Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/501792
79 SPRING 2015 / CINEMONTAGE to those music takes. We wound up syncing the whole picture to one music sound track." Using the multi-track system during the shoot, Webb and fellow production mixer Chris McLaughlin recorded all the audio separately and synchronously, virtually eliminating ADR. Webb said that sound editor Bill Sawyer put in only two bits of dialogue during post. Hill noted that re-recording mixer Richard Portman mixed down the sound to three tracks. His pre-dub of dialogue took two weeks, further bringing out its clarity and focus with the first use of the Dolby system to reduce noise levels. Editor Levin said his main concern was "piecing together the dialogue in a continuous stream. With each actor mic'd separately, in a scene with four principal actors — each doing five takes and each take improvised — I had 20 choices to make." After shooting, it took Levin 10 weeks to create the first assembly from several hundred thousand feet of film. Lombardo recalls, "Sid did a brilliant first cut…but he and Bob did not get along." Letting Levin go, Altman made Hill editor to cut the show to release length. "Dennis and I sat with Bob telling us what to do," said Lombardo. Hill added, "He wanted the audience to work watching the movie, to really participate in the action." Hill went on to edit four more films for the director. Lombardo later became an editor and cut five of Altman's movies. Paramount picked up Nashville for distribution and a three- hour early cut was screened in New York. Altman invited New Yorker film critic Pauline Kael to help deter the studio from re- cutting the picture. Triggering anticipation for the movie three months before its premiere, Kael wrote that it was "the funniest epic vision of America ever to reach the screen." The film was pared to 2 hours 40 minutes, "losing scenes that were more about texture and color than character," noted Lombardo. Hill said Altman showed his attitude towards Paramount by opening the credits with a scratched up old sepia- tone Paramount logo. Nashville made a modest profit in its initial run and was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, with Altman garnering a Best Director nomination. Some writers criticized the film for making one of the country stars an assassin's target at the end of the movie instead of the politician. Five years later, when John Lennon was murdered, a Washington Post reporter called Altman and asked him if he felt responsible for having inspired celebrity assassination. The filmmaker answered, "You shouldn't blame me for the assassination. You might blame yourself for not listening to my warning." The movie had said it all. The dying star is carried off the Parthenon stage in front of a gigantic American flag and a bloody microphone is handed to Harris' runaway farmwife who wants to be a star. Building up confidence and enthusiasm, she draws the stunned crowd into a bluesy hymn of denial, also written by Carradine: "You may say that I ain't free, but it don't worry me." f AJA Video Systems C2 AMC 5, 7, 9 American Cinema Editors 52 Audio Intervisual Design 31 Birdi & Associates 59 Blackmagic Design 15 Cinema Audio Society 59 EditorsPetition com 17 Footage Bank 2 FX Productions 13 IATSE C4 IATSE Local 16 55 IATSE Local 33 48 IATSE Local 80 59 IATSE Local 600 45 IATSE Local 695 55 IATSE Local 700 61 IATSE Local 706 59 IATSE Local 728 56 IATSE Local 800 56 IATSE Local 839 60 Motion Picture Editors Guild C3 Motion Picture & Television Fund 78 Technicolor 11 Universal Studios Operations 33 Warner Bros Sound 3 ADVERTISERS INDEX RSVP Hotline: 323-978-1095 The Motion Picture Editors Guild Hollywood office offers a special RSVP hotline for screenings for our members who do not have access to a computer or have not yet registered an e-mail address with the Guild Please leave a message, including your full name — and spell your last name — to RSVP for the upcoming screening SCREENING NOTICE ANNOUNCEMENT Scared? Afraid of retribution? Tired of being taken advantage of? Let the Guild staff assist you A form has been posted on the Guild website allowing members to inform the office (anonymously if desired) if there is a need for a field representative visit www.editorsguild.com/violationreport.cfm SAVE THE DATE Editors Guild Annual Retirees Luncheons East Coast Monday, May 11, 2015 Gallagher's Steak House Manhattan, NY 12:30 p m West Coast Sunday, May 17, 2015 Sheraton Universal 333 Universal Hollywood Drive Universal City, CA 11:00 a m Cocktail reception 12:30 p m Lunch Altman CONTINUED FROM PAGE 20 THIS QUARTER IN FILM HISTORY