Tag Archives: Sundance

Sugarcane

Sundance: Sugarcane DP Christopher LaMarca

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The Sundance documentary Sugarcane follows the investigation into abuse and missing children at an Indian residential school, which ignites a reckoning on the nearby Sugarcane Reserve. It was directed by Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie and focuses on the intergenerational legacy of trauma from the residential school system — including forced family separation, physical and sexual abuse, and the destruction of Native culture and language.

Sugarcane

Christopher LaMarca

The film’s director of photography was Christopher LaMarca, who took the time to walk us through his process on the film.

How early did you get involved on this film?
I was involved with Sugarcane from day one of production. The film was shot over the course of two years.

How did you work with directors Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie?
Emily was also a cinematographer on the film, and we shot side by side throughout production. Direction on a verité film is very tough because things are happening in real time. It’s important that the directors’ and the DP’s instincts are aligned visually, tonally and energetically. You need to be able to communicate in high-pressure situations without words. Without this depth of connection, this immersive style of filmmaking falls apart quickly.

Are there some bits that stick out as more challenging than others?
The most difficult thing about shooting verité is maintaining the visual voice of the film while simultaneously running sound and having the stamina to stay present when the world around you is in constant flux. The locations, lighting and characters’ movements are always unpredictable.

Christopher LaMarca

Director/cinematographer Emily Kassie and I worked closely with our colorist Marcy Robinson to dial in the look we had established in-camera during production.

What was it like working with Marcy?
Marcy is amazing. We had established a look during production that she was able to accentuate and strengthen throughout the grade. A lot of our time together was spent finding the depths of our blacks and pushing the digital image toward the feel of film.

Can you talk lighting?
When shooting a verité film, one must embrace the available light of each scene, whether it’s the sun or an overhead fluorescent light. We were often shooting way before sunrise and after sunset, capturing every ounce of blue- and golden-hour light each day. We used artificial light very sparingly and only to accentuate the available light when needed.

Sugarcane

Sugarcane

What did you shoot on and why?
Our A camera was a Canon C500 Mark II. (B camera was a Canon C300 Mark II). We selected the C500 Mark II for its full-frame sensor, low-light performance, modularity and ability to run four channels of audio. We chose not to have a dedicated sound person, so we ran audio in-camera throughout production, which wouldn’t have been possible without this camera. The majority of the film was shot on 35mm f1.4 and 50mm f1.2 Canon L-series prime lenses.

Looking back on the film, would you have done anything different?
Films like this are a rite of passage. We never sacrificed our vision or broke down as a team, even in the most unrelenting moments. I wouldn’t change anything.

Finally, any tips for young cinematographers?
Find your voice by pushing through your perceived comfort boundaries. It is only through your own self exploration and discipline that you will find the skills to embrace the resistance that’s coming your way.

Colorist Chat: Sam Daley Talks Fairyland and Earth Mama 

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Light Iron colorist Sam Daley, who works on both features and episodics, joined the company’s New York facility in 2021. His television credits include the series Life & Beth, Succession and The Sinner, and his feature credits include Scenes From a Marriage, The Florida Project and A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.

Sam Daley

Sam Daley

This year Daley worked on the indie films Fairyland and Earth Mama, both of which were shown at Sundance. The films are set in California’s Bay Area and are period pieces of sorts. Earth Mama takes place in the early 2000s and follows a young, pregnant mother who’s trying to win back custody of her children after they’ve been put in foster care.

Fairyland is a coming-of-age tale about a young girl who moves to San Francisco with her father after her mom passes away. We watch her grow up throughout the 1970s and ’80s and see their relationship evolve while he lives as an openly gay man.

Let’s find out more about his work on these films…

How early did you get involved on these films, and how did that help? 
I started working on Earth Mama, which was written and directed by Savanah Leaf, during preproduction and was involved in all the camera tests. I work with DP Jody Lee Lipes quite often, so he and I have developed a routine for how we start projects. He likes a very specific style of LUT, and I will modify it for whatever camera he’s using. I worked with the Kodak lab that was doing the film processing and dailies to make sure whatever Jody shot looked the way he intended.

Earth Mama

I’ve also worked with Fairyland DP Greta Zozula on a few shorts before, but this was the first feature we’d done together. I was brought in at the beginning of production and had a conversation with the director during the first week to make sure we were on the same page. This film was written and directed by Andrew Durham.

While I’ve worked with both Greta and Jody before, there was something particularly exciting about these films because they’re both feature directorial debuts. Both directors also have personal ties to the films, which makes it that much cooler.

What direction were you given on the film(s)? Did you get a look book? ? 
Savanah and Andrew are both photographers, so that was helpful in understanding what they were envisioning.

For Earth Mama, Savanah took some mood pictures on film early on. She had them processed and scanned and then shared the photos with Jody. The images looked textured and raw, which Jody loved, so that became the model for how we wanted the story to look.

Fairyland

For Fairyland, Andrew provided several photo references, then Greta and I decided how best to translate Andrew’s vision into the color grade.

How do you prefer getting this info on your projects, generally?
I don’t have a preference. However the filmmaker wants to communicate their vision is fine with me. Sometimes I’ll receive photography lookbooks or frame grabs from movies, but there have also been instances when I’ve only received text descriptions.

How do you prefer to work with the DP/director? How often do you show them your work? 
I have a very specific process, but I’m able to adapt it to the client’s needs. I do a continuity pass on the movie before anyone sits in the room with me to make sure all the exposures and color temperatures match. After my continuity pass, I create different looks based on the references and my conversations with the filmmakers. Once this is done, then we’ll sit down together and go through different looks. I get their feedback on what they like best and then make changes based on their notes. Then we’ll go scene by scene and fine-tune before our final watch down.

Sam Daley

Fairyland

Can you give an example of a note you got about the color? 
Andrew Durham was very specific about making sure the tones in Fairyland remained cool. The film takes place in California, which people tend to associate with warm colors, but he was clear that we should avoid “warming up” the shots, whether for nostalgia purposes or for representing the daylight in San Francisco.

What were some challenging scenes? 
In Fairyland, the film starts in 16mm and then transitions to ARRI Alexa footage. We had a lot of conversations on how we were going to transition between the two formats without it feeling like too abrupt of a change. We were challenged with creating a seamless transition from 16mm to Alexa that felt organic and signaled a time jump in the film, but not necessarily a format change.

What system did you use, and is there a tool in the system you found yourself using a lot? 
I used DaVinci Resolve 17. My “secret weapon” is a dehaze feature that removes haze from scenes where there’s too much fog or the lens is getting flared. I’ve found a way to incorporate it into my grade using a subtle amount to make images pop.

A Common Sequence

Sundance: The DYI Workflow on A Common Sequence

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Mike Gibisser and Mary Helena Clark wore many different hats on the Sundance film A Common Sequence, including those of director, director of photography and editor.

Screened at Sundance, A Common Sequence explores tradition, colonialism, property, faith and science, seen through labor practices that connect an endangered salamander, mass-produced apples, and the evolving fields of genomics and machine learning. Clark and Gibisser take viewers to the areas and people involved in these physical and political worlds with an intuitive visual style, letting the audience experience each location’s atmosphere as it really is.

A Common Sequence

Mike Gibisser

“This film was very DIY,” says Gibiss. “Mary Helena and I were a two-person crew throughout. We even did our own color grade.” The pair called on Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve for the post.

Let’s find our more from Gibisser…

Can you talk about your process for planning shots?
In the field, we would start with brief location scouts and then have a conversation about what we wanted to shoot in the scene and how it connected to the rest of the film. We’d then determine specific images and framing that were necessary to capture. The process had to be very open, intuitive and responsive to whatever was going on in front of the lens at any given moment. Those check-ins or brief strategy sessions allowed us to structure that necessary improvisation around a few necessary shots.

What did you end up shooting on and why?
We both have a history with film, so we considered shooting on Super 16. But we didn’t know what to expect in terms of shooting conditions, and the shooting itself was exploratory —we found the narrative arc as we were shooting. So we decided it was safer to shoot digitally.

A Common Sequence

Mary Helena Clark

In choosing gear, we knew we needed to be pretty nimble. We needed compact equipment that we could easily carry, and we were shooting in a huge range of conditions where we couldn’t control the light, so we needed a production camera with a lot of versatility and internal ND. I had access to a fleet of Blackmagic 4.6K Ursa and 6K Pro cameras through the university where I teach (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee), so we decided to use those — particularly the 4.6K, whose form factor allowed for a lot of spontaneous control.

Can you talk lighting?
The decision to shoot digitally was lucky because one of the first scenes we shot, which opens the film, was a night fishing expedition that was lit only with the headlamps used by the three fishermen. Everything in the film was shot under existing lighting conditions, so we weren’t lighting spaces, but we were often framing for light — streaming through a window as texture in the background or making sure to frame windows or fixtures to create hot spots in the frame while letting the foreground fall slightly into shadow. Mary Helena responds to flatter images, and my tendency is toward contrast, so we tried to create a dynamic interplay between the two throughout the film.

Are there some scenes that stick out as challenging? Can you talk about those?
Except for a couple of scenes, the film doesn’t overtly recall a verité aesthetic; we were shooting each location basically as we found it. And several scenes in the film revolve around the labor of science, which oftentimes occurs in spaces that are necessarily antiseptic. So one big challenge was to figure out how to shoot generally flat or plain spaces in a visually dynamic manner without over-aestheticizing them in a way that was unproductive for the film as a whole.

One strategy we used was to employ unconventional coverage of spaces and the actions within them. Both Mary Helena and I come from experimental backgrounds, so it wasn’t a predetermined or even conscious decision. But several spaces in the film reveal themselves slowly. We often start with close-ups or fragmented views, and only over time do you get a sense of the overall geography of the space and how people, or robots, move around and work.

Bad Behaviour

Images & Sound Provides Post for Bad Behaviour’s Sundance Debut

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Auckland, New Zealand-based post house Images & Sound handled all post production for director Alice Englert’s debut feature, Bad Behaviour, working against a tight deadline to deliver in time for a Sundance premiere in January. Image & Sound co-owners Steve Finnigan and Grant Baker worked directly on the movie, helping with its tone, vision, sound and thematic elements.

The studio’s responsibilities included a color grade, sound mixing and design, ADR, Foley, VFX, dialogue editing and deliverables. Finnigan was supervising sound editor and oversaw post along with Paul Smith, Images & Sound’s post supervisor. Most staff were involved in the film at some point.

Bad Behaviour is a dark comedy about Lucy (Jennifer Connelly), a former child actress who seeks enlightenment at a retreat led by spiritual leader Elon (Ben Whishaw) while also navigating the close yet turbulent relationship with her stunt-performer daughter, Dylan (Englert).

“The fresh eyes and ears at Images & Sound were a joy,” says director Englert. “The process was focused, fun and creative despite the extreme pressures of finishing the film in time for the Sundance 2023 Film Festival, which we could not have managed without the drive and support of the amazing post production team.”

Paramount to the overall look and feel of the film was its color grade, as the entire film was shot in New Zealand but narratively had to play as two locations — New Zealand and Oregon. Images & Sound colorist Alana Cotton established a distinct look (using FilmLight Baselight 4K HDR) for both locations from a technical and an emotional perspective.

“New Zealand rural-green is a pretty vibrant green, so for the move to Oregon, we referenced some autumnal-toned landscapes of the area and worked to complicate the greens by twisting in a range of earthy tones,” Cotton says.

The New Zealand exterior locations were primarily “film sets” because Dylan is a stunt performer. The post house wanted to heighten the fantasy look of the film set by creating deep, saturated blues in the mountains and strong, luscious greens set against the rich reds and blues of the wardrobe/props. That saturated, fantasy feel helped accentuate the romance of the place, which slowly loses its glint over the progression of the film.

The parts set in Oregon are mainly interiors at a ranch-like spiritual retreat. At first Images & Sound played up a yolky tone that worked well with the metaphor. But as they moved through the film, the artists leaned back in to a lemony yellow against a baby blue, providing a slightly more naive color palette.

To further distinguish the two worlds, the Images & Sound sound department enhanced the exact locations with ADR clues and incorporated layers of bird and animal sounds specific to each geographic region.

Like any film, Bad Behaviour evolved greatly during the post process. While Englert and editor Simon Price were making changes to the cut in preparation for locking the film, Images & Sound was still working on the grade, the sound design and incorporating international and local actor ADR into the picture.

“Modern post production workflows mean we are well used to starting projects before they are fully locked, but with Bad Behaviour, it had to be an iterative exercise to create a finished film for Sundance,” Finnigan says. “It was crucial to be able to start our processes very early. We felt confident that we could achieve this with such collaborative partners in producer Desray Armstrong, producer Molly Hallam and Alice Englert. We were all speaking the same language, which was crucial to being able to make serious decisions during the ‘prelock’ phase, as we knew there was no time to change direction after the lock.”

After locking, additional sound and shots were incorporated, and then all the work Images & Sound had performed was reconformed to the final cut. The team made final passes in the days leading up to Christmas.

The team Autodesk Flame for VFX, Avid Pro Tools for sound design, and Avid’s Pro S6 console for the sound mix.

 

Ryan Kendrick

Sundance: Editor Ryan Kendrick on Sometimes I Think About Dying

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Nashville-based editor Ryan Kendrick cut the Sundance film Sometimes I Think About Dying, directed by Rachel Lambert. The film follows Fran (played by Daisy Ridley), who while living in Oregon spends her days in the solitude of a cubicle, listening to the hum of officemates, occasionally daydreaming to pass the time. She “lives an isolated life among her peers and much like the title suggests, often thinks about dying,” explains Kendrick. “She begins to come out of her shell when she befriends a new co-worker named Robert.”

Let’s find out more about Kendrick’s workflow and collaborating with the director…

How early did you get involved?
Rachel and I were in color and mix on another film, I Can Feel You Walking, when a script was sent to her to gauge her interest. We were excited about our collaboration on I Can Feel You Walking and wanted to work together on another one as soon as possible. We both loved the script and the themes it was exploring, so we both said yes.

Director Rachel Lambert

How did you work with the Rachel? How often was she taking a look at your cut?
We were fortunate enough to work in-person. I had about three weeks of building an assembly of the film while they were filming. Once shooting was wrapped, she was in the edit room with me for about eight weeks. There were very few days that she wasn’t seeing some version of the film, whether it was individual scenes, whole sections or full watch-downs.

The holidays rolled around, and we needed to keep working while she traveled home to be with her family. I have Blackmagic Web Presenter, which I use to turn my Adobe Premiere output into a webcam stream. So we worked on the film over Zoom for a month before we were able to get back together in-person.

Was there a particular scene that was most challenging?
The opening sequence of the film was the most challenging piece to nail down. It was important for us to establish the pace, a sense of place and a tone that the rest of the film was going to convey. That’s a lot of pressure to lay on one sequence. As the film took shape over the course of the edit, the opening sequence was in constant flux. We must’ve worked on it at least once a week.

Once the rest of the film was locked, this was the final piece of the puzzle that we needed to really finish. Rachel had to leave town for work, so I was left to my own devices for a couple days to try different versions. I’d reach a sequence I liked and then upload it to Frame.io for Rachel to watch down and contemplate. Then she would call me, and we’d talk through it.

This went on for a couple days until we finally got lost in no man’s land, taking the whole thing apart and putting it back together. We realized we were way off path and went back to an earlier version that we loved. I laid it into the timeline and sent it over Frame.io, and she watched it on her phone. She then called me up and said, “We got it.”

Can you talk about your editing workflow?
The film was shot on the coast of Oregon, so we were in a bit of an internet black hole — not ideal for the transference of footage but excellent for the actual footage. At first, we had planned to do proxy conversions on-set and then have someone drive into town to upload them. This ended up being extremely inefficient. The solution for this was to mail hard drives to the DI colorist in New Orleans every two or three days. He would create proxies and upload them to Frame.io for me to download, and he would also create dailies for viewing on Frame.io that were accessible to the producers, director and DP.

After I downloaded the proxies, I would import them into Adobe Premiere Pro and get to work. I was working alone on this, but I set up the film using Adobe Productions. I wanted to run it through the full paces of editing a feature film. I was able to build my sound effects as its own project; I could open it, search for sounds and lay it into my timeline. I was able to close back out without having to put a strain on my computer or mess up my project window with random files. It was also great for creating a music library from the composer and having separate temp VFX projects.

Ryan Kendrick

Editor Ryan Kendrick

While editing, we were sharing scenes with the composer through Frame.io and he would send us his pieces back through the same pipeline. Our post supervisor was the admin for the account, so he was able to keep track of everything we were doing without having to constantly update him over email.

Once we locked picture, it was time to make turnovers. I sent all my EDLs, XMLs and reference QuickTimes over Frame.io. I also used it for conveying notes to the VFX artists by typing instructions at specific timecodes on the frame link to alleviate any communication breakdowns that usually happen through email.

Do you always cut on Premiere?
I use Premiere Pro for all the editing I do, whether it’s for commercials, music videos or films. The familiarity of the software is incredibly valuable for me to be creative without having to think about where to find certain commands inside menus or losing half of a day to technical troubles.

It also interfaces well with After Effects. I like to temp in VFX while I’m working on a scene because I think it helps with figuring out timing, and it brings a necessary level of immersive-ness you want the director to feel when they are watching the cut.

How do you manage producers’ expectations with reality/what can really be done?
Honesty. If they’ve watched dailies or been on-set, then nothing is going to come as a surprise to them. We all want to make the best thing we possibly can, and I think being in the trenches of honesty together really opens up the door to finding solutions to the problems that arise.

How do you take criticism? Do you find yourself defensive or accepting of others’ ideas?
Always try it, whatever the note might be. There is a gut instinct in all of us to reject an outsider’s perspective — and by outsider, I mean all the people outside of our own heads. It’s a cerebral job, and it feels like we are balancing a lot of different plates to keep the piece from falling apart. But I’ve found that to be something of our own doing. Sometimes someone can see something that turns the film from a balancing act into a steady structure, and you need to be open to those ideas. It takes a certain humility to be able to recognize that other people can have good or even great ideas.

And an excellent byproduct of being open and accepting of other peoples’ good ideas is they will also be open and accepting of your opinions.

Any suggestions for those just starting out?
If you’re ever afforded an opportunity to just work on a singular scene, then really dig into the technical minutiae of it. Play with J-cuts and L-cuts. Try the scene with dialogue always off-camera. Lay different genres of music underneath to see how it plays. Do the wrong thing. Just explore the tactile aspects of working the footage. You want to build a mental Rolodex of these small bits, whether right or wrong, because they create great instincts for accomplishing the bigger picture of a full edit.

Also, two frame audio crossfades. Use them. We can tell when you don’t.

 

 

 

Aliens

Sundance: Directing Aliens Abducted My Parents… Feel Left Out        

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The Sundance film Aliens Abducted My Parents and Now I Feel Kinda Left Out follows Itsy Levan, who is devastated by her parents’ decision to leave the city and buy a fixer-upper in the middle of nowhere. Her life seems over until she meets her space-obsessed neighbor Calvin Kipler, who believes that his parents were abducted by aliens 10 years ago on the night Jesper’s comet was seen. Itsy sees this as her chance to get into a New York City journalism program by writing an exposé on Calvin, but she ends up discovering much more than what’s on the other end of the comet’s tail.

Aliens

Jake Van Wagoner

The cast includes Will Forte, Emma Tremblay, Elizabeth Mitchell and Jacob Buster.

The film was produced and directed by Jake Van Wagoner, who was first pitched the film’s title from screenwriter Austin Everett. “I loved it immediately,” he says. “I remember telling him that I didn’t need to hear any more and to start writing it. We were lucky enough to have funding right away, and as he was writing, I was already putting the production plan together so that as soon as the script was done, we were able to move into production.”

We spoke to Van Wagoner about working with the film’s editor, Whitney Houser, and his process on this film, which was shot by cinematographer Jeremy Prusso on an ARRI Alexa Mini LF.

How often were you looking at the editor’s cut?
Editor Whitney Houser sent me an assembly, and from then on, I was reviewing cuts. She would send a cut, I would watch and make notes, and then we’d start going through the film together.

What was it edited on?
We used Adobe Premiere Pro. It’s just such an intuitive system, and our post house only runs on Premiere, so it was kind of a no-brainer.

Where did you do the post?
We were split between Utah and LA. Our editor was in LA but our finishing team and director (me) were in Utah. 

Was there a particular scene that was most challenging in the edit?
The last scene of the movie. It was critical to get the pacing right. There’s so much going on in that scene — it was 7-degrees outside, we had kids, a lot of pages, special effects, cranes, and we were trying not to go into overtime. It was only possible because the crew literally jumped from shot to shot with minimal set-up time and Jeremy (our DP) lit the scene to be shot from almost any angel with minimal adjustments. It took a while to get it dialed in, but we ended up really nailing it. I’m very proud of what we ended up with.
Aliens

How did you manage your time in relation to the edit?
Being the producer on the film as well, I knew what deadlines we needed to hit and was able to keep the cuts on schedule.

How do you manage your expectations with what can really be done?
I have very high expectations, but luckily, I’m also very realistic. So when it came to what could be done and what I wanted to be done, I feel like I was pretty aligned with the editor. We knew what movie we wanted to make and what movie we could make, and luckily the two lined up pretty well. Whitney was really good at working until it was perfect. It’s really nice to work with a perfectionist as an editor.

How do you take feedback in the editor suite?
I enjoy the collaboration between the editor, myself and the other creatives. I try to not be defensive. In the end, everyone is trying to make the movie better, and I will always let the best idea win.

When someone who is starting out as an editor asks what they should learn, what do you recommend?
Pacing. Pacing is the biggest thing to me. If you can learn to pace out a scene, hitting the comedy, the heart and the emotion, you’ll never stop working.

Sundance: Editor Patrick Lawrence on Film Short Mirror Party

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Patrick Lawrence edited the Sundance short film Mirror Party for director Bridey Elliott. It is the seventh film that he has edited that has had its premiere at Sundance since 2016.

Mirror Party is the story of two best friends who experiment with reenacting a scenario in which one of them has a “come to Jesus” talk with the man she is dating, only to have it spiral into a gender-bending fever dream.

Editor Patrick Lawrence

We reached out to Lawrence to talk workflow…

How early did you get involved on Mirror Party?
Almost immediately. Bridey and I have worked on five films together, and our relationship in the edit room has become very simpatico. We have a shorthand together that has proven successful time and time again over the course of these five films. When she asks me to “do something weird,” I know exactly what she is looking for… even if it’s not inherently in the footage.

How did you work with Bridey? How often was she taking a look at your cut?
Bridey really gives me room to explore in the edit. She trusts my instincts and lets me get into the weeds a bit while constructing my first cut. I like to approach that initial edit how I see the film working best, even though I know it’s not necessarily what the director wants.

After I’ve thrown everything at the wall, I like to get in the room with a director and start sculpting my work into something more akin to what they are looking for. And that convergence of ideas is what I love about collaboration in filmmaking. No one film exists in a vacuum, so I’m not the type of editor that likes to be a “button-pusher.” If you hire me, it’s hopefully because you like something that I’ve done in the past, and it’s that knowledge and experience that I want to bring to the table while working on your project. I want to work with you to make the best film possible.

Director Bridey Elliott

Was there a particular scene or scenes that were most challenging?
I would say the climax of the film proved to be very challenging, as the two women’s experiment becomes very sexual in nature and blurs the lines of what is reality and what is fantasy. I had to edit the scene in a way that was frenetic and confusing while still maintaining a sense of grounding for the audience… something that I have done a lot while working with Bridey.

Did you do more than edit on this film?
Typically, I wear a lot of hats on films that I edit, including credits titles, sound design or even producing. But on Mirror Party, I stuck strictly to the edit.

What system did you use to cut and why?
For Mirror Party I used Premiere Pro and the Adobe Creative Cloud, which I have also used on all seven of the films that I have had premiere at Sundance.

I have been using Premiere Pro and the Adobe Creative Cloud for the majority of my career now. I like to consider it as an extension of my hands or a muscle that I can flex. I know my way in and out of the program so well after all these years that using it has just become second nature to me. The toughest and yet most exciting part is when new features are introduced, and you have to take the time to learn them and adopt them into your workflow.

Is there a tool within that system that you use a lot or especially like?
My favorite newest feature in Premiere is Speech to Text, which I think has the ability to really break new grounds and streamline your edit, not only in documentary formats, but also narrative. I have been using it most recently as a tool in script-based editing, something that is gravely missing from Premiere.

How do you manage producers’ expectations with reality/what can really be done?
I think it’s best to keep up communication with your producers while working on a project and make sure that all expectations are managed either ahead of time or while the edit is occurring and new/unexpected problems arise. Producers should be your best friends, not your worst enemies.

How do you take criticism? Do you find yourself defensive or accepting of others’ ideas (good and bad)?
I think it’s a natural defense mechanism to be very protective of your art, and for the first few years of my career, I think I was very difficult to work with because of my steadfast nature to stand by my edits. But with time and experience, I have learned that the best idea wins, and that is only possible if you explore all the options. Even if you instinctively think that an idea won’t work, you might be surprised with the results.

When someone who is starting out asks what do you recommend?
I speak to college students each semester who are looking to make a career in film, and I always express the importance of learning all nonlinear editing programs, from Premiere to Media Composer to Final Cut. When you are putting yourself out there for work, you never know what the needs of a project will be, so it is best to be well-versed in all programs, including After Effects and DaVinci Resolve.

I also stress the need to learn the art of collaboration. No one film exists in a vacuum, and no one sets out to make a bad film. So you have to learn to listen to the people that you surround yourself with and respect their experience while also staying true to your own ideas. Somewhere in between is a great film; you just have to chip away at the marble until you reveal the sculpture underneath.

Sundance: DP Derek Howard on Shooting Plan C Doc

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The Sundance documentary Plan C, directed by Tracy Droz Tragos, follows Francine Coeytaux and the team who established Plan C — a grassroots organization dedicated to expanding access to medication abortion.

DP Derek Howard

Droz Tragos follows the group as they look for ways to distribute abortion pills while following the letter of the law. Unmarked vans serving as mobile clinics distribute medication to those who cannot get help in their own states.

The doc was shot by DP Derek Howard and edited by Meredith Perry (who will be talking to us about her role in the film in the near future). We reached out to Howard, who got involved in Plan C near the start of production. “I believe there had been just a few research shoots completed before we really got the camera package organized and started getting out there filming,” he says.

Let’s find out more…

How did you work with the Tracy Droz Tragos? What direction were you given?
This was the second project I worked on with Tracy, so we had a little bit of experience working in the field together. Tracy owned the camera package we were using — Canon C500 Mark II with Cooke Panchro primes — so she has a good understanding of the technical side of things. We would agree on a few focal lengths we were going to favor and omit medium shots for the most part. I would have a lot of freedom in terms of composition and lighting, and we would often check in with each other about swapping primes at appropriate breaks. After a few shoots it became pretty intuitive as to when it would make sense to change lenses and go closer or widen out.

Once we got into a good groove, we didn’t have to communicate about these choices so much, and it just started to flow as the style was established. We were lucky to have an incredible editing team (Meredith Perry and Beth Kearsley, who cut on Adobe Premiere). They were putting together sequences throughout shooting so I could review what was making the cut and focus in on the style more precisely.

What about working with the colorist? What are some notes that you exchanged? Who was the colorist?
We graded Plan C using Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve with Brian Hutchings in several remote sessions over Zoom and using Frame io. We would do a quick pass of the entire film, establishing looks at the beginning of each scene, and then skip ahead to the next one so he could work independently once we’d set some parameters.

DP Derek Howard

Then after some days, we’d have another pass, make more detailed adjustments and just build things from there. A lot of the notes were to do with highlight control, color temperature shifts and depth enhancements. We wanted our heroes to have a warm and inviting aura and to lean in to certain seasonal shifts. Often, we’d want to create a feeling of more depth by darkening certain foreground or background areas and helping to direct the viewer’s eye. We would often key specific colors and have them pop in saturation to emphasize certain details, like someone’s nail art or the color of their eyes.

As you said before, you shot on the Canon camera? 
Yes. We shot Plan C on the Canon C500 Mark II with Cooke Panchro/i Classic primes in Super 35mm crop sensor mode. This camera is an ideal choice because it is small and lightweight, can record continuously for long periods of time with minimal battery consumption, and has internal Rawlite. The Cooke Panchro primes are a fantastic pairing with this camera, as they are compact, fast and have a nice softening translation of the image that cuts the digital sharpness and has very pleasing flares and bokeh.

DP Derek Howard

Can you talk lighting?
I took advantage of available lighting as much as possible, positioning subjects close to windows or away from direct light sources. Overhead lighting fixtures would be turned off, and sometimes we would use practical lamps for a little lift in the ambient levels. On very few occasions, I would use some 750-watt tungsten lamps shot through diffusion to key an interview and sometimes some bounce or white cloth to lift faces.

Are there some scenes that stick out as challenging?
The biggest challenge while shooting Plan C was to find creative solutions for filming subjects who needed to remain anonymous. We would return to some of the subjects several times throughout the film, and they needed to have their identities protected, so I had to explore how to film an interview with them and capture their presence and vibe without showing any full faces.

We used long lenses, like a 75mm or 100mm, to film abstract details such as hands, feet, the edge of a face or a silhouette by a window. Over the course of a long interview, it gets difficult to find new angles and compositions, so searching for fresh ways to convey a subject’s presence without actually seeing them clearly was a big obstacle. We were able to overcome that mostly through experimentation and abstraction made possible in large part thanks to the prime lenses we were lucky to have available to us.

DP Derek Howard

Looking back on the film, would you have done anything different?
Of course. With every project, when you watch it, you can’t help but critique your own work and think about different things you would have done. So much time passes from production to premiere that by the time you are watching the final film, you always feel like you have evolved in your style or learned things that you would have applied to the shoot.

With Plan C, I would have liked to have a few portable, battery-powered fixtures, like an Astera tube or an MC Lite to quickly add little accents to a scene. Having compact, battery-powered lights than can produce any color you might need are super-handy and flexible if you need to adjust a scene super-quickly. Often in verité situations, there is no time for lighting, but having these types of fixtures allows for very fast enhancements that can help elevate a scene a lot.

Any tips for young cinematographers?
Pay attention to the content of a scene as closely as possible. Once you are feeling the moment and are as present as possible, you will intuitively operate the camera differently than if you are just focusing on all the technical factors. React to the emotions in each scene; allow your humanness to be a part of your handling.

Be as prepared and researched as possible before shooting, but during filming, turn that part of your brain off and work from the gut. All the prep is still inside you, but I find the best moments come when you put that in the background and let your intuition take the lead. Remember to look away from your monitor or eyepiece from time to time and look around the scene for other details or things that are happening out of frame that might be valuable to incorporate.

 

Shirampari

Sundance: DP Diego Pérez Romero on Shirampari Amazon Doc

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DP Diego Pérez Romero is a documentary filmmaker and environmentalist from Peru. He has over 10 years of experience working with organizations dedicated to the conservation of the Amazon rainforest and its cultures. Thanks to his work as a videographer, photographer and filmmaker, he has helped to shine a light on the natural and cultural wealth of Peru.

Shirampari

DP Diego Pérez Romero

Shirampari: Legacies of the River was part of the official selection at Sundance 2023 in the Documentary Short Film Program. Written and directed by Lucia Flórez, the film takes place in one of the most remote areas in the Peruvian Amazon, where an Ashéninka boy must overcome his fears and catch a giant catfish using only a hook to begin his adult journey.

We reached out to Pérez Romero to talk about his process…

How early did you get involved on this film?
Very early. I actually started the project with director Lucia Flórez. In 2020, Nat Geo announced a grant for stories in tropical forests around the world. Also in those weeks, Lucia returned to Peru after finishing her master’s degree in documentary film, so I proposed that she apply for the grant with something related to the Yurúa District and the hook fishing thing I knew they were doing over there. Happily, she accepted. We did a lot of research and shaped it into a short documentary. In February 2021 we found out that we won the grant, and the rest is history.

Lucia Flórez

How did you work with Lucia? What direction were you given?
We discussed the style early on. She wanted to make it verité and indie. That was the outline for the style. We shared different documentaries and films we liked, talked about them. Then I worked on a plan for how we were going to achieve a cohesive look and how the cinematography was going to favor the narrative and the story we wanted to tell.

Before shooting, the main direction Lucia gave me was to make sentences with the camera instead of words. On the field, before any scene was shot, we would have a little talk about what was important to highlight, then during the shots, we would look at each other, she would make small signs or gestures to me to adjust and go from point A to point B, or go closer, move around, stuff like that.

ShirampariWhat about working with the colorist? What was the goal of the color?
The colorist was César Pérez, and in post, we all agreed that we wanted a natural look — no teal and orange Hollywood kind of thing, leaving shadows to be shadows. Basically, it was more of a color correction to match both cameras, give it a little punch but not too much, and that was it.

What did you end up shooting on and why?  
Canon C70 and Canon EF lenses, 16 to 35 f4IS, 24-70 2.8 ii and 100-400 L (which were already mine from my work as a photographer). Also, Canon R6 for one underwater scene, when we knew we were going to shoot with two cameras for coverage — this is when Ricky catches the fish.

Shirampari

DP Diego Pérez Romero shooting with the Canon cine camera

Why these cameras? The budget wasn’t huge, there was no option for renting cine lenses, and also weather sealed-equipment was a must shooting 15 days in the Amazon, mostly outside and having no backup lenses.

I had seen the release of the C70 a few months before the shoot and did some research. The form factor was interesting, and the dual-gain output sensor was like the C300 but half the price; it was a no-brainer.

This was also my first time working with a cine camera, and there was a learning curve for sure.

Can you talk about the lighting?
We used mostly natural light. About 95% of the shots were lit by the sun, with no modifiers. We trusted the sensor capability to handle the dynamic range and framing to have a nice, balanced image. There are two shots where we used a reflector to push sunlight in and one where we used a very small LED panel with a CTB gel on a night scene, but that was it.

There wasn’t much space to modify the light, as we didn’t want to be a distraction to the protagonists. When you start building things, you get in the way.

Are there some scenes that stick out as challenging? Can you talk about those?
Before shooting started, I thought the main challenge I was going to find was that being so close to the characters (at 24mm) could have intimidated them to the point that it would affect their performance. In the end, this did not happen.

The hardest scene was the follow shot, when Arlindo carries the catfish to the community, because it was a challenge for them and me. In addition to the accumulated fatigue of several days of physical shooting — and in somewhat extreme conditions due to the heat, the mosquitoes, the absence of toilets, etc. — they carried a fish weighing almost 100 kilos, and I carried the camera. While the camera doesn’t weigh even a third of that, it was still super-difficult to maintain the frame and focus while climbing that cliff without having a crazy-shaky shot. We all ended up exhausted.

One thing to mention here is that there were no repetitions. Everything was shot once and that was it.

Looking back on the film, would you have done anything different?
I would have gotten a different cage for the camera.

Any tips for young cinematographers?
I am no expert here. This was my first gig as DP on a cine project. But for me, if there is something I can share from my little experience, it’s this: Passion is key, being obsessed, dreaming about what you will do, getting scared of failing, having nightmares, but not letting this turn you down.

Also you need to be genuinely interested in your characters. If you will be following somebody with a huge camera all day long, there has to be some fire inside of you.

Sundance: DP Martina Radwan on Documentary Food and Country

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DP Martina Radwan is a German-born, New York City-based director of photography who specializes in documentaries. Her extensive credit list includes the docs Inventing Tomorrow, The Final Year, The Promised Band, Through a Lens Darkly and Saving Face. Her narrative works ranges from the Bahamian feature Rain to the thriller Under Construction to the horror film Train.

Martina Radwan

Recently she shot the Laura Gabbert-directed, Ruth Reichl–produced Food and Country, which premiered at Sundance. The film shines a light on America’s broken food system and features interviews with farmers, ranchers and chefs.

She joined the production in 2021, taking over from the original DP, Jerry Henry, when he had a scheduling conflict. We reached out to Radwan to find out more about her work on this film.

How did you work with Laura Gabbert? What direction were you given?
Laura and I discussed each shot extensively before and during the shoot. During the shoot I had more autonomy since we shot a lot verité.

Martina Radwan

Martina Radwan on-location

What did you end up shooting on and why?  
We used the Canon C300 Mark II and the Canon C500 Mark II with Canon Cine Prime and Canon EF lenses, particularly Canon EF 17-55. I own the package, but I also felt that Canon was the right choice for this project — I really like how Canon renders contrast and color, and the camera’s latitude helped when shooting the exteriors.

What about the lighting?
We agreed to use available lighting only, except for interviews.

Are there some scenes that stick out as challenging? Can you talk about those?
We had several challenges. Due to the pandemic and the topic, we had to shoot outside a lot. With that, we had very little control, and the schedule didn’t allow us to shoot only at the beginning and end of day. We tried to schedule our midday shoots in a way that would avoid shooting in direct sunlight.

While shooting on-location, they only used natural light.

Large, commercial kitchens were also challenging. Kitchens are rarely visually pleasant since they are dominated by flat overhead light and tons of plastic tubs and containers. The challenge is to make it look clean and appealing. You want the audience to get hungry while watching these wonderful meals being prepared.

Looking back on the film, would you have done anything different?
Honestly, I am not sure. I am happy with how things worked out.

Any tips for young cinematographers?
Don’t be afraid to experiment. It’s hard to do that on the job, but if it works for the story, most directors will embrace it.

Yang-Hua Hu

Sundance: Editing The Accidental Getaway Driver

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Editor Yang-Hua Hu is no stranger to cutting films that premiere at Sundance. In fact, we interviewed him about his work on the film Mass back in 2021.

This year Hu cut The Accidental Getaway Driver, which is part of Sundance’s US Dramatic Competition. The film tells the story of Long Mã, a Vietnamese ride-share driver in Southern California who answers a late-night call for a ride. Already in his pajamas, he reluctantly accepts, picking up a man, Tây, and his two companions, who turn out to be escaped convicts from an Orange County jail.

Director Sing J. Lee and editor Yang-Hua Hu answer questions after a screening during Sundance. Credit: Patrick Censoplano

They take Long hostage at gunpoint, thrusting him into their getaway plan. When complications arise, the fugitives and their hostage hole up at a motel, and a tense waiting game unfolds. Inspired by a true story, this is not just a crime film, but a portrait of this lonely old man and his relationship with Tây.”

We reached out once more to the Taiwanese-born Hu to talk about editing and his workflow on the film, which was co-written and directed by Sing J. Lee

How early did you get involved in The Accidental Getaway Driver?
Producer Andy Sorgie and director Sing J. Lee both loved Mass, a film I cut that premiered at Sundance 2021. They reached out to my agent in late March 2021 and sent me the pitch and treatment documents and we set up a call.

Sing and I grew up on Hong Kong New Wave and Taiwanese New Cinema, and we were in love with that type of film language. He told me The Accidental Getaway Driver would head in that direction, and I understood exactly what he wanted. After sharing what I could bring to the cutting room, we knew immediately we wanted to work together.

Yang-Hua Hu

In June 2021, they sent me the first draft of the script and I was moved by the “father-and-son story.” I told them I could totally relate to Long Mã, who was an immigrant and who had experienced cultural differences and a language barrier in the United States. At the same time, I also grew up in a place where people couldn’t express themselves much or didn’t know how to say “love,” which are personality traits our characters have. Soon after, I was invited to give them script notes, and they adopted my thoughts into the script. I was honored that I could contribute my creativity to this film based on my background and experiences.

How did you work with the Sing? Were you keeping up with camera? How often was he looking at your cut?
During the production, I was a day behind the shoot. I tried to edit rough scenes after I got the dailies and sent my notes back to Sing. He could see if we were missing anything or if we needed to do some pickups. That’s the benefit of having an editor during production.

Due to our schedule, I had no time to shape my editor’s cut. Two days after the production wrapped, I had a three-hour not-so-polished film to work on with Sing. Based on that version, we could see all the potential of how we could shape this film in the direction we wanted.

Sing J. Lee – Credit: Andy Kennedy-Derkay

Meanwhile, Sing wanted to find the film without outside noise, so he worked with me at my home office. We worked closely for about 14 weeks; he is an excellent collaborator, and he made sure my voice was being heard. I would present him with the options and play devil’s advocate. Since we knew what type of film we were making, we worked seamlessly. A lot of the time, we didn’t even need to finish our sentences; we already knew what we wanted to change for this cut. We’re always in tune with each other.

Was there a particular scene or scenes that were most challenging?
The most challenging scenes are three long conversations between Long Mã and Tây. First, I don’t speak Vietnamese, so if actors skipped the lines, it would take time to trace where they were in the script. I also wanted to make sure I didn’t cut out their words. I know in Asian languages, the sound and tone will define the meaning of the sentence. Because there were many takes, it required a lot of work between our assistant editor, Julian Claborn, and the associate producer, Linh Nguyễn, who is a native Vietnamese speaker. Every time I recut the scene, I would send it over to them to double-check if the scene made sense.

In addition, we were trying to remove lines, rewrite the scene direction and make the conversations more intriguing with limited angles and takes. I had to keep finding the right pieces to maintain the rhythm I wanted, which was challenging.

When we were at Formosa Group watching the playback in the mixing session, Sing and I looked at each other and said, “Do you remember how hard it was to shape these scenes to where we are now?” We were so happy we did it with a group effort.

Can you talk about your editing workflow? What system did you use to cut and why?
Imperial Creative was our post house. They handled and prepared the offline dailies for us. Since we were cutting from my home office, we remoted to the computers at Imperial Creative via Jump.

Editor Yang-Hua Hu and his edit setup. Credit: Bruce Chiu

We used Avid Media Composer for the edit. Since all the offline media lived in the post house, Julian, the assistant editor and I could all share the project and toss the cut back and forth without any hiccups.

I didn’t use ScriptSync much, even though I knew it was a very helpful tool. I found that it took a lot of the assistant’s time to work with ScriptSync. I’d rather ask Julian to spend the time working on sound and music to help bring the cut to life. When the assistant is able to spend time putting their creativity into the film, it helps elevate the work.

Had you and Julian worked together before?
This was our second feature together. He is a big supporter and a wonderful person to work with. Not only did he do an amazing job on AE duties, but he checked if the Vietnamese scenes made sense every time I did a recut. He was always there when we needed him, and he carried the film all the way to the finish line. He was the greatest team player I could ask for. We were fortunate to have him on our post team.

How did you manage your time?
We had our routine down during the editing period. I’m not a morning person, so we usually started the day around 10am. Sometimes I found that the ideas came to me right after I woke up, and I wanted to try them out first before the team arrived. So there was a good one to two hours of quiet time for me to prepare myself for the day. We usually work until 5pm or 6pm. After Sing left, Julian and I could do some catch-up with fixes for the scenes and get ourselves ready for the next day.

We knew the film was delicate, and we wanted to make sure we didn’t burn ourselves out and make bad choices. We found that this was a good balance between our lives and our film.

Yang-Hua Hu

The Accidental Getaway Driver cast and crew at Sundance 2023

As an editor, what do you like about being at Sundance?
I think Sundance brings together the same type of filmmakers and film lovers who enjoy compelling and intriguing stories. It gives you the chance to connect with people, and each new connection is a potential future collaborator. You’re surrounded by fellow artists who have a strong voice in their film. Their creativity inspires me and the support from this community is fuel for me to keep doing what I love.

Now to more general questions… How do you manage the producer’s expectations with what can really be done?
Communication is the key. We editors need to figure out what works and what doesn’t based on the notes we receive from the producers. Sometimes we receive some unclear notes, such as pacing and rhythm. They might give us some ideas to remove lines or get out of the scenes sooner. I find that sometimes the problem isn’t the lines or the spots they suggest cutting out. Oftentimes it’s the scene before or what the lead-in is.

As we wanted the film to reflect early 2000s Hong Kong and Taiwan cinema, the goal was to invite the audience to live in the moment in the movie’s time. We would examine and analyze why producers felt a certain way. Were they bored, or did they want to move the scene faster because they knew what was coming? Was our picture not strong enough to hold their attention?

We would explore the possibilities to keep the film language we had while addressing their notes. Sometimes the solution wasn’t removing something; it was bringing back what we had cut out before.

Our producers were open-minded and willing to have a discussion about their thoughts. Once we figured out the direction we were heading, they could understand what could be done and what couldn’t. Overall, it’s about making the best decision for the film.

How do you take criticism?
Nothing is personal. We all want the film to be good and reach the viewers. I’m just one person, and I can’t speak for the entire audience. I can only offer my perspective and personal experience. If the notes or scene direction are not the same as what I thought, I will try to learn and understand why I’m not on the same page as others.

Once I know what their intentions are, I can take in the note and make appropriate adjustments. As long as we don’t see it as “criticism” but as a “different direction,” there are no bad ideas. We have to try it out and find what’s the best for the film. Sometimes we feel defensive because we want to be seen or valued. It’s all ego and pride.

When someone who is starting out asks what they need to learn, what do you recommend?
People skills play an important role in filmmaking. We often spend over 10 hours a day in one place with the same team, so learning how to be a people person is a big win. Anyone can learn technical skills by reading books or attending school, but that’s not the same as real-world experience.

I’ve heard stories from other editors who say their assistant editors are good at their jobs but don’t know how to read the room or are being difficult. When people like to be around you, even if you are not so tech-savvy, you will be able to find work. The same thing applies to beginner editors as well.

Robin Blotnick on Editing the AOC Climate Doc To The End

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Editor Robin Blotnick

Filmmaker Robin Blotnick was editor on To The End, a documentary film that is a sort of a sequel to Knock Down the House. It follows Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez alongside three young leaders — Varshini Prakash of the Sunrise Movement, Alexandra Rojas of Justice Democrats and policy writer Rhiana Gunn-Wright — as they fight for a big, bold and scientifically realistic government response to the climate crisis.

“It starts in 2019, when the Green New Deal was ascendant, and takes us through the turbulence of the 2020 elections and the pandemic all the way to the anxiety and uncertainty of the present moment,” explains Blotnick. “On the way we witness firsthand the way meaningful change has been stymied by a powerful fossil fuel industry, politicians on both sides of the aisle and, to some extent, the news media itself.”

Blotnick’s wife and longtime collaborator, Rachel Lears, was both director and DP on this film, which was shot, for the most part, on a Sony FX6 with a Sony FE 70-200mm lens. “Washington, DC-based Ray Whitehouse was an invaluable second unit DP on this. He knew the capital in and out from his work as a photojournalist. We also worked with 10 other great cinematographers based all around the country to cover scenes that Rachel couldn’t be at in person, especially when the pandemic made travel difficult.”

Color and audio post was done at NYC’s Final Frame, which Blotnick says did the pair’s two previous films. Let’s find out more from To The End’s editor, who cut on Adobe Premiere.

Director Rachel Lears

How did you work with Rachel? What direction were you given for the edit? How often was she looking at your cut?
Rachel’s always very involved in the edit, and since I live with her, and we work from home, it was easy to share my work for frequent feedback.

She and producer Sabrina Schmidt Gordon (who’s also an editor) had strong editorial visions and crucial roles in shaping the edit. But they were also very busy with production, which continued until three weeks before our premiere, so I had opportunities to build scenes and sequences on my own as well.

Can you talk about working on this during the pandemic? How did that affect the workflow?
Rachel and I were already working out of a home office, so editing workflow didn’t change dramatically when the pandemic set in. One good thing to come out of it for me was that production slowed down for a while, which gave me time to catch up on watching and logging all the footage we’d already shot.

On the downside we had to do post during NYC’s Omicron surge, and our colorist came down with COVID just days before we were scheduled to start. The post house was short-staffed and scrambling during the Sundance rush, but they pulled everything off very gracefully, and we were able to get enough days of color and sound in-person. I’m not sure what we would have done if we’d had to do post remotely. How would that even work?

Alexandra Rojas of Justice Democrats

What was a particular challenge to this project?
I suspect I’m not alone in saying the pandemic presented the biggest challenge for us. For a while, we were afraid the entire second half of the film might have to be a bunch of Zoom interviews. The solution we arrived at was to create scenes of our protagonists at home and isolated, taking in the world through their TVs and computers — the way so many of us did in those early months of 2020.

For example, when Varshini Prakash and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez were tapped to be on Joe Biden’s climate task force, it was an important moment in our story, but even if we could have secured access, it would have been nothing but Zoom meetings. To make things harder, the mainstream media wasn’t covering the story at all. Luckily, Fox News was, so we ended up using their alarmist coverage about how AOC was steering Joe Biden to the left to give the moment the weight and sense of drama that it needed. It ended up creating some interesting irony because you see that Fox News and our subjects are effectively saying the same thing.

Did you do more than edit on this film?
I’m also a producer and writer on the film, which meant I frequently talked through storytelling choices with Rachel and Sabrina and spent a lot of time plotting out possible story arcs before they happened. To the extent that we had a post supervisor, that was me as well. I also worked as my own AE for the most part.

Transcriptive at use within Premiere

You cut on Adobe Premiere. Is there a particular tool within that system that came in handy for this one?
We originally envisioned this project as a series, so anticipating a team of editors, our EPs at Story Syndicate helped me set up Project Shortcuts, which was a new tool at the time. This turned out to be very useful because we could keep our project files on a shared folder in Google Drive. This meant that I could be editing a scene, Rachel could be making a radio edit from an interview, and Sabrina could be watching raw footage, all at the same time without saving over each other’s work.

I also relied heavily on the third-party plugin Transcriptive, which allows you to align transcriptions to the footage. For instance, you can do a keyword search of an interview and jump to the exact frame of the footage where the word is spoken.

How did you manage your time?
Rachel and I have a 5-year-old son. When you’re working as a self-employed artist with a young child, you learn to make the best possible use of every free hour you have.

One thing that always helps me is planning out the film with scene cards – first as physical index cards and later in the program Trello. It’s gotten to the point where I can look at a sequence of cards and play it out in my head before I even edit the scenes. This way I don’t have to spend as much time following wrong paths. That said, following wrong paths and wasting time is unavoidable and an important part of the creative process.

Robin Blotknick’s WFH setup

Do you manage expectations or try everything they ask of you?
I always try everything the others on the team ask. Sometimes I’m sure something won’t work and am pleasantly surprised. That’s why it’s good to make room for another set of eyes, especially when you feel blocked and out of ideas.

How do you take criticism?
I think I get better at taking criticism with each new project. When I first started as an editor, I was rigidly protective of my creations and afraid of the work involved with taking things apart and trying it another way.

With this project I often found myself happily willing to try sweeping, drastic changes at the drop of a hat. I guess I’ve come to learn how fluid a film is, how much it needs to be revolutionized again and again, and how crucial other people’s perspectives are. There’s no way I could do this in a bubble. That said, I still get defensive sometimes, especially when getting criticism at the end of a long day. It’s easier to take in other people’s ideas when you’re rested and ready to address them.

Finally, any tips for those just starting out?
This is kind of a small and obvious thing, but I would say take the time to get to know the platform you’re using inside out from the very beginning. I first started nonlinear editing with Final Cut Pro way back in 1999, and I was self-taught and didn’t know all the keyboard commands — I basically did everything using my mouse. When I switched to Premiere, I took the time to do online tutorials and learn it properly and realized all that I’d been missing.

Main Image: Varshini Prakash of the Sunrise Movement

The Janes

Sounds of the ‘60s: Creating Empowering Score for The Janes Doc

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Max Avery Lichtenstein is a composer who has written scores and songs for narrative features (James Marsh’s The King, Todd Haynes’ Far From Heaven) and documentaries (Mondays at Racine, Very Semi-Serious: A Partially Thorough Portrait of New Yorker Cartoonists, Tarnation) recently worked on The Janes.

The Janes

Max Avery Lichtenstein

This documentary, which screened at Sundance, is about a group of women who ran a clandestine abortion service in late-1960s Chicago — before Roe vs. Wade made the procedure legal throughout the US. These women risked the wrath of the mafia, the church and (most of all) the state to provide safe, affordable and compassionate services to those most in need. The film’s use of archival footage coupled with honest interviews with the Janes themselves conveys the spirit of revolution in that historic moment.

“The film’s editor Kristen Huntley was just starting to weave together archival footage using my scores from the films Harley and Weed & Wine as temp,” explains Lichtenstein. “The directors Emma Pildes and Tia Lessin really liked the energy and atmosphere that my music was bringing to these vintage scenes, so they reached out to see if I could write some custom “caper”-style themes that they could confidently use to build the cut around.

“I usually score directly to picture, but this early involvement before a first cut had been assembled gave me the freedom to focus on establishing a distinct vibe and energy for the score. I also think it allowed Kristen, Tia, and Emma to quickly nail down the overall spirit and tone of the film, which helped them as they focused on the edit.”

The Janes

Emma Pildes

Let’s find out more from Lichtenstein…

What direction were you given in terms of the score?
Emma and Tia loved the idea of approaching the score like it was a classic ‘60s heist film — the goal was to highlight the clandestine, risky and rebellious nature of the Janes’ work. There are also a surprising number of funny moments in the film, so they wanted the music to accent these as well. At the same time, the film explores a serious and emotionally fraught subject, so it was important that the score would also respectfully support (and leave space for) the women’s deeply personal stories.

Can you describe the score? What were your influences?
Much of the score is distinctly retro sounding, with a smokey mid-century jazz vibe. There are also cues that lean more into ‘60s rock and soul but are still structured to work as an underscore.

Producing The Janes score was a lot of fun because I was able to really embrace the arrangement style of classic caper scores from the ‘60s. I was inspired by the work of Roy Budd on Get Carter, Lalo Schifrin’s work on Bullitt and Mission Impossible, and Quincy Jones’ score for The Italian Job. Henry Mancini and Bernard Herrmann are obvious influences as well.

Tia Lession

What instruments does it include?
Many of the cues feature prominent bass lines, which is a noticeable component of ‘60s scores. I used upright bass and electric bass and would sometimes include both in a cue to create a unique sound that sits somewhere in between jazz and rock. Drums and percussion also play a key role in the score. The rhythmic elements really help to maintain the film’s forward momentum, even when the cues are tucked under dialogue.

There are other homages to the classic sounds of the ‘60s and ‘70s, including woodwinds, pizzicato strings, Hammond organ, and twangy electric guitar. For the more intimate and emotional moments, I pared things back and relied on a small ensemble of piano, cello and double bass.

Can you talk about your process? What instrument do you start out on?
For The Janes, I generally started each cue by working on the rhythm. Frequently, it would be a brushed drum kit pattern or a repeating bass line that would set the pace. From there I would build up the arrangement with electric guitar, organ and woodwinds. In the early phase of scoring (before I was working to picture), I produced tracks that would build over the course of a few minutes so Kristen could choose excerpts that had the feel or intensity she needed while cutting.

Once the picture was in the fine-cut stage, I went back into each scene where Kristen had used my themes and rebuilt the arrangement to work perfectly against picture. I also developed and expanded upon the thematic material I wrote early to score the scenes that didn’t have temp. Overall, it was a very organic process of evolution that seemed to serve the storytelling well.

The Janes

Max Avery Lichtenstein

What feedback did you get from the director Tia Lessin? Can you give an example?
Feedback is always helpful; a good back-and-forth really gets the cues doing what they need to. I tend to record my ideas as quickly as possible so I can send them to editorial in a rough-mixed QuickTime for review. That way we can all get an early sense for what works, what needs revision and what needs a totally different approach.

There was one scene in The Janes that particularly benefited from this process. It’s a long segment about the rising women’s movement. My original approach was to highlight the strong-willed attitude of the women protesting in the archive footage, so I gave the music a kind of “let’s get to work” energy. While the seriousness and importance of the movement was reflected in my original cue, Tia, Emma and Kristen quickly realized that we also needed to represent the joy that this rising social movement was instilling in its participants. Tia suggested drawing inspiration from “Brand New Day” as done by The Staple Singers, which really captured that joyfulness. I did another pass from that perspective and hit things right on the mark.

Was there something particularly challenging about this project? If so, what?
The challenge with any documentary is avoiding overt emotional manipulation with the music. In a film about abortion, this becomes essential. The intimate stories that the women share about their personal experiences with illegal abortion needed to speak for themselves, so all of those moments in the film are free of music. Instead, we used the score to recreate the revolutionary atmosphere of the time and to highlight the rebellious cat-and-mouse game these women were playing with the authorities. This allowed the film’s most powerful moments to resonate even deeper.

 

Chiqui

Sophia de Baun: More Than Editing for Sundance Pilot Chiqui

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The pilot Chiqui was screened at this year’s Sundance as part of the Indie Episodic Program. It’s a story that follows director Carlos Cardona’s parents as they traveled from Colombia to the US in 1989 to find a better life for themselves and their unborn son. It’s a dramedy set in Newark, New Jersey, and in Long Island’s Montauk and Southampton.

Chiqui

Sophia de Baun

Chiqui, which was shot by DP Rand Rosenberg on Kodak 16mm film with the Arriflex SR 3, was edited on Adobe Premiere by Sophia de Baun. We reached out to de Baun, who co-wrote and executive-produced with Cardona, to talk about her process.

Can you talk about how you got involved on Chiqui?
I co-wrote with Carlos. We worked together to make sure the script — which really could have been feature-length — was tight and flowed properly and that all the dialogue was meaningful. I also managed the production during pre-pro and principal photography. Then we set out to work on the edit together. It’s been a collaborative process through and through.

How did you work with the Carlos? What direction were you given for the edit?
I always had the freedom to experiment, and we would bounce ideas off each other and cut multiple edits to make it the best it could be. I can’t tell you how many times we cut the montage scene. We even had a cut where we tried to make it a not-montage scene, even though we shot it as a montage.

Were there particular scenes that were challenging?
Dialogue scenes around a table with multiple people talking is always difficult to cut because of continuity and because there are infinite combinations for how to cut it, and it’s hard to choose which is best. The first dinner scene in Newark was one of those scenes, and we spent a lot of time editing that one as well as cutting down dialogue.

Can you talk about working on this during the pandemic? How did that affect the workflow?
Shooting in the middle of the pandemic was a huge challenge. We had to limit the number of people on set, make sure we had PPE, check temperatures…and it was hard to find holding areas because places were either closed or didn’t have outdoor areas.

Doing post remotely didn’t pose any problems and went quite smoothly. Carlos had one in-person session with sound designer and mixer Tamara Kachelmeier from Ghost Dog Studio in Brooklyn, but otherwise I worked closely with her remotely and with VFX artist Javier Fernandez and colorist Robert Wagnerman, who was working from Colorado. (The project was scanned and processed by Metropolis Post.)

Is there an aspect of Premiere that you used on this project that is worth noting?
With a small project like Chiqui, where as an editor I am wearing multiple hats, sometimes I need to quickly fix something before a deadline — like a missing frame for a VFX shot — and I might not have time to get it delivered from a VFX artist. In this case, I found a lot of Premiere’s tools very useful, especially the cropping and masking tools. They allow me to isolate part of the frame and use another frame behind it to get rid of anachronisms and such. These tools are also useful in general for creating mockups for a VFX artist to work from, especially with keyframing.

How did you manage your time?
We took our time working on Chiqui. There were times we worked on it for many consecutive days and other times when I didn’t touch it for a couple months. I was crunched for time at the very end to finish everything before Sundance, as we weren’t expecting to get in, but everything worked out, and we got it in at the very last minute.

How do you manage producers’ expectations with reality/what can really be done?
I produced the film, so this wasn’t a problem. Managing Carlos’s expectations, however, means trying everything possible and never saying no until you try it first. We worked closely together for over a year, so I think both of us know now what could have and couldn’t have been done because we pretty much tried it all.

How do you manage your time?
Really believing in the project helped because it was time-consuming and at points exhausting doing so many different cuts and trying out the edit in so many different ways. It’s not a sustainable method for every project and it should always be a conversation beforehand between the editor and the producer and director to make sure everyone’s on the same page.

 

How do you take criticism? Do you find yourself defensive or accepting of others’ ideas (good and bad)?
I have no problem letting things go and simply deleting huge sections of edits that I tried to make work for a long time if it doesn’t serve the final edit or make the film better. If time and budget allow, I love trying out all and any ideas because I often find myself surprised that something works; a team is always stronger with more voices and ideas if you have time to explore them.

While I was editing Chiqui, I read a piece by Deborah Stein about collaborative theater. She writes about how everyone’s ideas are considered and tried, so it becomes a very long process that is difficult to fund. But also if the group ends up saying no to an idea, then you need to be able to let go. Not everyone’s ego can handle that process. That’s how I like to work if I believe in a project.

However, I do require some positive feedback just to keep me motivated sometimes, and I encourage directors and producers to remember to encourage not only their editors and post team, and to thank them for their work, but also the cast and crew and everyone involved in helping make their vision a reality; it goes a long way.

Finally, any tips for those just starting out?
My advice in general would be to work on projects you are passionate about. It’s extremely rewarding, and it makes the work — which can be intense as a producer or editor or anyone — feel worthwhile.

Also, so much energy and effort goes into making a film; there’s so much behind the scenes that nobody sees, so recognizing the labor and creativity of everyone in their respective departments helps you keep perspective and will always make you better at whatever role you play in the process.

Sundance: Alex Familian on Cutting Appendage

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Appendage is a short film about a young fashion designer who tries to make the best of it when her anxiety and self-doubt manifest into something truly horrific — a hideous creature attached to her side. The film was made with 20th Digital Studio and Hulu as part of their second season of Bite Size Halloween. It had its festival premiere at Sundance.

Editor Alex Familian

Appendage was written and directed by Anna Zlokovic and shot by her longtime collaborator, DP Powell Robinson, who shot on ARRI Alexa Mini with ARRI Master Primes. Alex Familian edited and produced the film. We recently touched base with him about his work.

How early did you get involved on this film?
Anna and I are married, so she had mentioned the idea for the film very early on. I am also a producer on the project (along with Anna and Matthew Green). Once we were given the greenlight from 20th Digital Studio, I got to work.

What direction were you given for the edit? How often was Anna taking a look at your cut?
Anna had us rewatch Beetlejuice for the tone, After Hours for the pace, The Conjuring for the scares and David Cronenberg’s The Fly for the themes.

I put together the first cut within a few days after wrapping and screened it for Anna. From there, we’d either work together in the edit room, or I’d be off on my own making adjustments based on her notes. It’s a short film, so we locked picture within a few weeks.

Was there a particular scene or scenes that were most challenging?
About two minutes into the film, in a horrifying but also kind of hilarious sequence, a football-sized creature grows out of Rachel Sennott’s stomach: The Appendage.

Under Anna’s direction, our special effects lead, Amber Mari, crafted the Appendage, an amazing robotic, practical creature. However, due to time and budget constraints, the Appendage’s eyes couldn’t move or look around.

After a series of tests during preproduction, we came up with a plan. We took high-res photos of Rachel Sennott’s eyes and mapped them onto 3D spheres inside of After Effects using CC Sphere. I used Roto Brush to roto out the Appendage’s practical eyes and Mocha Pro to track the Appendage’s face. I mapped the eyes’ rotation to a Null that you could just drag anywhere on the screen, and the eyes would follow. This gave us full control over the Appendage’s eye movements. We even animated an eye roll at one point to showcase the Appendage’s sassy personality.

Anna and I are both huge supporters of using practical effects over digital, so we were really careful to make sure the eyes looked as realistic as possible. Overall, it was a great example of how practical effects and VFX can work in unison to make something really special.

Can you talk about working on this during the pandemic? How did that affect the workflow?
Anna and I both worked together from our home office, so it didn’t affect our workflow too much. All of our cuts were shared to the studio via Frame.io.

Alex Familian

What system did you use to cut?
Adobe Premiere Pro on a 2019 Mac Pro.

Is there a tool you use within Premiere that people might not know about?
Chris Chandler, an assistant I’ve worked with in the past who’s now an editor, taught me this neat trick of syncing dailies as multicam clips. This is really helpful if you’ve received multiple audio tracks from production, but you want to condense the tracks down to just one to simplify your timeline. If you ever want to mute a mic or make an audio change, just go into the multicam clip’s sequence and make your adjustment. The change should also happen in your main timeline. I love organization, and this helps everything feel a little cleaner.

Did you have an assistant editor on this? Do you see the role of assistant editors as strictly technical or as collaborators? Do you allow them to edit scenes and/or give input on your edits?
Our AE was Jonathan Velasques. He had a copy of the footage and was able to remotely build the project for us. Since we only shot two days, he finished in less than a day. Afterward, he put together some line-bys for us, which was incredibly helpful.

On a longer-form project, I’d be very open to collaborating with AEs on both a technical and creative basis.

How do you manage producers’ expectations with reality/what can really be done?
I was also a producer on this project, so I was very aware from the start about our budget limitations and tight turnaround. We were also very lucky to have such a great team at 20th Digital Studio who supported us 100% of the way.

How do you manage your time? Do you manage expectations or try everything they ask of you?
Working with Anna has taught me that collaboration is key to any good working relationship. Any time we were given suggestions by the studio, we always tried them out. Many of their suggestions even ended up in the film. At the end of the day, the best idea should always win.

Director Anna Zlokovic

How do you take criticism? Do you find yourself defensive or accepting of others’ ideas (good and bad)?
I think it’s natural to feel defensive about notes at first. But, as I said, the best idea should always win. I used to AE for Joe Klotz, who cut Precious and To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, and I remember him telling me that it’s almost always worth trying out a note, even if you think it might not work.

Finally, any tips for those just starting out?
It’s easier than ever to learn After Effects from YouTube tutorials. Whether you’re an editor or AE, being able to do VFX might give you an edge that producers and directors are looking for. When you know you can tastefully manipulate something to make a story point clearer, it only makes you a stronger filmmaker.

2nd Chance

Sundance: Scoring 2nd Chance About Bulletproof Vest Inventor

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Directed by Ramin Bahrani, 2nd Chance is a documentary about the inventor of the modern bulletproof vest. Richard Davis was a brash, charismatic salesman who proved his product worked by shooting himself in the chest, point-blank 192 times. The film, which screened at Sundance, traces his rise, his fall and the effect he had on the people around him.

2nd Chance

T. Griffin

Brooklyn-based composer T. Griffin scored the film. Griffin, who is also a songwriter and producer, has composed music for over 50 feature-length films, including documentaries and live multidisciplinary projects. We spoke to him about his work on 2nd Chance.

How early did you get involved, and how did that help?
I started working in July and the film locked in October. We then continued to work on the music all the way into December. I like to come on a project early and really marinate in the material. I was also working on several other projects simultaneously, so the long runway was necessary.

What direction were you given in terms of the score?
Ramin used the word “haunting” a lot when we spoke about the score he imagined. I interpreted that to mean that the music should express the moral dimension of the story, not the more outrageous, theatrical elements.

Can you describe the score? What were the influences?
I think of it as medieval gothic country. We talked about [Italian composer Ennio] Morricone a lot as we started the project, particularly his genius with combining seemingly contradictory instruments.

What instruments does it include?
Bassoon, pedal steel, banjo, piano, percussion (including circular saw blades) and some guitar.

2nd Chance

T. Griffin

Can you talk about your process? What instrument do you start out on?
I usually start by watching the film and talking to the director and editor about what the central driving purpose of the film is. If a director is going to burrow into a story for two years of their life, I want to know what about it really hooks them. All my instincts about instrumentation or harmony need to flow from really listening to that.

Then I watch the film a bunch. Then I turn the movie off and make as much music as I can as fast as I can in response to the film. I never start by scoring to picture. Once I have some music I like, I share it with the director, and usually some of my sketches attract them and some don’t. I take the ones that do and see where they might fit into the film.

What feedback did you get from the director, Ramin Bahrani? Can you give an example?
My initial sketches were very focused on folk instruments — guitars and banjos, pedal steel and piano. Ramin asked me to try to find an instrument that could give voice to the conflicts within Richard Davis. He suggested the English horn, which I had to Google. I didn’t know an English horn player, but I had just worked with a fantastic bassoonist, Joy Guidry, on another project, so I wrote a couple of bassoon themes. When paired with the pedal steel, it turned out to be a perfect match.

Was there something particularly challenging about this project?
We really needed music to help maintain some of the momentum of the film but never to interfere with the intimacy, so it had to be both energetic and invisible. That’s a tricky combination, and the only way to find the right balance is trial and error.