Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/501792
29 SPRING 2015 / CINEMONTAGE by Debra Kaufman portraits by Clay Enos "Surfin' USA," "California Girls," "Good Vibrations"… These and many other Beach Boys songs were the soundtrack to 1960s Southern California's beach and teen culture. The group that formed in Hawthorne in 1961 was composed originally of three brothers — Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson — their cousin Mike Love and friend Al Jardine. Their emphasis on vocal harmonies and lyrics about surfing, sunshine, cars and girls quickly caught on, first locally, then nationally and eventually internationally. Although the Beach Boys achieved the status of one of the best-selling and most critically acclaimed US rock bands of all times, their story had a darker edge, particularly with regard to songwriter and de facto leader Brian, who struggled with mental illness and substance abuse. The new biopic Love & Mercy, in theatres June 5 through Roadside Attractions, tells the story of Brian Wilson (Paul Dano and John Cusack) at two crucial points in his life: in the 1960s, as he's creating the critically acclaimed album Pet Sounds and beginning to hear voices in his head, and in the 1980s, when he is under the care of controversial psychotherapist Dr. Eugene Landy (Paul Giamatti), and meets future wife Melinda Ledbetter (Elizabeth Banks), who fights for Brian's well-being. The independent movie is also infused with the iconic sounds of the 1960s group and shows the in-studio process featuring the storied session musicians known as the Wrecking Crew. Directed by Bill Pohlad, who has spent the majority of his career as a producer (12 Years a Slave, The Tree of Life), Love & Mercy features a stellar behind-the-scenes crew, including cinematographer Robert Yeoman, ASC (Budapest Hotel, Moonrise Kingdom); composer Atticus Ross (Gone Girl, The Social Network); editor Dino Jonsäter (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) and supervising sound editor and music editor Nicholas Renbeck (Marley & Me, Rachel Getting Married). Renbeck studied film at Ithaca College, where one day a guest speaker came to his class: Ron Bochar, an Ithaca alumnus who had just co- founded C5 Audio in New York. He brought in a three-quarter-inch videotape of C5's work on Silence of the Lambs. By the time the tape was over, Renbeck was hooked on sound editing. After persistent inquiries, he got his first job at C5 Sound as an apprentice sound editor on Jonathan Demme's Philadelphia in 1993. As the features from the Coen Brothers, John Sayles, Mike Nichols, Martin Scorsese and many other directorial greats came through the sound facility, Renbeck continued to learn from every editor he worked with. He was promoted to editor in 1997 on Scorsese's Kundun, "a great first movie to cut my teeth on," he says. Love & Mercy came to Renbeck when (Mis)Taken for Lost and Gone… N I C H O L A S R E N B E C K & T H E R E S U R R E C T I O N O F B R I A N W I L S O N Love & Mercy. Photo by François Duhamel/ Roadside Attractions