Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/942009
43 Q1 2018 / CINEMONTAGE heads of departments. By the time production starts, he has the whole architecture of the scenes in his head." One of the great rewards she finds working with Scott is the return of the tradition of watching dailies each evening as a team. "Every day, after the shoot, we screen dailies," says Simpson. "It's a great opportunity for all the department heads to get together and talk about the work, and Ridley articulates his intentions behind the scenes in a vivid and humorous way. It's usually accompanied by a glass of wine and aperitivi, so the atmosphere is very relaxed. "It's a great launching pad for the editing process," she adds. "And editorial feels integrated with the production, as opposed to separate and distinct from it — which often happens when the discipline of screening dailies together no longer exists. Screening dailies for us becomes an enjoyable reward at the end of the day." Once dailies screenings are complete, Scott is not one to want to see numerous iterations of cut scenes. "Ridley likes to be surprised," Simpson maintains. "He tries to remain as objective as possible and not get 'contaminated' by too many screenings. He does not like to view an assembly, but he will have seen and commented on all cut scenes during the shoot. We screen the film only when we have made significant progress." In the end, as Simpson re- cut the film with the Plummer re-shoots, she benefited from the work she'd already done with the Spacey scenes. "Remember, I had already had a dry run at the scenes in the original version," she asserts. "The only unknown was how Plummer would interpret the character, and how that would affect the other actors performances and the rhythm of the scenes. But that's what made it exciting and exhilarating." Three weeks to the day after Simpson was supposed to return home to Italy, she finally packed up her cutting room and headed for the airport, completing one of the most extraordinary post- production stories in recent history. f Director Ridley Scott, center, directs Mark Wahlberg, left, and Christopher Plummer on the set during one of the re-shoots of All the Money in the World. Sony Pictures Entertainment "Christopher Plummer, being close in age to J. Paul Getty, had the advantage of not being plastered with prostheses. He could muster all the guile, mischief and obdurate stubborness of an elderly gentleman at the drop of a hat." - Claire Simpson