Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1300552
DIRECTOR'S CHAIR www.postmagazine.com 11 POST SEPT/OCT 2020 reference points, but in terms of the color palette we just kept it simple and uniform so we could follow it all the way through the shoot and post to the DI at the end. And in terms of the editing, it's also very close to what your finished film will look like, even though you're doing a lot of work in the DI, compared with just five years ago." Where did you post? "For the edit we bounced around a lot. I was in New York, and it's very hard to find quiet edit space there, but we started off in the city at Harbor and then moved to Light Iron. We did the sound mix and the DI at Harbor, and my assis- tant editor Ben Mercer did some of the sound design while we cut, and he got a sound designer credit as he really dug into it and then he also worked with our sound designer and mixer Leslie Shatz." The film has such a great naturalistic soundscape, with all the cricket and bird noises. Talk about the importance of sound and working with Oscar- nominated sound designer Leslie Shatz. "I loved working with him, as he's so experienced and creative. It's interest- ing you mention the crickets and birds, as after we'd done the mix and were supposed to be finished with the film, I had a very unsettling feeling about them. We just hadn't had time to address them to the degree I wanted to, so when I got back to Portland I spent a week hand-placing local bird sounds and crick- ets, and I was also able to see the film in a few different rooms and theaters, and get it the way I wanted. Crickets are hard as they have specific rhythms, like a pulse, and I got really caught up in all that. It sounds crazy now, but it was very important to me and the film." Do you like the post process? "I love it. The only thing I don't like is that sometimes you don't have the control you want. Obviously the people at the controls are far better at their jobs than you could be, but it's hard, as you're sitting there in a freezing dark room all day while they work their magic on your material. It's such a different frame of mind from the set and the shoot, and it's a much more passive role. But it's truly amazing what you can now do in post, and just how different your film is after you do all the sound and music and DI." Talking of control, as usual, you were your own editor. What were the big editing challenges? "Sometimes it can be so hard, as a film can be cut in so many different ways, but I have to say I really loved editing this. I had great performances, and the humor made it fun and it all just flowed. But I had to cut the hardest thing we shot — this big trip down the Columbia River, which involved people speaking Chinook and tons of extras. After I did my first pass, I had a sinking feeling that something was off, and then a friend saw it and told me I should cut the whole section, and he was so right. It was just too much of a detour, and the film lost all tension." All the VFX by 67 Nights play a role. What was entailed? "We did a lot of clean up of modern stuff, like phone wires and so on, and I wanted those coral-colored stars Remington has. The hardest thing was dealing with the wolves. They began as hand-made puppets a friend made, and they were awesome, but we couldn't animate them properly, so by the end they became fully CG. That was the most difficult VFX thing to do, along with their eyes." This doesn't have the predictable period music. Talk about the importance of the score by William Tyler. "I'm glad you noticed that, as I started out trying to use authentic period music, and it all ended up sounding like a Ken Burns documentary. So when William came on, he came to the edit room in New York and we sat down while he played around with ideas on a dulcimer and guitars, and laid down tracks I could use. Right away I could tell it was working, and we carried on from there remotely, and it's the perfect score for this." Tell us about doing the DI at Harbor Picture Company with colorist Joe Gawler. How important is it to you? "It's so important. Joe actually fell ill, but he was fantastic and it was a goal to work with him from the very start. Apart from all the great color work he and Chris did, we also had to match some day-for-night shooting with our night-for-night." Did the film turn out the way you hoped? "It did. It's such a process, and it's like a photograph developing in front of your eyes every day, but the result feels like what we all set out to do." The 30-day shoot took place in Oregon. William Tyler created the original score. The DI took place at Harbor in New York.