T H E - American Cinema Editors

 
CONTINUE READING
T H E - American Cinema Editors
THE MAGAZINE FOR FILM & TELEVISION EDITORS, ASSISTANTS & POST-­PRODUCTION PROFESSIONALS

                 T H E                T E L E V I S I O N                                 I S S U E

IN THIS ISSUE

KILLING EVE
GAME
OF THRONES
BLACK MIRROR:
BANDERSNATCH
FOSSE/
VERDON
LORENA
THE GOOD PLACE
AND MUCH MORE

US $8.95 / Canada $8.95
QTR 3 / 2019 / VOL 69
T H E - American Cinema Editors
THE YEAR’S MOST ACCLAIMED NEW COMEDY

                     “
                      BRILLIANT.
             A GORGEOUSLY REALIZED, FUNNY, TIGHT-AS-A-DRUM STORY.”
                                      V U LT U R E

                     13 EMMY NOMINATIONS
                                 ®
                                      INCLUDING

                     OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES
                  OUTSTANDING SINGLE-CAMERA PICTURE EDITING
                                FOR A COMEDY SERIES
                                   “ARIADNE”
                                LAURA WEINBERG

FYC.NETFLIX.COM
T H E - American Cinema Editors
PETITION FOR
                  EDITORS RECOGNITION
T    he American Cinema Editors Board of Directors
     has been actively pursuing film festivals and
awards presentations, domestic and international,
                                                                            • Sundance Film Festival
                                                                            • Shanghai International Film Festival, China
                                                                            • 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
T H E - American Cinema Editors
QTR 3 / 2019 / VOL 69

 stock footage                      30                          32                                                                              editor’s cut
             04                                                                                                                                              34
Letter from the Board                                                                                                                      ACE Annual Meeting
  A message regarding the                                                                                                                    Lea Yardum receives
  2020 ACE Eddie Awards                                                                                                                        Heritage Award;
                                                                                                                                         New members presented plaques
             08
    What’s New!                                                                                                                                              38
  News & Announcements                                                                                                                         Lea Yardum
      Short Cut Comic                                                                                                                     ACE Heritage Award Honoree
                                                                                                                                             BY WALTER FERNANDEZ JR.
     BY JOHN VAN VLIET

             10                                                                                                           26                                 40
  Aspects of Editing                                                                                                                              ACE TechFest
      Reflections of                                                                                                                              Debuts in L.A.
                                                                                                                                            BY HARRY B. MILLER III, ACE
     a TV Repairman
    BY STUART BASS, ACE
                                                                                                                                                             44
             14                                                                                                                               EditFest London
      Tech Corner                                                                                                                          Lee Smith, ACE, keynotes the
 Avid had a party. But wait...                   24                                                                                         celebration of film editing
 BY HARRY B. MILLER III, ACE
                                                                                                                                                             48
             16                                                                                                                                   In Memoriam
     Global Editing                                                                                                                              Terry Rawlings, ACE
                                                                                                                                               BY ADRIAN PENNINGTON
     Perspectives
     Examining India’s
   expansive film industry                                                                                                                                   50
  BY EDGAR BURCKSEN, ACE                                                                                                                          In Memoriam
                                                                                                                                                  Barry Malkin, ACE
             52                                                                                                                                  BY JACK TUCKER, ACE

     Cuts We Love
         Se7en
  BY ADRIAN PENNINGTON

                                                         20                                                              22

                                                                     features
                 20                                 22                                   24                                                     26
        Black Mirror:                    Game of Thrones                        The Good Place                                   Fosse/Verdon
        Bandersnatch                 Tim Porter, ACE, pours his proud         Eric Kissack is in heaven                   The miniseries is a time capsule of
   Tony Kearns solves the puzzle       and battle-hardened soul into        for NBC’s hit comedy drama                  Broadway’s glitziest years as much as
    of Netflix interactive drama    episode 3 of the series’ final season        BY GREGOR COLLINS                        an exploration of the romantic and
       BY ADRIAN PENNINGTON                BY ADRIAN PENNINGTON                                                        creative partnership of the iconic couple
                                                                                                                                        BY NANCY JUNDI

                                                    30                                   32
                                                 Lorena                            Killing Eve
                                       Poppy Das, ACE, searches for         Gary Dollner, ACE, describes
                                      the truth behind the punchlines       lacing the stylish cat-and-cat
                                             BY SCOTT LEHANE                     thriller with humor
                                                                              BY ADRIAN PENNINGTON

   02 CINEMAEDITOR QTR 3 / 2019 / VOL 69                                            Cover image: Jodie Comer and Sandra Oh. Photo courtesy of BBC America. ©2019 AMC Networks Inc.
T H E - American Cinema Editors
Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing For A Drama Series
                                         KATIE WEILAND, ACE
                                      Editor (“The Iron Throne”)
                                             TIM PORTER, ACE
                                       Editor (“The Long Night”)
                                              CRISPIN GREEN
                                            Editor (“Winterfell”)

Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing For A Comedy Series
                                            KYLE REITER, ACE
                                     Editor (“berkman > block”)
                                            JEFF BUCHANAN
                                             Editor (“ronny/lily”)

FOR YOUR EMMY
                consideration
                                                            ®

                    Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing
                                For A Limited Series Or Movie
                                               JINX GODFREY
                                   Editor (“Open Wide, O Earth”)
                                                   SIMON SMITH
                                  Editor (“Please Remain Calm”)

                                    Congratulations
                            to our Emmy nominees
                                               ®
T H E - American Cinema Editors
LETTER FROM THE BOARD

                                   A MESSAGE REGARDING
                                 THE 2020 ACE EDDIE AWARDS

          W
                      elcome to the annual CinemaEditor Television       with contenders having to be released between Jan. 1,
                      Issue. We hope you enjoy the feature stories       2019, and Dec. 31, 2019.
                      on series including Bandersnatch, Killing              The black-tie awards ceremony will again unveil
          Eve, Fosse/Verdon, The Good Place, Lorena and Game             winners for outstanding editing in 11 categories of
          of Thrones. This issue also presents roundups of recent        film and television including: Best Edited Feature Film
          ACE events including its successful debut TechFest, as         (Drama), Best Edited Feature Film (Comedy), Best Edited
          well as the Annual Meeting and EditFest London.                Animated Film, Best Edited Documentary (Feature),
              ACE recently announced the 2020 ACE Eddie                  Best Edited Documentary (Non-Theatrical), Best Edited
          Awards schedule – culminating with a Jan. 17 ceremony          Drama Series for Non-Commercial Television, Best
          at The Beverly Hilton – and we want to add a reminder          Edited Drama Series for Commercial Television, Best
          that there’s been a shift in timing to almost three weeks      Edited Comedy Series for Non-Commercial Television,
          earlier than usual. This was prompted by a truncated           Best Edited Comedy Series for Commercial Television,
          awards-season landscape, ignited by the 2020 Oscars®           Best Edited Miniseries or Motion Picture for Television
          moving up to Feb. 9.                                           and Best Edited Non-Scripted Series.
              Most notable for Eddie entrants, the television                Submissions for the ACE Eddie Awards open Sept. 13
          categories’ eligibility dates have changed. Television         and close on Nov. 1. For more information or to submit
          contenders must have aired between Jan. 1, 2019, and           for awards consideration beginning Sept. 13, visit the
          Nov. 1, 2019. Feature film eligibility remains the same        ACE website at www.americancinemaeditors.org.

                                                       Awards Timeline

                      September 13, 2019                              Submissions for Nominations Begin
                      November 1, 2019                                Submissions for Nominations End
                      November 18, 2019                               Nominations Ballots Sent
                      December      9, 2019                           Nominations Ballots Due
                      December      11, 2019                          Nominations Announced
                      December      16, 2019                          Final Ballots Sent
                      December      20, 2019                          Deadline for Advertising
                      January 5, 2020                                 Blue Ribbon Screenings (TV Categories)
                      January 6, 2020                                 Final Ballots Due
                      January 15, 2020                                Nominee Cocktail Party
                      January 17, 2020                                70th Annual ACE Eddie Awards

04 CINEMAEDITOR QTR 3 / 2019 / VOL 69
T H E - American Cinema Editors
Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing
                For A Limited Series Or Movie
                         VÉRONIQUE BARBE
                         JUSTIN LACHANCE
                           MAXIME LAHAIE
                             ÉMILE VALLÉE
                                JAI M. VEE
                                    Editors (“Fix”)

FOR YOUR EMMY
   consideration
                                             ®

    Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing
                For A Limited Series Or Movie
                   MARTIN NICHOLSON, ACE
                       ERICK FEFFERMAN
                                           Editors
                          CINDY MOLLO, ACE
                                  Additional Editor

                   Congratulations
           to our Emmy nominees
                              ®
T H E - American Cinema Editors
Official Periodical of the American Cinema Editors, Inc. Founded November 28, 1950.

                                                      EDITORIAL STAFF

      INTERNATIONAL EDITOR             EDITORIAL CONSULTANT              ART DIRECTOR           EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

      Adrian Pennington                Carolyn Giardina                 Luci Zakhary                Peter Zakhary

                                                     BUSINESS AFFAIRS

PRODUCTION MANAGER          PRODUCTION COORDINATOR              PRODUCTION ASSISTANT        ADVERTISING & DISTRIBUTION

Jenni McCormick                    Marika Ellis                 Gemmalyn Brunson                    Peter Zakhary                           PRESIDENT

                                                                                                                                      Stephen Rivkin, ACE
                                                      ADVISORY BOARD
                                                                                                                                          VICE PRESIDENT

           Edgar Burcksen, ACE                    Harry B. Miller III, ACE               Andrew Seklir, ACE                             Alan Heim, ACE
                                                                                                                                            SECRETARY
                                                       CONTRIBUTORS                                                                    Lillian Benson, ACE

Stuart Bass, ACE, won an Emmy® for Pushing Daisies                Nancy Jundi has been a contributing writer to Cinema-                     TREASURER
and an ACE Eddie Award for Arrested Development. He has           Editor since 2006. She is a technical consultant and               Stephen Lovejoy, ACE
many Emmy/Eddie nominations including for The Office,             communications strategist in the Los Angeles area for
The Wonder Years and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch and               post-production facilities, non-profit organizations and
has worked with highly-talented helmers such as Barry             tech start ups.
Sonnenfeld, Paul Feig and Andy Ackerman.
                                                                  Scott Lehane        is a freelance journalist who has
Edgar Burcksen, ACE, is an award-winning, veteran,                covered the film and TV industry for over 20 years.
                                                                                                                                        BOARD OF DIRECTORS
working editor. He was the Editor in Chief of and is a
regular contributor to CinemaEditor magazine.
                                                                                                                                    Jacqueline Cambas, ACE
                                                                  Harry B. Miller III, ACE,       is a feature, television             Dorian Harris, ACE
Gregor Collins        is a speaker, author, actor and script-     and documentary editor. His recent credits include Turn:
                                                                  Washington’s Spies and The Predator.                                  Tina Hirsch, ACE
writer living in New York. Starting his career in Los Angeles
producing reality TV, he shifted gears to acting, performing                                                                            Maysie Hoy, ACE
on stage, television and independent films. His writing and       Adrian Pennington         is a journalist, editor and mar-
                                                                                                                                      Bonnie Koehler, ACE
acting have been featured in the Los Angeles Times, The           keting copywriter whose articles have appeared in the
Guardian, Huffington Post, Publishers Weekly, Cinema-             Financial Times, British Cinematographer, Screen Inter-             Carol Littleton, ACE
Editor magazine, and on Off- and Off-Off Broadway stages          national, The Hollywood Reporter, Premiere, Broadcast,              Mary Jo Markey, ACE
across New York. Gregor currently travels the globe giving        RTS Television and The Guardian. He is co-author
talks about his unique relationship with Holocaust refugee        of Exploring 3D: The New Grammar of Stereoscopic
                                                                                                                                     Michael Ornstein, ACE
Maria Altmann, chronicled in his memoir, The Accidental           Filmmaking (Focal Press, 2012) and his favorite film of             Sabrina Plisco, ACE
Caregiver. Altmann was portrayed by Helen Mirren in the           all time is Gilda.
film Woman in Gold.                                                                                                                     Kevin Tent, ACE
                                                                  Jack Tucker, ACE,          Emmy®-nominated editor and
Walter Fernandez Jr.          was the Editor in Chief of
                                                                  first-ever recipient of the ACE Robert Wise Award, was
CinemaEditor magazine from August 2010 until June 2013.
                                                                  at the helm of CinemaEditor magazine at the close of
He has worked in marketing and distribution at IMAX
and the MPAA. He has written for CinemaEditor since 2003.         the 20th century. He recently produced documentary
                                                                                                                                          ASSOCIATE BOARD
                                                                  feature American Empire with his partner, director
Carolyn Giardina is an award-winning journalist and               Patrea Patrick.                                                       Kate Amend, ACE
author who serves as tech editor at The Hollywood                                                                                      Mark Helfrich, ACE
Reporter, which includes hosting its Behind the Screen            John Van Vliet        has worked in animation and visual
podcast series. She is also co-author of Exploring 3D:            effects for more than 32 years. Although his involvement               Eric Sears, ACE
The New Grammar of Stereoscopic Filmmaking (Focal                 on bad pictures far outnumbers the good ones, all have               Andrew Seklir, ACE
Press, 2012). One of her first assignments at the start           provided raw material for his drawings – for which he’s
of her career was a feature story about editing – and             grateful. Visit MigrantFilmWorker.com for more.
she has enjoyed covering editors ever since.

                                      SUBSCRIPTION, ADVERTISING & CONTACT INFO                                                          EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

                                                                                                                                        Jenni McCormick
                              LETTERS, SUBSCRIPTIONS, OR          SUBSCRIPTION RATE
                                  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).
                                                                                                                                           THE ACE CREDO
                                                                  Cost is $10 per issue.
                                          PH   323.956.2900                                                                         The objects and purposes of
                                                                  MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO American Cinema Editors
               TO ADVERTISE OR FOR ADVERTISING RATES              Credit cards accepted. CinemaEditor is complimentary             the American Cinema Editors
      Peter Zakhary peter@americancinemaeditors.com               to ACE members.                                              are to advance the art and science
                        DIGITAL ADVERTISING QUESTIONS             ACE WEBSITE QUESTIONS                                            of the film editing profession;
        Libby Higgins libby@americancinemaeditors.org             Kate Higgins kate@americancinemaeditors.org                     to increase the entertainment
                                                                                                                                    value of motion pictures by
        CinemaEditor Magazine is published quarterly by the American Cinema Editors. The views expressed in this
        periodical do not necessarily reflect the views of the Board of Directors or the membership of ACE. Reproduction          attaining artistic pre-eminence
        in whole or part without written permission is prohibited. ©American Cinema Editors, Inc. All rights reserved.          and scientific achievement in the
                                                                                                                                     creative art of film editing;
                                                      STAY CONNECTED                                                             to bring into close alliance those
                                                                                                                               film editors who desire to advance
                          Like us on Facebook                                      Follow us on Twitter                                the prestige and dignity
                          American Cinema Editors (ACE)                            @acefilmeditors                                 of the film editing profession.
                                               American Cinema Editors website
                                       www.americancinemaeditors.org
T H E - American Cinema Editors
Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing
                        For A Limited Series Or Movie
                                LEO TROMBETTA, ACE
                            Editor (“If You Have Ghosts”)

  Outstanding Picture Editing For A Nonfiction Program
                                      JULES CORNELL
                                                   Editor

FOR YOUR EMMY
        consideration
                                                    ®

  Outstanding Picture Editing For Variety Programming
                                        RYAN BARGER
              Editor (“The Wax & The Furious” - segment)
                                     ANTHONY MIALE
             Editor (“The Journey Of Chiijohn” - segment)

                            Congratulations
                    to our Emmy nominees®
T H E - American Cinema Editors
CONGRATULATIONS
     Martin Cohen To Receive MPEG
                                              Oct. 5 gala at the Sheraton Universal Hotel
                                              in Universal City. Cohen served as head of
                                              post-production for Amblin Entertainment
                                                                                                     WELCOME
                                                                                                 American Cinema Editors would
     Fellowship and Service Award             beginning in 1987 and then for DreamWorks        like to welcome new ACE members:
                                              from 1994 to 2005, before moving to
                                                                                                 Jason Ballantine, ACE
                                              Paramount Pictures where he oversaw
                                                                                                  Jeff Buchanan, ACE
                                              all aspects of feature post-production for
                                              all the studio’s releases through 2010.             Monty DeGraff, ACE
                                              He has also served as a producer or execu-         Robert Fisher, Jr., ACE
                                              tive producer on films such as The Hunger           Carla Gutierrez, ACE
                                              Games and supervised the restoration of              Martin Singer, ACE
                                              classics such as The Godfather trilogy and           Steve Welch, ACE
                                              Jaws. “We are delighted to honor Marty
                                              with our Fellowship and Service award,”
                                              says MPEG President Alan Heim, ACE.
                                              “He perfectly exemplifies the values that the
                                                                                                 CORRECTION
                                              Guild holds most dear by forging a career       The article John Wick: Chapter 3 –
                                              in this industry that has served not only the   Parabellum in the second quarter issue
                                              films on which he has worked, but the many      of CinemaEditor magazine incorrectly
  The Motion Picture Editors Guild (MPEG)     filmmakers and colleagues with whom he’s        identified one of Evan Schiff’s co-
  will honor veteran post-production execu-   collaborated. He has consistently given         editors. He is Matt Evans, not Matthew
  tive and producer Martin Cohen with its     back to our community and that makes him        Evan Walsh.
  Fellowship and Service Award during an      the ideal recipient for our highest honor.”
                                                                                                      Advertiser Index

                                                                                              IFC Russian Doll
                                                                                               01 Petition for
                                                                                                  Editors Recognition
                                                                                               03 HBO FYC
                                                                                               05 HBO FYC
                                                                                               07 HBO FYC
                                                                                               09 Blackmagic Design
                                                                                               11 Adobe
                                                                                               13 Avid Technology, Inc.
                                                                                               17 NBCUniversal StudioPost
                                                                                               19 Filmtools
                                                                                               29 Sohonet
SHORT CUT COMIC

                                                                                               35 Fleabag
                                                                                               37 The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
                                                                                               39 The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
                                                                                               42 ACE TechFest Sponsors
                                                                                               43 Ever/Cast
                                                                                               47 EditFest London Sponsors
                                                                                               49 The Looping Group
             BY JOHN VAN VLIET

                                                                                               49 Cutting It in Hollywood
                                                                                               51 Motion Picture
                                                                                                  Editors Guild
                                                                                               BC Ozark
                                                                                                 TO ADVERTISE OR FOR ADVERTISING RATES
                                                                                                     Peter Zakhary / 626.695.7493
                                                                                                   peter@americancinemaeditors.com

   08 CINEMAEDITOR QTR 3 / 2019 / VOL 69
Shown with the
DaVinci Resolve Mini Panel

         Create cinematic feature film looks faster
             than ever with DaVinci Resolve 16
            and DaVinci Resolve control panels!
The new DaVinci Resolve 16 gives you editing, color correction,       Software
audio post and visual effects, all in a single application. You can   DaVinci Resolve 16 .................. Free Download
use DaVinci Resolve as a stand alone software tool, or for faster
                                                                      DaVinci Resolve 16 Studio ....................... $299
and more creative color correction options you can add
DaVinci Resolve color correction control panels. You get fluid,
hands-on control with smooth, high resolution weighted                Hardware
trackballs, precision engineered knobs and dials, and a logical
                                                                      DaVinci Resolve Micro Panel ................. $1,025
layout that puts everything you need right at your fingertips.
DaVinci Resolve color correction panels let you adjust multiple       DaVinci Resolve Mini Panel ................... $3,079
parameters at the same time, to create unique looks that are          DaVinci Resolve Advanced Panel ........ $30,805
simply impossible with a mouse and keyboard!

Learn more at www.blackmagicdesign.com
Reflections
                                                                        of a
                                                                        TV Repairman
                                                                        BY STUART BASS, ACE

T
       here are many excellent television directors who understand          Executive producers brought Myron Smith to direct MacDriver,
       the pace and limitations of series television and guide the      because they had great experiences with him 20 years before
       actors to subtle performances. They know how to shoot            on TV westerns. In that time, audience expectations had changed
coverage and maybe design a few cool-looking camera moves.              a lot. Old TV westerns were shot in seven days. Action scenes
But on occasion we get directors who are mismatched for a show.         were composed of a wide master of cowboys shooting at each
They can’t block, get hung up on unimportant story points, and          other and a few choice medium shots for dialogue. Smith’s
miss key scene beats.                                                   episode was so badly directed it required 108 second-unit insert
    On most long-running TV series the actors know their                shots (many were technically principal photography) shot over
characters, the photographic style is set, most departments from        three days to make the scenes coherent. In one scene, the director
casting to set design answer to the showrunner not the director.        covered an intense four-page car chase setting the camera on
    Here is a thought experiment: Imagine a show without a              one hill to capture the cars on an opposite hill thinking this was
director, where the actors block themselves, the camera operators       enough action to engage the audience. Along with a lack of
figure out the shots, the AD runs the set. This occurs when             coverage, the close-ups were shot at the same angle as the master,
an unseasoned crew member is moved up to director. Usually              making matches difficult.
the show turns out okay. Some jokes may be missed, some                     So it begins for the editor. What are we going to do to make
moments are flat but usually about 80 percent of the script             this episode look and feel like other episodes of MacDriver?
makes it to the screen.                                                     First off there is the ‘brilliant edit.’ We run the scene and
    The horror that I confront as an editor is the rare occasion        the dailies over and over again looking for inspiration. Then a
when a terrible director gets the gig and I have to contend with        conversation with my assistant; a late night revelation; encouraging
40-50 percent of the script realized on the screen. These rubes         words from the showrunner; and the answer is there. Aha! Use the
make the show worse than if there was no director. They may             bad take for picture but repo it and steal dialogue from another
be maestros with a skill such as shooting live sport events or          episode. It was so clearly the answer!
excellent at pitching network execs but fail miserably at working           Maybe I can use the tried and true blow-up. If a wide shot is
a nuanced comedy.                                                       in sharp focus, a 200 percent blow-up can create coverage when
    When writers, directors of photography, actors, editors, set        there was none. I have heard editors refer to slow optical push-ins
designers and others on a crew don’t perform well, they don’t           as Dramanators. They add tension to lifeless scenes.
survive. But directors are different. A director with poor skills can       Speeding up or slowing down the frame rate will build
build a reel of material that can be very impressive after rewrites,    moments. If the director didn’t get a reaction maybe a bit of the
reshoots, opticals and intense editing go into fixing the show.         actor can be found before a slate and slowed down to look like
    For the purposes of this article I am going to fictionalize and     an intense look. There is a very poignant Wonder Years episode
create a composite director named Myron Smith and a composite           ending made from Mobius strip loops of manufactured reactions.
series I’ll call MacDriver which is not related to my experiences           When scenes are blocked badly and jokes or beats are not
on MacGyver (1985-92). Hopefully, using anonymity I may                 working I will trim out pages of dialogue. I enlist the writers as
continue living my life without a bodyguard and food taster.            reinforcements. On Arrested Development with the help of the

10 CINEMAEDITOR QTR 3 / 2019 / VOL 69
Terminator: Dark Fate
                                            Apollo 11
Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men
   Knock Down The House
   The Biggest Little Farm
   The Old Man & the Gun

              Uncommonly good stories
              with one thing in common.
    More editors and filmmakers are turning to Adobe Premiere Pro
          to bring their ideas to film, television, and the web.

            © 2019 Adobe. All rights reserved. Adobe, the Adobe logo, and Adobe Premiere are either registered trademarks or trademarks of
         Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
writers we often came up with a graphic joke, insert of a news-               Marco was the nicest person. He treated everyone with respect.
caster, or a flash to another scene to bridge missing story.              He was soft spoken. When he worked with producers he did not
     Often poor directors will miss the sense of urgency in a             resist or make faces, he gleefully executed their notes. However,
scene. Well-placed ADR and insert shots can help create urgency.          he had a secret super power. If he had a better idea of how to fix
Underscore can build emotion when there was nothing. Sometimes            a scene, using humility he carried out the fix and somehow he
it’s just a matter of when to start and stop a cue to underline a story   allowed the producer to feel it was their idea. It was a humble
point. I often joke after hearing in the final mix how the composer       transference of ego. The producer would sit behind him and say,
should get the directing credit.                                          “That joke isn’t landing.” Marco would quickly trim a few frames,
     Back in the day on MacDriver (totally fictional), one of the         steal a reaction and praise the producer for his comedy chops.
editor’s tasks was shooting inserts. Sometimes they are details like      This was not condescending. Marco sincerely communicated
a bomb ticking to create tension, or tight shots of Mac building          gratitude with subtle expressions and knowing nods. The producer
his gimmicks for clarity. The inserts might be a wide shot which          left feeling success and empowered. In this world of ‘lean in’ and
doubles to create geography that the director missed. Very often          ‘sharp elbows’ Marco’s zen approach had him cutting several
the careful use of inserts and sound can fill out drama where there       sitcoms a week, taking a percentage of the video facility profits,
was just a limp master shot with the actors lined up like a remake        and buying apartment buildings throughout Los Angeles.
of A Chorus Line. An insert can create a scene transition when the            Myron Smith has pissed off the performers; missed moments;
director left bupkis.                                                     missed technical fundamentals like the 180-degree rule; and
     VFX editors and assistants who are masters at temp effects           called me every morning in an attempt to have me fawn over the
are heroes. In order to be in the bad directors club you have to          dailies. He insists on sitting next to me while going through his
ignore framing. Why is there a piece of that distracting character        cut and his touches and goofy punches are a bit over-friendly.
floating at the edge of frame? Presto! Gone. Why don’t the over-              It’s as if Myron has hidden a flaw in every scene for me to find.
the-shoulder shots match? Voila! Clean Cut. Why don’t the actors          His scenes remind me of the kids magazine, Highlights, What’s
react at the same time in that group shot? Bam! Frankenshot. And          Wrong with This? Look closely to find 24 silly things. After sitting
by Presto! Voila! and Bam! I mean many growling hours in After            with Myron for a day hoping he could give me a clue of how to
Effects pounding out traveling mattes.                                    unlock these scenes I realize he is as clueless in the editing room as
     We employ these technical measures to fix mediocrity;                he is on the set. We swap out a performance; find the camera move
the tricks learned since I picked up my dad’s 8mm camera and              he loves even after I point to the c-stand clearly passing by; we end
started shooting war stories with neighborhood kids in the                with a reaction though the scene was over long ago. We add top-40
backyard. But these schemes are not the whole story. There is             music he brought in though the studio warned us about licensing
another ingredient to successful TV repair.                               costs. I summon the inner Marco Zappia in me and happily perform
     Back when I was an assistant trying my damnedest to move             his lateral notes praising his comedy chops. His DGA-designated
up to editor there was a guild rule that assistant editors had to         days are over, he tells me he can’t wait to work with me again, and I
assist for eight years. I had cut about 800 commercials and many          sigh with relief as his Ferrari speeds off the lot.
industrial films before coming to Los Angeles. However, because               A few days into cutting a poorly-directed show are voyages into
of how I changed guild jurisdictions I could not keep my status           darkness. The first thought upon waking is the disaster awaiting
as a picture editor and had to work as an assistant editor. It was        on the file server. I drag myself to the studio and procrastinate by
frustrating forced to assist even with so much cutting under my           chatting with the guys down the hall. I take my time preparing
belt. I remember asking the president of the guild at the time, Irv       caffeine strong enough to keep me focused. Even scary emails
Rosenblum, why is there an eight-year rule? He told me that an            from the IRS are a preferable distraction. When I ask my assistant
assistant had to gain a certain amount of maturity to navigate the        about the dailies he just drops his face into his hands and
politics of the editing room. The rule may have been arbitrary but        shudders. I approach yesterday’s shots and am a kid again looking
there is wisdom to the thought.                                           at Highlights magazine. What’s wrong with the picture? The next
     Marco Zappia (1937-2013) may have been one of television’s           10 hours I am immersed in damage control, looking for order
most successful editors. He started physically cutting two-               where there is nothing but chaos. I call on the editing gods to help
inch videotape on Laugh In and became the most sought-after               find the hidden moments and accidental treasures. Strangely, the
multi-cam editor. He lived and breathed editing. He didn’t take           editing gods answer my pleas as if I am worthy, uncovering story,
vacations, he told me once he had only been out of the state once         building arcs. Keystrokes and mouse movements are elevated to
on a sports remote. On the weekends he took home dailies to               moments of grace. In the end I have the gratification of having a
cut as side projects. I had the pleasure of working with him on           show that matches the episodes in the series. It may have added 30
a couple shows. What I learned from him had nothing to do with            hours to my week but I’m done and ready for the next one. This is
split screens or selecting a performance.                                 the job and that is why I’m paid the medium bucks.

12 CINEMAEDITOR QTR 3 / 2019 / VOL 69
FOR THE
                                                                               MAKERS
                                    For everything from first cut to final delivery,
                                      the new Media Composer® is here for you.
                                        Designed for makers at every level with a modernized
                                           and intuitive interface, task-based workspaces,
                                               new built-in color finishing tools, plus packaging
                                                  and codec support for OTT workflows.

                                                        The new Media Composer 2019 is everything
                                                             you already know and love — reimagined for more.

                                                                 WWW.AVID.COM/FORTHEMAKERS

© 2019 Avid Technology, Inc. All right reserved. Avid, the Avid logo, and Media Composer are registered trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries.
Avid Had
                                                                                                         A Party.
                                                                                                         But wait…
                                                                                                          BY HARRY B. MILLER III, ACE

                                                                                                          “Neo, I want to tell
                                                                                                           you something…”
                                                                                                             – The Matrix (1999)

A
        vid had a party. A coming-out party for their new, hap-             in a Windows laptop to replace the aging MacBook Pro (2014)?
        pier interface. Their Burbank office was jammed with                Mac laptops were heading in the wrong direction for usability
        people on May 15 to enjoy food and drink, and to see                and performance, and PC laptops were getting faster and more
demonstrations of the latest Avid Media Composer. But wait,                 flexible. Then Apple released the 2018 Mac mini. Up to a 6-core
I want to tell you something, but that isn’t it…                            i7 processor, up to 64 GB RAM, and up to a 2 TB SSD.
   Premiere Pro has added a couple of features in its latest version            And this is what I wanted to tell you: This thing is great!
that make it a very strong competitor to Avid Media Composer in             But more on that later.
the Hollywood editing space. You can see two timelines at once,                 The Avid event was sort of a coming-out party to show lots of
including your source monitor, and edit from one into the other.            people the redesigned Media Composer interface. It is brighter, more
Bins can be locked on networked systems, so projects can now                colorful and now modular. That means that, like the Premiere Pro
be shared. Under fairly simple circumstances it is very, very fast          interface, everything is locked into a full-screen dock. Resize the
and never crashes. And a new bin layout type called Freeform has            host panel, as it is called, and everything resizes. It is simplified,
been introduced, which is terrifically flexible, and unique among           more for new users. For power users however, the whole single
editing systems. But that isn’t what I wanted to tell you…                  dock can be broken up to individual components, like the current
                                                                            Media Composer.
                                                                                There were several spaces at Avid’s office where Media Composer
                                                                            was being demonstrated. It was, however, a bit difficult to get a lot
                                                                            of information because the place was so crowded. But it was a very
                                                                            good opportunity to run into fellow editors and post people.
                                                                                The new Media Composer, during these demos, had a tendency
                                                                            to crash. Presumably now all of the bugs will be worked out.
                                                                            (Um, presumably. Right Avid?)
                                                                                Adobe has made great strides in fashioning Premiere Pro
      Premiere Pro pancake timeline, not something new but I was unaware.   for bigger things than just home videos. Currently I am editing
                                                                            an Imax nature film called Back From the Brink. The story is
   I wrote previously for CinemaEditor that Apple had apparently            about three animal species that were endangered, but concerned
given up on making computers for professional editors (Miller, H.B.         scientists and researchers discovered what was necessary to
{2017} “Is Apple Inc. Just a Phone Company?” CinemaEditor,                  ensure their survival. Steps were then taken to successfully save
Quarter 1, Vol. 67, 16-17). My question: Was it time to invest              these species, by rebalancing their environment.

14 CINEMAEDITOR QTR 3 / 2019 / VOL 69                                               Adobe Premiere Pro © 2019 Adobe. All rights reserved. Photo courtesy of Harry B. Miller III, ACE.
thing I’ve ever used, including a refurbished/upgraded Mac Pro
                                                                                                                       ‘cheese grater’ tower.
                                                                                                                           Realizing that I’m much too ingrained in the Apple ecosystem
                                                                                                                       to change editing workstations to a Windows PC (see the above
                                                                                                                       referenced CinemaEditor article), I decided that I’d give this Mini
                                                                                                                       a shot. And it’s a ‘mini.’ How much could it cost?
                                                                                                                           Well, once you ‘spec’ it up, it costs a lot. The upgraded
                                                                                                                       Mac mini with 6-core i7 CPU, 32 GB RAM and 1TB SSD runs
                                                                                                                       around $2900. Then you realize it has lots of connectors, but
                                                                                                                       none connect to any device you own. I needed to invest in $100
                                                                                                                       worth of adapters (Thunderbolt 2 to 3). And there are so many
                                                                                                                       devices you need to plug in, such as keyboard, mouse, monitor,
                                          Avid’s new interface                                                         hard drives, you then need to invest in a $300 multi-port dock,
                                                                                                                       which adds several more USB 3, USB 2, HDMI, etc. connections.
    The movie was shot with a Red camera, at 5K and 8K. The post-                                                      The additional components needed to make it work become part
production company managing the project, RPG Productions (run                                                          of the ‘Apple tax,’ the extra you have to spend to be in the Apple
by Rick Gordon), gathered all the media from the many hard                                                             universe of products. At least it is less than the newly-announced
drive sources and transcoded everything from Red files to ProRes                                                       Mac Pro ($6000 to start).
422 HQ, 1920 x 1080. There is so much footage, it is a nature                                                              This was just going to be a trial. Apple allows a 14-day window
doc after all, that the transcoded media takes more than seven                                                         to return a product if you’re unhappy. I tried an iPad Pro. It didn’t
terabytes! Fortunately, the director/DP has a pretty good memory                                                       work for me (too big), and it was returned without a problem.
for what he shot. And he made the initial assembly pass with                                                           The test was to see if the Mac mini would truly be a performance
his favorite material.                                                                                                 improvement over my current home editing system.
    Because of the solid organization and preparation by assistant                                                         I tested the mini with Media Composer for transcoding clips,
David Palmeri, the project has not crashed. At all. Not once.                                                          rendering a timeline with VFX plugins and timecode, and Adobe
(I can’t get through a single day on other unnamed editing systems                                                     Media Encoder for an export.
and say that same thing.)                                                                                                  Rendering a timeline: the mini was twice as fast as the Mac
    The great thing about Premiere Pro is if you had any experience                                                    Pro. Transcode a 3-minute clip: the mini was twice as fast the
working on Final Cut Pro 7, you’ll feel right at home. And you                                                         MacBook Pro (2014). Export Media Encoder: Laptop 34:05, Mac
can easily set up the keyboard to mimic your Avid (or FCP X)                                                           Pro 38:00, Mac mini 25:00
keyboard. It is fast and flexible. While the timeline is playing you                                                       In every process I tried that is part of my editing workflow, the
can even do minor editing without stopping, like Pro Tools. And                                                        Mac mini was significantly faster than my other two computers.
the new features Adobe has added (viewing multiple timelines at                                                            Another great thing about the Mac mini is macOS
once, bin locking, Bezier audio keyframes, Freeform bin view)                                                          Mojave’s dark mode. It is DARK. But very attractive, and semi-
make it very usable.                                                                                                   translucent. Some windows, like the Info window, are so dark they
    The downside is the current version of Premiere Pro (13.1.2)                                                       are almost readable.
and Media Encoder (13.1) can output incorrect timecode. The fix,                                                           The one area where the mini does not excel is using an eGPU
until Adobe makes a software correction, is to turn the Mercury                                                        (external graphics card) with Media Composer. Michael Kammes
Playback Engine to ‘Software Only’ in both programs. Thanks to                                                         reviewed a Mac mini with an eGPU on his podcast, “5 Things”
Mike Kanfer of Adobe for that information.                                                                             (https://5thingsseries.com), and found that Media Composer
    But what I really wanted to tell you about is this:                                                                does not take advantage, while Premiere Pro does. But where is
                                                                                                                       the graphics card important? Mostly for computer displays and
                                                                                                                       running intense graphic games.
                                                                                                                           Where Adobe fails is that editing projects aren’t always
                                                                                                                       backward compatible. You can open an Avid sequence with a
                                                                                                                       few exceptions in every version of Media Composer. A Premiere
                                                                                                                       project often can’t be opened in the next previous version
                                                                                                                       of the software. And this timecode issue could be serious if not
                                                                                                                       quickly addressed.
                                           The Mac Mini.                                                                   And I don’t know of a shared/networked project on Adobe that
                                                                                                                       has worked well. Not as seamlessly as Media Composer projects
   The Mac mini. It’s so small and cute! And dark. It literally                                                        work. There may be, I just haven’t heard of one.
disappears on the unlit shelf on my desk. And outperforms any-                                                             And that’s what I wanted to tell you!

Avid interface © 2019 Avid Technology, Inc. Mac Mini © 2019 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. Photo courtesy of Harry B. Miller III, ACE.               CINEMAEDITOR QTR 3 / 2019 / VOL 69 15
Examining
                                                                                        India’s
                                                                                        Expansive
                                                                                        Film
                                                                                        Industry
                                                                                        BY EDGAR BURCKSEN, ACE

A
         bout 10 years ago I was invited by Indian production        Tamil language in the South Indian city of Chennai (about 140
         company Phat Phish to come to Mumbai to help them           productions a year). Films in Kannada language, produced from
         prepare Quick Gun Murugun: Misadventures of an Indian       South Indian city of Bengaluru and in Malayalam, produced from
Cowboy, a feature that was already released in India, for the        the state of Kerala also contribute roughly 250 films each year.
American market. Not knowing more than that India had a huge         The rest come from Marathi, Bengali, Punjabi, Oriya, Gujarati
film industry and that Mumbai was one of the major centers of        and Bhojpuri language regions. Some of the South Indian films
production, I was amazed by the sophistication. My editing room      are dubbed and crisscross from one language territory to the other
had a fully-equipped Avid Media Composer with all the bells and      while some are specially dubbed in Hindi for television. It makes
whistles. Because time was of the essence I did not have a lot       for a very diverse creative output that is, according to Ganti, self-
of contact with editors in Mumbai. More recently, as I’ve been       sustaining and fascinating.
working to expand ACE’s international reach, I got in touch with          There are no honorary societies in India, such as ACE.
Mumbai/Hyderabad-based editor Kiran Ganti for an update on           In Mumbai, there is an editors organization called the Association
this industry from the editors’ point of view.                       of Film & Video Editors (AFE). Each of the South Indian film
    Some history: The first feature-length Indian silent film,       industries also has an editors association. AFE is also a part of
Raja Harishchandra, was produced in 1913 and was directed            the All India Film Federation that represents 24 other arts and
and edited by Dadasaheb Phalke, who is known as the father of        crafts of the industry. The AFE has about 1600 members of
the country’s film business. The most prestigious government-        which half are still active in the editing rooms across films, TV,
presented lifetime-achievement film award in India is named after    documentaries and other types of content. Ganti explains that the
him. It’s presented every year on May 3, the original release date   AFE is strictly a union that solely deals with labor/organizational
of Raja Harishchandra.                                               related issues and not with the technical/creative part of editing.
    Roughly 900 films are released theatrically every year in        He adds that there are no other organizations, professional or
India. The industry is based in three major production centers:      otherwise, that give a platform to editors who want to discuss,
Mumbai for the Hindi language (about 140 productions last year),     learn or study the craft and art of editing and in that respect,
Hyderabad in Southern India for the Telugu language (185 films       an ACE International Affiliate membership chapter in India could
per year, including 50 films dubbed from other languages) and the    fill a large void.

16 CINEMAEDITOR QTR 3 / 2019 / VOL 69                                                                         Above: Mumbai, India. Photo by TkKurikawa.
Ganti also conducts classes at Ramoji Academy of Film and           ‘unblimped’ film cameras and were dubbed. (A blimp is a housing
Television, situated in the world’s largest film studio, Ramoji Film    that suppresses the loud sound of the camera, but makes cameras
City, Hyderabad. On the professional front, he feels there is a         unwieldy and so, in India, filmmakers used unblimped cameras
lack of space for sharing of knowledge about editing and a cross-       and post synced the dialogue.) Things changed in the Hindi film
country sharing of expertise/experience – and that this is the need     industry in early 2000 when sync sound picked up momentum,
of the hour. He says he is convinced about this because he once         especially after the success of the Academy Award-nominated
worked with Walter Murch, ACE, and recognizes the immense               Hindi film, Lagaan (2001), that pioneered sync-sound shooting.
value that he got from the experience. He also shares that two of       But when the Arri Alexa, Red and later the Canon 5D and 7D
India’s biggest Hindi films from last year – Sanju and Padmaavat        cameras were introduced, everything changed. No more ‘heartbeat’
– were directed by Rajkumar Hirani and Sanjay Leela Bhansali,           on set because these cameras were silent and no more shooting
respectively, who have also worked as editors.                          discipline because the recording material is so cheap. A majority
    The creative recognition of editing is only acknowledged at         of the films made in Hindi now are shot sync sound though that
award ceremonies that are organized and sponsored by the TV             is not the case in South India. Ganti reports he is working on a
networks of each language region. The Indian government also            motion picture in the Telugu language – Phalana Abbayi, Phalana
presents yearly awards at the National Film Awards ceremony             Ammayi (PAPA), directed by Srinivas Avasarala and produced by
by the Directorate of Film Festivals, an organization set up by         People Media Factory – that is shot with sync sound, which he
the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The ceremony              believes is a first in the region on a medium-budget film. This, he
is divided in two categories: feature film and non-feature film;        hopes, will help change moviemaking in his region.
consequently there are two awards for editing. Ganti likens the             On the distribution side, India has around 10,000 theaters;
prestige of this ceremony in India to the Academy Awards®.              a majority of them have single screens. The digital revolution also
    Historically, due to technical, logistical and aesthetic reasons,   brought new forms of distribution, and streamers like Netflix and
the majority of the films produced in India were all shot with          Amazon Prime started to gobble up content. A movie acquired by
                                                                        Amazon is on its streaming platform six weeks after its theatrical
                                                                        premiere. Amazon also started to invest in and produce its own
                                                                        content in India. There are also Indian streaming platforms like
                                                                        Zee5, Hotstar, Jio, SonyLIV, etc, which are making original
                                                                        content. Considering India has 370 million smartphone users,
                                                                        this isn’t surprising.
                                                                            The reach of Indian films around the world is extraordinary
                                                                        because of the huge number of expats that are living in the U.K.,
                                                                        U.S., Canada, Australia and the Middle East. Because of this, the
                                                                        Indian film industry is shooting a lot of content in these countries
                                                                        and regions that not only cater to the expat community but also to
                                                                        the domestic market. On an average, 25 percent of an Indian film’s
                                                                        revenue can be recovered from these markets. There’s also more
                                                                        crossover to more traditional film markets in Europe and the U.S.
                                                                        For instance the two-part magnum opus Telugu feature Bahubali:
                                                                        The Beginning (2015) and Bahubali 2: The Conclusion, (2017),
                                                                        edited by Venkateswara Rao Kotagiri on an Avid, was a very
                                                                        successful crossover, especially in the U.K., Europe and China.
                                                                            Presumably, Indian films shot in expat countries will find a
                                                                        broader audience, with Amazon and Netflix hungry for more
                                                                        original content for their global audience. The Telugu film that
                                                                        Ganti is currently editing is a new-age romantic film of which
                                                                        more than 50 percent was shot in the U.S.
                                                                            Ganti had one more thing he wanted to share about the Indian
                                                                        film industry in Mumbai: They hate the ‘Bollywood’ moniker.
                                                                        Saying that ‘Bollywood’ was started as a joke many years back
                                                                        but it stuck, he says his industry thinks that the derivative of
                                                                        Hollywood denigrates the importance and creative uniqueness
                                                                        of their film industry. Says Kiran, “Every year, more films are
                                                                        produced in Mumbai than in Hollywood. ‘To be, or not to be’ is no
                                                                        longer the question. ‘What’s in a name?’ Quite a lot.”

18 CINEMAEDITOR QTR 3 / 2019 / VOL 69                                                                   Above: Editor Kiran Ganti. Photos courtesy of Kiran Ganti.
T E C H N I C A L S O L U T I O N S & I N T E G R AT I O N F O R T E C H N I C A L P R O B L E M S

                                                                        Feature Film or Television
                                                                       Absolutely the Best Client
                                                                Reference Monitor in the Business

                                            PANASONIC FZ1000U
                                            Made by Color Professionals for Color Professionals

                                                         Available at
Black Mirror:
Bandersnatch
Tony Kearns solves the puzzle of
Netflix interactive drama

BY ADRIAN PENNINGTON

B
        lack Mirror: Bandersnatch has been heralded as a land-         of his own devising, graphics visually representing all the
        mark achievement not just for Netflix but for the future of    interconnected paths and Twine, a scripting software that allows
        interactive programming for its fun and challenging ability    interactive options to be embedded as links.
to include the audience in the story.                                       “It looks like a normal script but when you click on the options
    In the series, viewers follow a young programmer, Stefan           the page will move forward to that branch of the narrative. All
(Fionn Whitehead), and are given choices to make as he proceeds        of this scared me a little. It was dauntingly complex but after I
to adapt a fantasy novel into a video game.                            broke it down into sections and spent time getting my head round
    Not for nothing did series creator and show writer Charlie         it I had no real concerns. My feeling was that everyone else had
Brooker set this in an Orwellian 1984. But with five possible          done their homework and Charlie had written a brilliant script so
endings and seemingly unlimited unique permutations of the story       it wasn’t difficult to resolve any questions I had.”
according to Netflix, imagine the byzantine task of editing it all.         That said, it was only once footage came in and Kearns could
    Tony Kearns was invited to the project by director David Slade     stress test the assembly that it was possible to assess where there
with whom Kearns had worked on Black Mirror, series 4 episode          might be issues.
5, “Metalhead” and decades previously on music videos including             “The first obvious point to make is that the story does not travel
Muse’s “Bliss,” Stereophonics’ “Mr. Writer,” and Tori Amos’            in a smooth arc. It is interrupted by choice points. It made sense
“Strange Little Girl.”                                                 to first assemble the arcs in the sections between choice points of
    Since their early collaborations Kearns had graduated to feature   which some are quite long and fluid. Then we were also able to
film (Cardboard Gangsters, Let Us Prey) and acknowledges he            look at various narrative lines using Branch Manager to view the
was less well-known for TV drama.                                      film on our laptops.”
    “My experience on ‘Metalhead’ with David, Charlie and (series           This software, specially written in-house by Netflix, enabled
co-creator) Annabel Jones worked out really well and I think they      the import of segments which, when coded, would play back as a
trusted that I could do it.”                                           facsimile (or proxy) of the finished piece.
    When Kearns boarded, the treatment and script were already              “It would start from the beginning and you’d come to a choice
advanced. “As far as I was concerned it was always an interactive      point, click one and proceed down that route,” Kearns explains.
film but the challenge was to create a satisfying single story that    “It was very complex and very essential. We wouldn’t have been able
would work without any viewer interaction and to deliver on all        to make the show without it since it simulated the viewing exper-
the other narrative arcs.”                                             ience rather than us trying to assemble a timeline in Premiere Pro.”
    Kearns first task was to go through the script and break it down        Also essential was assistant editor John Weeks who, as fate
into constituent parts. This was accomplished using spreadsheets       would have it, had prior experience with computer programming.

20 CINEMAEDITOR QTR 3 / 2019 / VOL 69                                                                   Above: Fionn Whitehead. Photo by Stuart Hendry. ©Netflix.
“It was one of those fortuitous occurrences but not only is
John an excellent assistant editor he has such a wealth of experi-
ence in coding. It was a bit of a rod for his own back since he was
doing the job of two people and, like the rest of us, he was a bit
frazzled by the end.”
    Weeks’ role shouldn’t be underestimated. Indeed, Kearns
recommends that anyone embarking on an interactive show – of
which there will no doubt be many more – should assign someone
with a knowledge of coding to the edit suite.
    Each viewer choice led down a rabbit hole of different narrative
tracks with a version of a scene that may differ from another only
in one crucial aspect.
    “The scenes would be generally shot the same way but the
performances would be different,” explains Kearns. “A line or
two of dialogue might change or there would be another twist
dependent on the viewer choice. For example, the first viewer
choice asked them to pick a brand of cereal so we’d insert a
commercial on the TV screen in a later scene for either Frosties
or Sugar Puffs.”
    The soundtrack to the drama is also a viewer choice on a couple
of occasions. “The first music choice concerns what Stefan should
play on his cassette recorder and in both cases the cut’s exactly
the same but in a later choice choosing album tracks between
‘Tangerine Dream’ and ‘The Bermuda Triangle’ we had to retweak
a little to ensure the cuts of the scene hit different musical beats.”
    The script was 157 pages (usually the hour-long show runs 65
pages) with 250 segments generating nearly five hours of footage.                                                     only had one short segment where we had to extend duration due
    “Each segment had a four-character alphanumeric number.                                                           to this requirement,” Kearns says.
The script was divided into eight sections and then variations on that                                                    “Charlie wanted to avoid having everything stop while this
segment denoted by letter and number, for example 7A2B. This was                                                      was going on so he wrote dialogue and action to go under the
translated into the shooting script then managed by script supervisor                                                 choice points so it’s a visually continuous process. It was my job
Marilyn Kirby along with first assistant director Jay Arthur.                                                         to work out how to not interfere too much with the choice points
    “Marilyn was our linchpin on set and everyone’s oracle when                                                       and also ensure the last shot of that segment cut well with [the]
it came to knowing what we were going to do next. Both she and                                                        first of the next segment, whichever was chosen.”
Jay did an amazing job marshalling the actors and the crew and                                                            Along the way, some choice points were dropped in order
keeping them on the right track.”                                                                                     to make the whole story more fluid. Some of these occurred in
    The choice points themselves were around 15 seconds in dur-                                                       scenes set in the office but none of the choices were deemed too
ation with additional time on either side of the choice allowed for                                                   important structurally by the team.
the caching or buffering needed for each choice point. “In reality we                                                     Kearns says, “A lot of the time was spent viewing all the
                                                                                                                      multiple narrative arcs, assessing, making structural changes but
                                                                                                                      once in the swing of it I was able to intuitively make decisions
                                                                                                                      about what would work.”
                                                                                                                          A personal favorite scene is one during which Stefan drops
                                                                                                                      acid in Colin’s (a video game developer played by Will Poulter)
                                                                                                                      flat. “It’s the core of the film really since Colin rants to Stefan –
                                                                                                                      but also to the audience – about free will and having personal
                                                                                                                      choice at the same time we realize that Stefan has no control
                                                                                                                      over his fate since that is in the audience’s hands. Will Poulter’s
                                                                                                                      performance is very compelling and it was a pleasure to edit.”
                                                                                                                          Aside from requiring a person with coding experience on your
                                                                                                                      team, Kearns says his advice for preparing to edit nonlinear shows
                                                                                                                      is to be “well organized and to have good communication so you
                                                                                                                      can keep control of what’s [happening] on set. Understand that the
                                                                                                                      review process will be a long process and that you have to think in
                                                                                                                      several dimensions. The trick is not to get lost.”

Left: Editor Tony Kearns. Photo courtesy of Tony Kearns; Fionn Whitehead. Photo by Stuart Hendry.                                                    CINEMAEDITOR QTR 3 / 2019 / VOL 69 21
Right top (L-R): Fionn Whitehead, Will Poulter, Asim Chaudhry. Right bottom: Fionn Whitehead. Photos courtesy of Netflix. ©Netflix.
Game of Thrones
Tim Porter, ACE, pours his proud and battle-hardened
soul into episode 3 of the series’ final season

BY ADRIAN PENNINGTON

T
       he final season of HBO’s sword-and-sorcery epic was                 The season’s other editors, and also Thrones stalwarts, are Crispin
       always going to end in tears. If not for some of its char-      Green and Katie Weiland, ACE, with whom Porter shared cuts.
       acters fated to be given the chop, then for the editing team        “Katie, Crispin and I are always incredibly busy on the show,
which has carried the show’s battle-fatigued heroes and villains       so we don’t religiously share our work, or ask each other’s opinions,
over many years.                                                       but I will definitely look to show the episode once it’s fully assembled
    Tim Porter, ACE, is one of those. He joined in season 4 and        and get feedback from them. They know the show and their notes
edited 11 episodes, of which three were nominated for Emmys®           can be invaluable.”
and Eddies.“Thrones has been a huge part of my life for the last           While there have been lengthy battle scenes in the series
seven years, so heading into season 8 definitely felt like the end     before, none matched the scale of “The Long Night,” which is one
of an era,” he says.                                                   continuous sequence from beginning to end.
    He returned to the Belfast shoot for two of the final season           “There wasn’t any build-up within the episode before we
episodes: 803 “The Long Night” and 805 “The Bells,” arriving           get to the battle, as with the other battles I’d cut,” Porter says.
in January 2018 for the edit, although the crew had already been       “Creatively I was most interested in constructing this singular
filming since October 2017 on episodes 1 and 2.                        action sequence, as I’d not had the opportunity to do one over
    “In that week before your episodes begin filming, I’ll set the     such a sustained period, as a standalone film. The sparseness of
cutting room up with the assistant editor, and reread the script,”     dialogue in the episode was also extremely attractive, constructing
Porter explains. “An episode like ‘The Long Night’ will all            the narrative mainly through action is a rare treat.”
have been previs’d. I’ll familiarize myself with that. It’s a great        He enthuses, “Navigating and synthesizing the characters’
shorthand into what’s about to be filmed, as I’ve not been heavily     journeys across the episode was something that really appealed
involved in pre-production.”                                           to me. Rhythmically, it was challenging to decide when to have
    Unlike other seasons he’s worked on, there was no cross shooting   tension, where to have hope, when to feel all is lost.”
of episodes 803 and 805. “The Long Night” was shot from January            With a considerable quota of visual effects for this episode,
to April with delivery of the director’s cut in May. Filming 805       Porter needed to turn over shots very quickly, particularly plates
followed for delivery of the director’s cut in September.              with a dragon in, or shots that needed tracking for motion capture.
    These episodes were directed by Miguel Sapochnik with                  “Miguel and I met every Saturday to watch cuts. We would
whom Porter had collaborated on the show since 2014.                   also make time for VFX, which would have sent a list of shots
    “I was hugely excited by the challenge of doing two large-scale    that they needed us to pick plates for. We turned stuff over to them
action episodes to finish off my time at Game of Thrones,” Porter      from the very first week of filming. For our offline VFX temps we
says. “Teaming back up with Miguel, felt like we were getting the      would get the greenscreen elements pulled from the previs and
band back together. I had Meredith Leece as my assembly editor         use those to temp comps into our cut. Richard [Denbigh] would
[Porter’s assistant on seasons 6 and 7] and Richard Denbigh [who’d     do all the temp VFX in Avid.”
worked with Porter on The Crown] was hired as my assistant. It was         It was also a challenge to track the storylines and characters
great to be reunited with the editorial team headed by producer Greg   in an ensemble sequence such as this. “When you have lots of
Spence, with Alan Freir and Ide O’Rourke.”                             characters with lots of events happening to them in different

22 CINEMAEDITOR QTR 3 / 2019 / VOL 69                                   Above: The cast of Game of Thrones. Photo by Helen Sloan/HBO. ©2019 Home Box Office. All rights reserved.
You can also read