Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1203636
53 S P R I N G Q 1 I S S U E F E A T U R E seen on set, and he would ask for my impressions of the footage and perfor- mances," Sanders said. "Editors are so instrumental in find- ing and crafting an actor's performance," Cretton said. "Nat is fresh eyes on all of the takes we are getting, and he is the first one to find the performances that are real and authentic. " H e h a s a g i f t f o r f i n d i n g t h o s e moments that have a surprise or unex- pectedness to them," Cretton said. "This movie would not be where it is if it were not for Nat." Sanders credits the actors in the film with providing a wide range of takes. With input from Cretton, Sanders was then able to select the performances best suited to each scene and the film's overall story arc. "They were all giving us such great shades of performance," Sanders said. "They gave us the tools to work with to really make the film what it needed to be." For example, Sanders said there were five different takes of Karan Kendrick, who portrays Walter McMillian's wife Minnie, as she meets Stevenson for the first time and tells him about Walter's personal failings. The camera moves in close as she confesses that she doesn't know what to tell her children about their father. The first take was very passion- ate and with each subsequent take she became progressively more subtle and restrained, Sanders said. "She gave us such a great range to choose from and we went back and forth on which take to use," Sanders said. "In the end we chose a take that popped a little bit more." Mild Spoilers Ahead There were a few challenging scenes that Sanders said he postponed working on until the end of his first pass, such as one scene that takes place on Death Row. "I knew [the] execution scene was going to be a really powerful and emo- tional scene, so I kept putting it aside because I knew it was going to be a big undertaking," Sanders said. "It was the last scene I cut." The camera follows one of McMillian's friends on Death Row (Rob Gordon) as he prepares for his execution, is strapped into the electric chair and faces his death. McMillian and his fellow inmates do what they can to let their friend know he is not alone. At the end of the scene, there is a Sanders: "I read the book and was blown away ... parts of it were so emotional and raw and sad." P H O T O : M A R T I N C O H E N