Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/954507
www.postmagazine.com 15 POST MARCH 2018 DIRECTOR'S CHAIR How early on did you start on post and all the VFX with Dennis Berardi? "For me, post always starts in pre-pro- duction as there are certain aspects of it that you need to pin down early even if you don't yet have the budget for it. This had a very tight budget so we began do- ing previs and deciding what was going to be the shot in various sequences. And then I also turn over sequences at the end of the very first week of the shoot. I edit every day on set, on the video assist, before I sit down later with the editor, so if you came to the set, I can show you the entire movie up until that day. And that way I can turn over shots to Dennis and the editor as we go so they can start work on them immediately. I think we're one of the most efficient workflows and post production turn-over machines ever because of that." Do you like the post process? "I love post because it really is the one part of the process where you're really writing and creating the movie. Before post and production you're just typing the movie, and then during the shoot you're just try- ing to hold the movie together, and then finally in post you have all the pieces and all the letters of the alphabet in front of you, and you start making the film. To be honest, post is the only part of the whole process I really enjoy. I like coming up with ideas and designing, but I don't really like shooting, writing or pre-production. There's so much scrutiny over everything and you're having to deal with budgets and schedules and logistics. But then you get to post and if you did your job right, then it becomes very relaxed and creative. And I'm not the type of director who fixes it all in post, as I already know what the movie is, so it's the most enjoyable part of the whole process for me." Where did you edit and post this? "We shot at Cinespace Studios in Toronto, and we set up an editing suite at Cinespace, and began assembling while I was still shooting. All the post was done in Toronto, and all the key post people like Dennis, the sound designer, the editor and so on were from Toronto." Tell us about working with editor Sidney Wolinsky, the veteran Emmy winner whose credits include The Sopranos, House of Cards and Boardwalk Empire, and who worked with you on The Strain. "We worked every day on the edit during production, and the big chal- lenge was pulling all the different story elements together, making it all flow and dealing with the final running time. Engineering the movie isn't the prob- lem as I know exactly what I'm going to shoot, almost down to the frame. But what is difficult is that I end up with a movie that's two hours fifty minutes long, and reducing the first 20 minutes takes just one day, and then reducing the next 10 minutes takes four weeks of hard work, and then reducing the final 10 minutes takes months and months and months, and that's the most challenging part of the whole edit." With a mute leading lady, sound and music must have been more important than ever to you? "Absolutely, and I began to pre-plan the music even in the early stages of screenwriting, as I knew exactly what I wanted — a mix of Tin Pan Alley and romantic musicals, and it was all in the script. It told you what you'd hear. And I also knew from the very start that I wanted Alexandre Desplat to score it, and he brings both so much intelligence and emotion at the same time — and normally you get one or the other. And while he can give you all that emotion, he's never sappy. He has this elegance and he measures very carefully where we have to go musically, and when I saw the first cut with his music, it all flowed so perfectly." Who did the VFX work and how many visual effects shots are there? "Dennis Berardi, whose credits include Fight Club and Sully, founded Mr. X in Canada and they did all the VFX. We had hundreds of shots, some very complex, and while the creature is completely real, we had to do all the micro-gestures like the eyes and blink- ing and nostrils, and we used a half- mask so we could track the actor's face and then animate all the gestures. The result is a perfect blend between the real and all the VFX. And we did a lot of VFX work on Baltimore, recreating the city digitally from archival photos, as it doesn't look anything like it used to. I wanted it to feel photo-real, yet also like a dream or fairytale." What was the most difficult shot to do? "I'd say the whole underwater opening sequence was very challenging to do. We kept adding fish, taking them out, adding distortion to the water, taking it out, and it took a very long time to get it just right." The film won several Oscars and got awards season buzz. How important is that to you? "It's very important for the longevity of the movie, and it's extremely flatter- ing when your peers give your film attention. Of course it's not why you make a film, but the recognition is very gratifying." At Cinespace Studios with Spencer (center) and Hawkins (right). Sound was extremely important in a film with a mute lead character.