the controversial Mr. Death and the IFC turned-filmmaker, Hillman Curtis, serv- As part of the Fellowship, Bye was series, First Person. Schmeer died in 2010 ing as editor on his musical short film, afforded SXSW access to enjoy the when she was struck by a car in a hit- Powerhouse Books; and assistant editor Festival’s premieres, screenings and panels. and-run accident. on Ride, Rise, Roar, his feature-length As this year’s Fellow she’ll also have “I’m delighted, honored and humbled concert documentary profiling David the opportunity to attend the Sundance to have been chosen as this year’s Karen Byrne, lead vocalist of the former band, Film Festival®, Camden International Film Schmeer Fellow,” says Bye. “I’ve long Talking Heads. Festival and Independent Film Festival in admired Karen’s approach to editing which More recently, Bye edited Obit, directed Boston, as well as ACE’s EditFest L.A. and feels, to me, like a celebration of humanity by Vanessa Gould, which debuted in 2016 at Manhattan Edit Workshop’s Sight, Sound & in all of its complexity. This generosity of the Tribeca Film Festival and was nominat- Story event in New York. spirit is so refreshing. It speaks volumes that ed for best documentary at the Portland Bye also receives a “Special” member- Karen’s friends and peers have found a way International Film Festival. Capturing the ship in ACE, a one-year membership to the to honor her memory so beautifully, while stories and process of those who make up International Documentary Association and also giving a boost to the editing community The New York Times obituary department, a season pass to Stranger than Fiction at the as a whole. I feel lucky to be welcomed into it’s a moving chronicle of both the enormous IFC Center in New York.
34 CINEMAEDITOR QTR 2 / 2018 / VOL 68 Above: Karen Schmeer Film Editing Fellowship recipient Kristin Bye. Photo by Robin Hessman. CINEMA_EDITOR_AD_HALF_PG.pdf 1 4/26/18 4:12 PM
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INTRODUCTION BY THREE-TIME ACADEMY AWARD® WINNER MICHAEL KAHN, ACE
MD-CE-ad0717.indd 2 6/16/17 1:44 PM ACE’s Black Panther panel is a hit, as suppliers such NAB SHOW as Adobe, Avid and Blackmagic meet in Las Vegas
BY ELLEN GALVIN
ith Black Panther rocketing to over $1.3 billion at Collaboration was at the forefront again when Baumann talked the box office and still going, a highlight of the 2018 about putting sample VFX reels together to show ideas and help W National Association of Broadcasters Show – held Coogler, cinematographer Rachel Morrison, ASC, and editors – April 7-12 in Las Vegas – was a packed ACE panel featuring a all of whom came from indie films – where and how VFX could trio of the film’s creatives: editor Michael Shawver, ACE; VFX help tell the story. “I had to learn how to use my imagination, and supervisor Geoffrey Baumann and sound designer/re-recording trust that I could do it,” said Shawver. mixer Steve Boeddeker of Skywalker Sound. They emphasized the team trust and collaboration which went into making the film. Shawver said, “For editors, trying to understand as much as possible about the vision that goes through the director’s head is one of the hardest parts of making movies. One person [the director] has a thought. How do you get that across for others to do their best work?” The session was moderated by USC School of Cinematic Arts professor and film editor Norman Hollyn, ACE, who knew Shawver, the film’s co-editor, Debbie Berman, and director/writer Ryan Coogler when they studied film at USC. “The basis of our learning was how to collaborate with other people and yet not be afraid to bring your own storytelling skills to bear,” explained Shawver. “Maybe less than 40 percent of one’s time as an editor is actually editing and pushing buttons. Most of the role is having discussions.”
36 CINEMAEDITOR QTR 2 / 2018 / VOL 68 Top: ACE Black Panther panel. Bottom (L-R): Panelists Steve Boeddeker, Geoffrey Baumann, Norman Hollyn, ACE, Michael Shawver, ACE. Photos by Peter Zakhary. Boeddeker talked about mixing the sounds of nature, ADR and music to enhance the power or emotion of a scene, and knowing when to turn it over to the live on-set sounds and music. It was also important to know when to just be quiet and let the scene play. Shawver summed up, “You tell the story essentially by deciding what is needed and what is not. Basically, editors are the liaison for the audience. Our job is to make sure you guys have the best experience.” Impact of Artificial Intelligence
Elsewhere in the conference and on the show floor in Las Vegas conversations were dominated by artificial intelligence and machine learning. Filmmakers are faced with rising pressures to deliver more work in less time while ensuring content stands out and meets high audience expectations. Could automating some of the heavy lifting help? AI and machine learning (ML) tools are being integrated into editing and production asset management systems to create more efficient workflows, and curate and extract vast quanti- ties of metadata. At NAB, exhibits included a sub-$4000 appliance from axle ai that integrates face and object recognition and low-res proxy collaboration and includes a panel for Premiere Pro CC. Also storage vendor Elements united with Veritone for auto- matic speech-to-text transcriptions; and Dalet added a Content Discovery module to its asset management software for automatic content tagging, topic extraction and key phrase searches. While AI is proving increasingly accurate and useful at recognizing images as well as analyzing script metadata to potentially slash the time taken to find clips in archives or dailies, the elephant in the room is whether AI will ever usurp would automatically adjust soundtrack audio around dialogue, for humans in creativity. single clips or an entire project, with automatic envelopes around “Editors, relax, artificial intelligence is not going to kill dialogue and sound FX which can be manipulated. your job,” said Hollyn, speaking at an NAB conference session Editors working with VR/360 video in both Premiere Pro and on the topic. He urged editors to embrace the technology as a After Effects could view their work in Windows Mixed Reality means to assist meeting tighter deadlines and squeezed budgets. head-mounted VR displays, according to Adobe. Flat graphics “AI is already proving very good at image recognition,” he said, can also be transformed into a 360-degree spherical format. adding that AI could be used to identify sentiments and emotions Adobe is also looking ahead to 8K video, claiming that while in images to serve up suggestions for an editor to follow. running Premiere Pro CC on machines fitted with AMD’s Radeon In the same session Adobe’s Todd Burke, said, “The more Pro SSG processors, editors could work with multiple streams of specifically we can provide the results of tagging, the more uncompressed 4K or 8K footage “as smoothly as they could with efficient we’re going to make all of you.” lower-quality proxy files.” Adobe Touts Advances Avid Puts Cloud First
Adobe is applying its Sensei technology to Adobe Premiere Avid – which revealed its technology news during its two-day Pro. At NAB, the company announced analysis of color and light Avid Connect customer event, held in Las Vegas during NAB – values from a reference image, which in turn are applied to match proved that its policy of offering entry-level versions of its software a current shot. The final adjustment can then be saved as a ‘Look’ for free continues. Media Composer First, for example, has been which can be applied to other shots. Face detection capabilities downloaded 100,000 times since launch a year ago. Now it has can also assist in skin-tone matching. made the more advanced Media Composer available at a lower Premiere Pro’s latest audio features are aimed at allowing more subscription price of $20 per month. For larger facilities, there’s sound manipulation to be done within the software. For example, Media Composer Ultimate, which throws in every high-end feature Adobe reported that an ‘autoducking’ function, driven by Sensei, including Project Sharing and Shared Storage Management.
Above: The Adobe booth. Photos by Peter Zakhary. CINEMAEDITOR QTR 2 / 2018 / VOL 68 37 Pro Tools First has attracted more than 650,000 downloads since its introduction and is similarly marketed in Advanced and Ultimate versions. The company further announced a free starter pack of its music notation tool, Sibelius. All of these products are now available from the cloud, specifically Microsoft Azure, and badged as Avid On Demand. This includes a new set of tools for automated content indexing, for jobs such as closed-captioning verification, language detection, facial recognition, scene detection and speech-to-text conversion. The company is also releasing the Avid Connect App for desktop, iOS or Android with which it hopes 1.4 million Avid users worldwide will connect with each other. You can personalize your homepage with a profile and projects and add connections. Already some 45,000 members of Avid’s audio community have joined.
multiple timelines. There are also markers with on-screen annotations, subtitling and closed-captioning tools, an autosave with versioning, updated keyboard customization tools, a floating timecode window, new organization and metadata tools and Netflix render presets with IMF support. Blackmagic also claims it has improved load times. Colorists will have access to a new HD-to-8K upscaling feature and expanded HDR support with Dolby Vision metadata analysis and native HDR 10+ grading controls. Aside from the free version of DaVinci Resolve 15, a Studio version adds some multi-user collaboration tools, support for frame rates higher than 60p, VR tools and more filters and effects. Blackmagic Boosts Editing in Resolve ProRes RAW Arrives
Blackmagic Design is to add a visual effects and motion In 2007, Apple introduced the Apple ProRes codec, enabling graphics suite into DaVinci Resolve. Previously available as stand- real-time, multistream editing while reduced storage rates for alone application, Fusion, this is being integrated into Resolve 15 4:2:2 and 4:4:4:4 video. Now, it’s developed ProRes RAW, which with the final version expected to be ready in about 18 months. is applied to a sensor’s pristine image data rather than image Among the 250 tools are features for compositing, vector paint, pixels. Proponents say this could ease data-intense workflows, particles, rotoscoping, stabilization and animated titles. particularly those using Apple Final Cut Pro. Among roughly 100 new editing functions in Resolve 15 The Atomos Sumo 19-inch and Shogun Inferno recorder/moni- are stacked timelines and timeline tabs to assist tracking of tors are among the first devices to take advantage of the format.
38 CINEMAEDITOR QTR 2 / 2018 / VOL 68 Left: The Avid booth. Right The Blackmagic Design booth. Photos by Peter Zakhary.
The Darkest Minds Maryann Brandon, ACE, scares up a supernatural actioner
BY WALTER FERNANDEZ JR.
he Darkest Minds delves into a dystopian world where Minds takes this premise and places it at the point of view of the vast majority of the child population dies once they the children, and adds a fantastical element on par with X-Men. hit puberty from a disease called IAAN or Idiopathic Here, the children who survive the onslaught of hormones Adolescent Acute Neurodegeneration. This is familiar develop special powers, ranging from telekinesis and mind Tterritory to works like Children of Men, Lost and The Handmaid’s control, to harnessing fire and electricity. Instead of nurturing this Tale where some preternatural or supernatural circumstance stymies threatened segment of the population, the government bunches all the progress of human procreation. However, children are rarely of the remaining children together in heavily-guarded camps for ever the focal point of these stories. They usually center on the adult everyone’s safety. There, the children can be monitored until it’s world’s reaction to these situations. decided what to do with them.
40 CINEMAEDITOR QTR 2 / 2018 / VOL 68 Above (L-R): Skylan Brooks, Miya Cech, Amandla Stenberg and Harris Dickinson. Photo by Daniel McFadden. TM & © 2018 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved. Based on the 2012 novel of the same name by Alexandra scene is about. Once I’ve decided that, I plot things out from there Bracken, director Jennifer Yuh Nelson and Maryann Brandon, ACE, and try to tell the best story. I find performances that will take bring the supernatural actioner to the big screen. Produced by 21 the audience there, and if the performances are not what Laps Entertainment for Fox, the film has a young cast including I particularly want, I try to read the performances that I did get Amandla Stenberg, Mandy Moore and Gwendoline Christie. and see whose point of view that scene is from. I take my cue Brandon is a pro at visual effects-heavy sci-fi, having edited or from the strength of the dailies. Later on, I’ll go back and retouch co-edited movies like Star Wars: The Force Awakens, for which as the story evolves.” she earned an Oscar® nomination, and Star Trek: Into Darkness. For Darkest Minds, a more difficult scene to cut involved a She also co-edited How to Train Your Dragon for DreamWorks huge battle. “That was very challenging because there were so Animation, where she met Nelson, the Oscar-nominated director many moving parts and I had to sum up everyone’s story. There of DWA’s Kung Fu Panda 2, whom with Darkest Minds makes her was a lot of inventive thinking going on and structural storytelling live-action feature directorial debut. so that you know ‘what happens when’ and ‘to whom’ so that you Brandon spent 10 weeks with the crew in Atlanta before return- can understand where they all end up at the end,” admits Brandon. ing to Los Angeles once production had wrapped. Curiously, there Fortunately, Brandon isn’t alone. She credits her editorial staff wasn’t any conventional previs done for a picture with a significant with not only making sure the editorial operations run smoothly, amount of visual effects. but providing essential creative contributions. “It was odd not to have previs on this film, but Jennifer’s “I have an amazing team,” she says. “Jane Tones is my first background is story,” Brandon explains. “She’s an amazing artist. assistant. I wouldn’t do a film without her. Armando Sanchez was She storyboarded the entire film. When we got to the cutting room our second assistant. Amanda Goodpaster was our music editor she was very active and knew what she wanted and how to get there.” and she was invaluable because there are a lot of songs and current Brandon’s approach to the material is the same be it action, music, which often set the tone. Martin Kloner, who has worked comedy or animation. “I look at the script and see what the with me on all the Star Wars and Star Trek movies, was our VFX
Left (L-R): Miya Cech, Amandla Stenberg, Harris Dickinson and Skyan Brooks. Right top: Mandy Moore and Amandla Stenberg. Photos by Daniel McFadden. CINEMAEDITOR QTR 2 / 2018 / VOL 68 41 TM & © 2018 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved. Right bottom: Editor Maryann Brandon, ACE. Photo by Peter Zakhary. editor. What’s great about my team is that it’s not just me sitting in a Brandon’s most significant recent creative partnership has been room trying to figure everything out. We have very open discussions with J.J. Abrams. From their first pairing on Alias (for which Brandon about what the movie can be. I wouldn’t do it without them.” directed a couple of episodes in addition to editing) to Abrams’ Star Brandon is continuing a legacy in the edit bay that titans like Trek and Star Wars films (which she co-edited with Mary Jo Markey, Dede Allen, ACE, and John Bloom demonstrated to her when ACE), they have spent nearly two decades collaborating together. she was coming up the ranks. She remembers, “Dede was a big “It’s like a good friendship,” she says. “You know when you’ve icon to me. I started in New York and Dede was larger than life. met a good thing. J.J. is a very busy man with many projects going I was an assistant on a film she edited called Off Beat. She was on these days, but with us it’s just roll up your sleeves. He is an very aware of the people that worked around her and for her and amazing filmmaker. J.J. and I share the belief that you never let treated everyone like [his or her] problems mattered. I loved things go if you’re not 100% satisfied. Most of all be open-minded that about her.” to ideas, you never know where they lead to. If you have a reason English editor John Bloom (Ghandi) was also very influential for why you want to do something, it’s always valid. in the nascent stages of Brandon’s career. “I met him in New Brandon wrapped up working on The Darkest Minds last York when he was working with Sir Richard Attenborough on November and has since jumped on to Sony feature Venom A Chorus Line,” she recalls. “He hired me as his second assistant starring Tom Hardy and directed by Ruben Fleischer. From there, and I ended up working on three or four films after that with him. Brandon will segue to Star Wars: Episode IX later this year. He and Richard asked me to go to the U.K. to finish the film with She might even be back for another round of The Darkest them. He ran a very warm and caring cutting room and would Minds as it is a trilogy of books. “It’s the magic of cinema – often call me in after he’d cut a scene and we’d look at it together what you can make people believe by the way you put a couple of and he’d let me critique it. It was invaluable.” different shots together. That’s movie magic, right?”
42 CINEMAEDITOR QTR 2 / 2018 / VOL 68 Above (L-R): Harris Dickinson, Skylan Brooks, Miya Cech and Amandla Stenberg. Photo by Daniel McFadden. TM & © 2018 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved. INCREDIBLES 2 Stephen Schaffer, ACE, and Brad Bird reunite the superhero family BY ADRIAN PENNINGTON
t’s been 14 years since The Incredibles, Pixar’s stylish, charming Bird writes and directs Incredibles 2 and reunites much of and smart superhero story which prefigured other sideways the original voice cast including Holly Hunter (Helen Parr), takes on the genre like Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Kick-Ass Craig T. Nelson (Bob) and Sarah Vowell (Violet) with Huck and Deadpool. It was always likely that we would see further Milner coming in to voice Dash. When a new villain hatches Iadventures of the Parr family given that the original grossed $633 a brilliant and dangerous plot, the family and Frozone (voiced million worldwide and ended with the hint of a sequel. again by Samuel L. Jackson) must find a way to work together Since Pixar joined the Disney stable in 2016, Incredibles again – which is easier said than done, even when they’re director Brad Bird made Ratatouille and the live-action Tomor- all Incredible. Bob Odenkirk, Catherine Keener and Isabella rowland interspersed with Paramount’s Mission: Impossible – Rossellini voice new characters. Ghost Protocol. Bird also brings back his collaborator in the editing room, It seems that Pixar trusted no-one but Bird to deliver the sequel Stephen Schaffer, ACE. Since editing Incredibles, Schaffer per- and was prepared to wait for him to find the right story and script formed editing duties on WALL-E (for which he won the ACE to develop the characters further. Eddie Award for Best Edited Feature Film – Comedy or Musical),
Above: In the midst of battling the Underminer villain, Violet protects her family by throwing one of her most super force fields yet. CINEMAEDITOR QTR 2 / 2018 / VOL 68 43 Photo courtesy of Pixar. ©2018 Disney•Pixar. All rights reserved. Cars 2 and The Good Dinosaur, each with a 3 - 4 year gap between other in check during the making of Incredibles 2. Plus of course, inception and release, such is the length of gestation of a high- there’s the personal pressures of trying to outdo some of your own end animated movie. Indeed, the story process for Incredibles 2 past achievements!” started in Spring 2015 and only wrapped up around the end of As the film’s supervising film editor Schaffer’s responsibilities January this year. began with the script in the writing process and went all the way “Soon after Cars 2 was completed, the rumors started flying through every frame in the film to the final mix. around the studio that Brad was coming back to the studio,” “Pacing is set by my working with the director, so nobody Schaffer explains. “One evening in December 2014, I got a call really talked to me about that – it is an organic thing that happens from [producer] John Walker to come to Skywalker Ranch, as he along the way. For this film, I certainly had meetings early in and Brad were finishingTomorrowland , to listen to Brad’s latest pre-production with the art director to get the lighting tone and pitch of Incredibles 2. What a great meeting. We had all the core look of the film. Being a sequel to a film I originally cut helps filmmakers from the first movie. Not long after that, I was given me already know the world and the characters for pacing and the option to cut the next Incredibles with Brad and I leapt at timing of line delivery.” the chance. Seemingly the next day, Brad was back and we were Editing picture, dialogue, temp sound effects and temp music rolling in story and editorial.” in storyboard form to build a blueprint of the film they wanted to Whereas the ‘lead’ in the first film was Bob Parr aka Mr. make was the earliest main task. Once the timing and pace were Incredible, Incredibles 2 focuses on his wife, Helen aka Elastigirl. set for each sequence, the team delivered it to the layout artists to While Bob navigates the day-to-day heroics of normal life at be shot in 3D space in the actual sets. home, Helen must find a way to battle a dangerous new villain. “Many story lines change over time, and for this film some “Let me tell you, when they say sequels are easy, I say they’re of our current characters were developed from older ideas that wrong whoever they are,” says Schaffer. “Sequels are much we had in earlier versions of the film,” he says. “Storyboards are harder, especially if you’re following a successful first film, cut for every sequence in the film and once that’s done through because there is a built-in expectation that you have to meet or, various iterations, we string a group of sequences together to form hopefully, exceed. We talked about it quite often to keep each an act. Do this for all three acts and you’ve got a storyboarded
44 CINEMAEDITOR QTR 2 / 2018 / VOL 68 Above: The Incredibles – Bob (Voice of Craig T. Nelson), Helen (Voice of Holly Hunter), Dash (Voice of Huck Milner), Violet (Voice of Sarah Vowell) and Jack Jack (Voice of Eric and Stuart Bluth). Photo courtesy of Pixar. ©2018 Disney•Pixar. All rights reserved. blueprint version of the film. Then those all get divided into shots which are laid out in the 3D set to be shot by our camera (layout) department. Those shots are sent back to editorial to re-time. “Sometime during this process, we record the production dialogue to cut into the layout version of the sequences. Brad and I adjust timings and we then send that to the animators to be ani- mated. Editorial sets the timing and pace for each shot and creates the dialogue performance for the animators to expand on. After shots are animated and sent back for me to check timings again, they are moved to departments such as tailoring, effects, lighting, etc. until the film is finished. At each step the shots are sent back to editorial for consistent timing checks as shots are constantly changing frame ranges throughout production. We refer to the Avid cut as the ‘show’s bible’ meaning frame ranges may fluctuate as shots move through the pipeline, but the true frame count is always the Avid cut.” After the first production dialogue session Schaffer reports that many things changed in the script and several characters completely change roles. “Incredibles 2 was written in editorial more than any other film I’ve been on,” he says. “Part of that was out of necessity, and partly it was Brad’s comfort level being Arguably the main challenge was working out how to finish the in editorial. He has said many times that editorial is his safe story and how to ‘hide’ the antagonist. Schaffer says that having haven. Once we heard the voice of Winston Deavor’s character worked so long and hard on the first two acts they “came close (Odenkirk) we knew we had to expand his role as he became such to shortchanging ourselves” in figuring out the ending. Luckily an interesting character with Bob’s voice.” things came together at the 11th hour. Having helped create the original, Schaffer already knew “We had an amazing story team that had a vision and we were how to craft the performances of the lead characters. “All actors able come up with a pretty cool ending that I think audiences will are different in delivery, pace, the way they like to read the enjoy. Whenever these things are made it’s always a balancing act lines. Do they want someone playing against them in the booth? of time and resources, and of course at Pixar we would never put Do they want slates or prefer to run wild? The list can go on and out anything that we don’t feel is finished.” on. Having helped create these performances in the first film, He was helped in this endeavour by second editor Tony I knew what to expect from the returning characters.” Greenberg, who covered for Schaffer in the first few months cutting storyboards with Bird while Schaffer finished working on The Good Dinosaur. “Tony helped cut story reels on through to layout and animation. During the latter half of production, I promoted one of my second assistants, Katie Schaefer Bishop, to second editor, as she was doing the cutting work already so promoting her was a no-brainer. “At the height of our production all three of us were cutting away. Tony and Katie would cut storyboards as I was cutting the production layout and animation. They would check each other’s cuts and then hand off to me to take a pass and review with the director. While this system isn’t always the best way to get less experienced editors time with the director, it is the most efficient way to get through a tight schedule, and having been with this particular crew for two films in a row, we all worked like a well-oiled machine.” A scene in which Helen flies a helicopter through the city is one of Schaffer’s personal highlights. “This chase scene stands out to me because in earlier versions of the film, we had this as Incredibles 2 was written in editorial more a jet flying scene in which she had to crash land in a river, but it than any other film I’ve been on. Part of that became too similar to some real world events happening around was out of necessity, and partly it was Brad’s this time. When we pitched Brad helicopters he was like, ‘no way, comfort level being in editorial. He has said that will not be exciting enough with helicopter speeds,’ but I think many times that editorial is his safe haven.” we pulled it off pretty well and it’s a thrilling action ride.”
Left: Editor Stephen Schaffer, ACE. Photo by Deborah Coleman/Pixar. Right top: Bob Parr aka Mr. Incredible attempts his most heroic feat CINEMAEDITOR QTR 2 / 2018 / VOL 68 45 yet: spearheading life at home. Right bottom: Elastigirl has been recruited to lead a campaign to bring the Supers back into the spotlight. Photos courtesy of Pixar. ©2018 Disney•Pixar. All rights reserved. Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again Peter Lambert enjoys the insane endorphin rush of creating an ABBA musical
BY ADRIAN PENNINGTON
hile the worldwide stage production of the smash- As before, ABBA songwriters Benny Andersson and Bjorn hit jukebox musical based on the songs of ABBA Ulvaeus oversee production as two of several executive producers. has raked in “Money, Money, Money” (over $2 Joining as an executive producer and also with a story credit is billion and counting) since its debut in 1999, Richard Curtis (Love Actually, Four Weddings and a Funeral) Wthe success of Universal’s 2008 feature adaptation is generally while Robert Yeoman, ASC (Ghostbusters, The Grand Budapest described as ‘unexpected.’ It’s not clear why this should be so, Hotel) is cinematographer. Amanda Seyfried, Andy Garcia, Julie given the widespread popularity of the Swedish group’s songs Walters, Stellan Skarsgard and Cher join the chorus. but perhaps it was the idea of stars Meryl Streep, Colin Firth and “The aim was to capture all the joy of the first film, but at Pierce Brosnan duetting which astonished critics. the same time, avoid the sequel feeling like it’s treading water The original amassed over $600 million from a $52 million from a narrative point of view,” explains Lambert. “I suspect that budget and with so many ABBA films in the locker it makes this is the challenge of any sequel: to give the audience the same perfect sense for Universal to reunite most of the cast for Mamma emotional response that they had when watching the original, Mia! Here We Go Again. without feeling like you’re just rehashing things.” Universal tasked Ol Parker (writer of The Best Exotic Marigold Much of the pre-production discussion between Parker and Hotel and its sequel) to write and direct the follow-up. As part Lambert was about how the transitions between storylines – which of his team he requested editor Peter Lambert (The Death of go back and forth in time – might work editorially. Stalin), with whom he had worked on his previous directorial “Should the shifts between timelines be fluid or jarring? effort, Now Is Good. When should the transitions draw attention to themselves, and
46 CINEMAEDITOR QTR 2 / 2018 / VOL 68 Above (L-R): Jessica Keenan Wynn, Lily James and Alexa Davies. Photo by Jonathan Prime. ©2018 Universal Studios. All rights reserved. when should they be discreet? Since the movie wasn’t filmed In some ways, it strikes me that editing chronologically, it was helpful to have all this mapped out in a musical is not unlike editing an action advance of the shoot.” film – paradoxically, given that they’re With Yeoman, there were discussions about how distinctive the targeted at such different audiences.” two time periods might look. At one stage, there were thoughts of shooting one strand on film, the other digitally. In the end, they opted for something more understated, with both time periods shot digitally, and the difference between them indicated more subtly through lighting, design and costume choices. This is the first out-and-out musical Lambert has edited, although of course, editors will find themselves working exten- sively with music when cutting any film. “The things Ol and I are thinking about in the edit are the same as on any movie: Is each scene working at maximum capacity, are the performances consistently strong, is the tone correctly calibrated throughout, and so on. There’s inevitably a lot of talk about rhythm, but that too is a familiar aspect of any edit,” he says. “In some ways, it strikes me that editing a musical is not unlike editing an action film – paradoxically, given that they’re targeted at such different audiences. You have these big set pieces that work almost as self-contained units with their own internal rhythm. And
then you have the bits of talking in between. And you’re trying to integrate the two different elements as fluidly as possible, so that the finished product feels like one coherent, well-balanced story. “In terms of pacing, our main concern is that each song should drive the plot forward. We’ve tried for the most part to avoid that thing you get in some musicals, when a character starts singing, and the story grinds to a halt until they’ve finished the number. In general, you want your characters to be in a different place, emotionally or narratively, at the end of the song than they are at the beginning. If that’s not the case, it has to be a pretty fabulous song to sustain the audience’s attention.” Of course, what delights audiences is hearing favorite ABBA tracks including “Waterloo,” “Dancing Queen,” “Angeleyes” and “Thank You for the Music.” Choreography is by Anthony Van Laast who choreographed the stage play and the original film. In some cases, the way the camera moves throughout the scene is choreographed as carefully as the movement of the actors. In those cases, Lambert hung around in rehearsals before principal photography, looked at storyboards, and discussed how the shot might work with the rest of the creative team. In other cases, it was more appropriate to the energy of the song to set up three or four cameras and let the actors just go for it. Lambert explains, “They would perform the routine many times, filmed from multiple angles. To help manage the sub- stantial amounts of footage this approach generated, my assistants prepared the dailies in a way that allowed me to instantly assess what was available and quickly compare options for any given moment in the song. “Even with extensive coverage, I found that assembling the musical numbers was initially easier than cutting a conventional
Left top (L-R): Julie Walters, Amanda Seyfried and Christine Baranski. Left bottom (L-R): Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgard and Pierce Brosnan. CINEMAEDITOR QTR 2 / 2018 / VOL 68 47 Photos by Jonathan Prime. ©2018 Universal Studios. All rights reserved. Right: Editor Peter Lambert. Photo by Andy Jadavji. dialogue scene. You can edit a dialogue scene five different ways, “The assistants also had a little foley thing going on in the cutting and none of them will be definitively superior to the others; rooms, recording their own steps and clothes,” he adds. they simply serve different dramatic purposes. Whereas with “It’s amazing how effectively you can trick the brain into believ- the songs, it seemed to me easier to look at the dailies and say, ing someone is singing live, simply by adding the sound of their ‘This is the best take for this particular moment, and this other body movements subtly in the background.” take is the best for the moment after, and this is the best way for The cast recorded the songs in a studio in advance of the shoot. me to cut between them.’” The songs were roughly mixed, and then played back on speakers So, although it took some graft and a fair amount of time, positioned off camera during filming, so the actors could sing coming up with a functional first assembly of the songs felt along to their own voices. relatively straightforward. By contrast, re-cutting the songs turned The mixes for the finished movie will be a combination of out to be more complicated than reworking dialogue scenes. the original studio vocal performance, some ADR picked up in “You can’t make small trims without messing up the rhythm the studio after the shoot, and when possible, a bit of production of a song, and of course you’re tied to the actors’ lip movements sound thrown in for good measure. “I am reliably informed that it – meaning you can’t easily repurpose shots, or move them out will look and sound awesome,” he jokes. of their original context, in the way you can in a conventional While the location shoot was in Croatia, Lambert was based in scene,” Lambert says. “Cutting up the songs, shuffling them up London, communicating with Parker daily and flagging any issues. and piecing them together again involves a lot more chicanery “I visited Shepperton Studios from time to time while they than a standard dramatic scene. were based there, to show assemblies to Ol, discuss whatever they “I was cutting the songs to prerecorded guide tracks, per- were filming next, and to enjoy the insane endorphin rush that formed by the actors in a studio in advance of the shoot. comes from watching an ABBA musical being filmed. And I went Since my initial assemblies utilized very little production sound, to Croatia once, to show a sizzle reel at the wrap party. But most there was a danger of the songs feeling like music videos, with the of the time I was in my dark room in Soho, looking at beautiful actors miming along to their own voices. The assistant editors and people on lovely beaches. I spent a lot of time adding atmospheres and effects to bring the “I’ve always liked ABBA, but over the last few months, first assemblies to life.” I’ve come to adore them,” he adds. “I don’t have a favorite song: Lambert commends the team, including first assistant editors As far as I’m concerned, every track is a perfectly-constructed Andy Jadavji and Kindra Marra, second assistants Monika Radwanska little parcel of joy. A person who dislikes ABBA dislikes happiness and Jonathan Thornhill, VFX editor Andrew Loschin, as well as itself. If you are such a person, I urge you to seek immediate UK trainee Jena Cheung and Los Angeles PA Stephanie Snowden. psychological evaluation.”
48 CINEMAEDITOR QTR 2 / 2018 / VOL 68 Above: Amanda Seyfried and Meryl Streep. Photo Courtesy of Universal Pictures. ©2018 Universal Studios. All rights reserved. Christopher Robin Matt Chessé, ACE, reunites a grown-up Christopher Robin with his “willy, nilly, silly old bear”
isney’s Christopher Robin, which opens Aug. 3, tells a with Pooh Bear (a CG character voiced by Jim Cummings, who new, original story about two indelible characters that also voiced Pooh in the animated works). have entertained families for generations: Christopher To make this motion picture, director Marc Forster reunited Robin and his childhood friend, Winnie the Pooh. with Matt Chessé, ACE, with whom he had worked nine times DThey’re the creation of English writer A. A. Milne, who wrote previously, including on Finding Neverland, which earned Chessé a collection of stories based on the characters, the first of which an Oscar® nomination, and The Kite Runner. was published in 1926. In Christopher Robin, A. A. Milne’s sto- As with those films, the emotional core of Christopher Robin ries, along with Benjamin Hoff’s 1982 book The Tao of Pooh is the relationship between the main characters – in this case, (which uses Milne’s characters to explain Taoism) were the main Christopher Robin and Pooh. inspiration for the film, which is set in a 1949 post-war London The grown-up Christopher Robin, Chessé explains, has been where grown-up Christopher Robin (Ewan McGregor), caught up through the war, got a job and started a family. “He’s a lovely in an adult world, finds the joy in life again when he reconnects everyman – a hardworking father, and if he has any shortcoming,
Above: Ewan McGregor with Winnie the Pooh (Voiced by Jim Cummings). Photo by Laurie Sparham. CINEMAEDITOR QTR 2 / 2018 / VOL 68 49 ©2018 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved. it’s that he is working too hard and maybe lost sight of what his For production they used toys, or ‘stuffies,’ of what would be true priorities should be.” Then he reconnects with Pooh, who CG characters, puppeteered and voiced by actors on set, to give remains “simple-minded but wise.” McGregor someone to interact with during filming. “The first The editor admits that as the father of two, he found Christopher couple takes they would block the scene with the stuffies and Robin’s character to be very relatable, and as such the performance actors,” Chessé explains. “Then they’d put in a proxy for VFX – wasn’t too hard to find. “As a dad, it easy to shape a character that a grey or blue version of Pooh. Ewan would continue to deliver you wish would slow down and take more time for the good things the performance with something that was easier to remove in in life,” he says. “There were conversations that I have had with post. I would craft a scene based on the dailies like you normally my own kids even during the making of this film – where I’ve said, would. If I had a take that involved the stuffie, I could still use the ‘I can’t come away this weekend. I have to work.’ It’s directly from performance and they would erase [the stuffie] in post. So it was the script. It was easy to find the truth in the scenes.” a really organic process.” While that always comes down to storytelling, the process of Of developing the relationship between Christopher Robin and developing a central relationship between live-action Christopher Pooh, Chessé says, “That was the thing that was the most familiar Robin and a synthetic Pooh Bear, also had technical considerations, to me in terms of working on films likeFinding Neverland. and so Chessé was involved throughout the production, even It’s about emotion; almost like a child-and-adult relationship. with previs work completed at The Third Floor before principal The evolution of their characters and their growth were the core.” photography began. But other CG characters from the Hundred Acre Wood The live action in the movie was lensed by cinematographer required additional work in during post. “There were some Matthias Koenigswieser in the U.K., on location (including in instances where some of the critters were a little underwritten,” Windsor and London) and on stages at Shepperton Studios. The Chessé relates. “It worked functionally in the script but when we CG characters including Pooh Bear, Kanga, Roo, Piglet, Rabbit, put them up on the screen everyone fell in love with the characters Owl and Eeyore were brought to life by London-headquartered and we wanted more of them. When the characters were to- VFX house Framestore. gether on screen, there were multiple opportunities to brainstorm.
50 CINEMAEDITOR QTR 2 / 2018 / VOL 68 Left: Ewan McGregor with Winnie the Pooh (Voiced by Jim Cummings). Right (L-R): Bronte Carmichael, Ewan McGregor, Hayley Atwell. Photos by Laurie Sparham. ©2018 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved. Right bottom: Editor Matt Chessé, ACE, with director Marc Forster and Winnie the Pooh. Photo courtesy of Matt Chessé, ACE. In a couple instances we brought the writers back and made new I come from a long line of puppeteers, lines around situations that we made up in the cutting room. my grandfather was a marionette “The big challenge editorially was not to go crazy with that, artist and my uncle is a puppeteer ... but to allow just enough play for those scenes and the right lines I always felt that editing had a bit of and beats – and then move on to the story that we needed to tell. the puppeteer in it.” It was challenging but it was a really fun thing to do.” Chessé’s team included first assistant Matt Sweat (it’s their third film together) and second assistant Matt Allen (who was a TA at AFI when Chessé recently ran its editing department). “He proved to be such a talented editor on campus, and was already such a key part of the teaching world, that when I started doing previs on Pooh in the spring of his second year at grad school, I just dragged him along with me. “I had too much to do on campus and on the soundstage combined and I needed a sidekick,” Chessé continues. “He dove in on every level. I was not able to take him to England on the shoot, but I held his slot for when I came back [during post-production]. It just goes to show that you never know who you are impressing.” Chessé calls Sweat and Allen his “dialogue Sherpas. Due to the intense amount of ADR and recorded character performance – and the necessity of providing animation with the best take and tracking the changes or potential re-selection of each line
of animated character dialogue – the guys were essential to the process. They were cataloguing, archiving and shepherding every vowel and consonant on and off the screen.” He also commends VFX editor Catherine Chase and VFX first assistant and additional VFX editor Brad Besser. “This team did a similar job guiding and guarding the development of each character’s movements and facial performances, in conjunction with the post-vis and final animation. It required intensive attention to the details of every paw movement or brow wrinkle as it related to a vocal delivery, body language, continuity, lots of granular stuff.” For Chessé, this was also a very personal project. “I come from a long line of puppeteers, my grandfather was a marionette artist and my uncle is a puppeteer,” he says. “I always felt that editing had a bit of the puppeteer in it, because you are taking people’s image and voice and putting them in situations and making them talk to each other when they aren’t really talking to each other. This has come a lot closer to anything I have done before in terms of puppeteering.”
Left top: Editor Matt Chessé, ACE. Photo by Peter Zakhary. Left bottom: Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore and Tigger. Photo by Laurie Sparham. ©2018 Disney CINEMAEDITOR QTR 2 / 2018 / VOL 68 51 Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved. Right: Ralph Chessé’s (Matt’s grandpa) marionettes. www.chesseartsltd.com/puppets. Photo courtesy of Matt Chessé, ACE. BY ADRIAN PENNINGTON
1999 | Director: M. Night Shyamalan | Editor: Andrew Mondshein ACE
The Sixth Sense became a hit thanks to a famous narrative twist that few, it seems, could see coming. The emotional truth of the drama hits home in the final scene in which child psychologist Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis) comes to the shock realization that he is not, in fact, alive.
Editor Andrew Mondshein, ACE, (Desperately Seeking Susan, American Made) says he and director M. Night Shyamalan were interested in making an old-fashioned psychological horror in the mold of Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby as opposed to the slasher films that the genre had become. “It’s relatively easy to make an audience jump when they are tense, but we resisted all fake scares – no cat-jumping-out-of-the-closet kind of jolts,” explains Mondshein. “We felt it imperative to earn the audience’s complete trust before yanking the rug out from under them in the end.”
Unusually, The Sixth Sense had a huge existential issue at the beginning. “If the audience figured out that Bruce was dead, then we had no film. Until our first preview, we were truly unsure if one of the clues would give us away.”
As originally conceived, the final scene stays with Willis while he slowly walks around the house putting all the clues together. Unfortunately, the first preview audience couldn’t fathom what was going on. “They started asking questions: What happened? Is he dead? We were losing our audience at the precise moment we thought we would be stunning them.”
52 CINEMAEDITOR QTR 2 / 2018 / VOL 68 The Sixth Sense title and logo ©Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. Mondshein and Shyamalan revisited the scene. “We needed an ‘aha!’ moment,” Mondshein explains, “when the entire audience would simultaneously realize that Bruce was dead. So, after [his wife drops the wedding ring], I cut in a flashback of Cole [Haley Joel Osment] saying, ‘I see dead people, they don’t know they’re dead.’
“Secondly, we needed to show our audience flashbacks of just enough clues that they would say to themselves, ‘I can’t believe I missed that, and that too!’ so that they stay involved in watching the rest of the movie.
“That solved our problem except for one issue,” he continues. “One of only three notes we got from the studio was that they wanted Bruce to kiss his wife [played by Olivia Williams] goodbye. Unfortunately, our rules were clear that as a dead person he couldn’t touch anybody. We solved this problem by dissolving into the final fade-to-white kiss from their wedding video.”
The iconic line, ‘I see dead people,’ was in the script and shot as ‘I see dead people, I see ghosts.’ Mondshein says he convinced Shyamalan that they should lose the more traditional ghost reference and focus on the “hauntingly precise, childlike perspective of seeing dead people.”
He adds that the film actually went against a number of modern conventions. “The film was deliberately paced, had no sex, no real on-screen violence, long dialogue scenes, a child as the protagonist [not just an object to be saved] and we ‘kill’ the star at the end – or was it at the beginning?”
The editor suggests this is reminder not to be overly constrained by group thinking in telling stories – “or as the great Japanese filmmaker, Hayao Miyazaki, said: ‘You must betray your audience’s expectations, in order to fulfill them.’”
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