By Iain Blair
Danish director Susanne Bier has had her share of success in the industry. She won an Emmy for her work on The Night Manager, and her film In a Better World won an Oscar and a Golden Globe. For her latest project, Bier teamed up with TV legend and Emmy-winning creator of Big Little Lies, David E. Kelley, on HBO’s twisty psychological thriller The Undoing.
Susanne Bier
The six-part series was directed by Bier and created and written for television by Kelley, who also served as showrunner. It stars Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant. Currently streaming on HBO Max, the glossy series follows Grace and Jonathan Fraser, who are living lives of wealthy privilege in New York City. But overnight, a chasm opens in their lives: a violent death and a chain of terrible revelations.
I recently talked with Bier about directing the show, the workflow and challenges. Post producer Nina Khan also contributed to the conversation.
How closely did you work with creator David E. Kelley, who also serves as showrunner?
Susanne Bier: Very closely, and we were very much in agreement in what the story was about and how to tell it. But he wasn’t really on the set that much. I don’t think he’s someone who likes hanging out on sets much as he’s so busy. He passed by a couple of times, but that was it.
You shot in New York? How tough was the wintry shoot?
Bier: Yes, all on location in New York. It was very cold, then it got milder, and then it got very, very hot. It was hard as we didn’t shoot in sequence because of some cast availability and getting locations, so we were jumping around a lot between the different episodes.
We shot the winter scenes in the middle of summer, which was a big challenge as you have to deal with all the trees, and Nicole had to wear a very warm coat in the heat. Also, shooting in New York is not easy.
What was your approach to making this series?
Bier: I went for that sense where you feel everything is unreal and unclear, and you’re not thinking clearly. I wanted to convey all that with the way we shot, the angles we used and the whole way we tell the story. I also wanted to use the city of New York as a character on its own, alongside Nicole and Hugh and the rest of the cast, and show the way the characters live with their money and privilege.
Can you talk about the look you and DP Anthony Dod Mantle went for?
Bier: We shot on the ARRI Alexa and we went for a very dynamic look, with the camera always moving. But we also wanted to embrace the beauty of the city and the beautiful homes. So for a lot of time, we went for a very classical look, but then also broke it up with shots where you feel like you’re spying on the characters and their lives, and to also give that sense of, “who can you trust?” We used quite a lot of Lensbabies, and also macros on top of all the classical lenses.
What was the most difficult scene to film and why?
Bier: It was the big scene between Hugh and Nicole at the end of Episode 2, and we shot it at dusk. I told everyone, “We’ll rehearse it and shoot it all in 30 minutes,” and people begged me, “Don’t do it, there’s not enough time,” and the entire camera crew and Hugh and Nicole were like, Thirty minutes? Really? But we did it, and it was amazing, and I loved the light we got. Sometimes the tension of pushing to do a scene like that gives it a real edge.
Tell us about post. Where was it done?
Nina Khan: The assembly took place in New York City, and editor Ben Lester was in New York for the entire period. The series was edited on Avid Media Composer v2018.9.0 at DNx115 (Mac OS X) with Unity media share. Ben edited all six episodes. He was supported by an assembly editor and editorial team that included first assistant editors Lindsey Woodward and Emily Morrison.
In New York the lab was Sixteen19. Then in July 2019 Ben and Susanne moved to London to Hireworks. The sound editors were at Sound 24, which is based at Pinewood, and the sound mixing was done by Howard Bargroff of Sonorous and his team, and they used the theaters at Goldcrest London. We mixed in Atmos because as Grace’s inner turmoil progressed that lent itself to Atmos.
The VFX houses were Redefine in Quebec, Union VFX in London and Gloss in New York. Joe Hart Green was the VFX editor and Noami Bourgeois was the VFX assistant editor. The DI was done at Goldcrest London with colorist Jet Omoshebi.
Susanne, how did you work together with Ben Lester, and what were the main editing challenges?
Bier: I always start a proper edit while I shoot, so he was cutting as we went. I’d go into editorial a few times a week and again at the weekend, and it really helps me with the shoot.
The big challenge was maintaining that balance of telling the story in an exciting way yet keeping the audience uncertain about who to really trust —it’s so easy in a thriller like this to let slip some information that is going to do something you didn’t anticipate. It’s like a very cautious dance with all the different elements. You can’t lie, but you can seduce the audience into believing different scenarios.
The other big challenge was COVID and the lockdown, so Ben was in London and I was in Copenhagen, and we worked on FaceTime. All that made it a longer edit than usual.
Susanne Bier (right) on set
Do you like the post process?
Bier: I love post and every part of it, but especially editing. Shooting can be very stressful, so it’s so nice to sit down with your editor and start going through all the elements and see the project actually come to life. It’s fun. You get to savor this and understand that, and it’s so interesting.
Can you talk about the importance of music and sound?
Bier: Sound and music can enhance and elevate a scene so much, and I wanted it to reinforce that feeling of a nightmare… of something intangible that you don’t quite understand. Is it real? Or are you just imagining it?
There are quite a few visual effects shot. What did that entail?
Bier: I love VFX and I’m completely fascinated by them, like a child. It’s a bit like working with magic for me — all the possibilities. But I’m also very picky about them and I hate it when you can see them in a movie, so I always push until I feel they’re invisible. We had to do a lot for this — all the season changes and a lot of clean up.
Khan: We had to add snow and remove foliage to make the seasons flow correctly. There was quite a lot of this to do as the episodes were shot out of sequence. For the VFX work, we also had greenscreen comps for 90% of the driving scenes, and there was augmenting prosthetics for the victim’s face, changing the appearance of the Beach House, and numerous TV screen comps.
What about the DI? How important was it?
Bier: The DI was very important in terms of embracing the beauty of the locations and showcasing New York. So we worked closely with the colorist and the DP on the look and palette, and I love the way it turned out.
Finally, it has a great cast. What did Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant bring to their roles?
Bier: Apart from being really skilled actors, they’re both very magnetic and enigmatic, which is really kind of fascinating and also perfect for their roles. And they’re enigmatic in different ways, and they’re sexy and fun and beautiful, and you just want to watch them all the time.
Industry insider Iain Blair has been interviewing the biggest directors in Hollywood and around the world for years. He is a regular contributor to Variety and has written for such outlets as Reuters, The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times and the Boston Globe.
