My Name Is Pauli Murray chronicles the life of Pauli Murray, a legal trailblazer overlooked by history, but whose ideas influenced some of the most groundbreaking civil rights and gender equality cases of our time. She was a human rights activist, lawyer, poet, professor and the first Black woman to be ordained an Episcopal priest.

Editor Cinque Northern

The documentary, directed by Betsy West and Julie Cohen, was shot by Claudia Raschke on a Canon C300 Mark II. It was edited by Cinque Northern, who started cutting right at the beginning of post.

We reached out to talk about Northern’s workflow and process…

How did you work with the directors? How often were they taking a look at your cut?
We took it one scene at a time. The directors gave paper cuts to the AE (Hilary Crowe), who roughed out assemblies. I would have a conversation with the directors about what the scene was meant to convey and edit a pass for them to watch and discuss. Sometimes I cut for a week or two before they screened, but as there was more material, we had sessions more often. I always had the post producer to talk with about the story and who often was a liaison between the directors and me between edit sessions.

Was there a particular scene or scenes that were most challenging?
There are very few images of Pauli Murray’s love interest and life partner, who plays a big role in the film. We struggled with how to make viewers care about this relationship. Using archival as POV and Pauli’s audio, I created a “first date” of sorts. I focused on intimate visual and natural details that Pauli might have seen that day.

We also created a music sequence of their letter correspondence that showed the quirky and endearing nicknames they had for each other. There are no images of them together, so I often created a spilt screen so you could see them in the same frame.

Director Julie Cohen

Did you do more than edit on this film?
I was also a writer.

Was the edit done during the pandemic? If so, how did that affect the workflow?
We had been editing on site a year before the pandemic. When the pandemic hit New York, we worked from home. We checked in with daily Zoom calls, and I uploaded passes to Vimeo for notes. Fortunately, we were far enough along in the film to make it work.

What system did you use to cut?
I cut this in Premiere. As of now, it’s the most intuitive for me (but things change).

Is there a tool within that system that you rely on a lot?
I love using markers and colors to navigate through film chapters and grouping material onto one or two timelines. I’m not a fan of diving into endless bins and folders. I customize them to really minimize searching.

Director Betsy West

How did you manage your time?
I focus on having a daily routine so I fall into a rhythm. I try to do the heavy lifting and communication in the morning when I’m fresh. I mostly do the more automated tasks at the end of the day. I take short exercise breaks to get out of my head. (The best ideas seem to come after).

How did you work with the AE on this one? Do you see the role of assistant editors as strictly technical or as collaborators?
I think the role of the AE is different depending on the project and editor. For me the ideal AE allows me to be creative without having to worry about technical barriers. Hilary helped organize material, build assemblies from paper cuts and sometimes roughed out ideas for the director while I worked on higher-priority scenes. She was invaluable. She didn’t give input on edits, per se, but I was always open to her reaction to things.

How do you manage producer’s expectations with reality/what can really be done?
ALWAYS be honest. Ask for the time you need. Communicate in rough passes and edit samples rather than having long discussions about scenes. I’ve always found this to save time.

How do you take criticism? Do you find yourself defensive or accepting of other’s ideas (good and bad)?
I think all reactions, like them or not, represent a portion of the audience that might feel the same way. So it’s all valuable. You have to pick your battles, but a good director is open to different points of view. I try to communicate with tiny sample edits instead of a lot of discussion.  If it’s working, everyone can see it.

When someone who is starting out asks what they should learn, what do you recommend?
If I’m being practical, I’d say Avid Media Composer and Premiere (in that order) are the most common in the industry. But as an artist and a creator, which is ultimately what you want to be hired to be, I say cut in whatever the hell you have the most fun using.

Should a musician play trumpet or sax? Depends on what feels right to that musician. Never forget that you are an artist using a machine. The true value is the work. And if you have fun in the beginning and stick with it long enough, you’ll probably end up learning them all anyway.