Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1464279
behind in terms of dailies and coverage." Is it true you shot the whole film in sequential order? "Yes, and I know that's very rare, but it made sense because of the confined n - ture of the film. So th t meant that when Billy and I spoke, instead of just discuss- ing scenes from the previous day's shoot, he could actually show me the entire fil he'd assembled so far, even though it was just a rough version. That was a big advantage for us in several ways. If there were scenes that weren't working, or shots we'd missed, we could go back and grab them the next day. And if an actor did something really interesting one day, we could make it pay off l ter, and that gave us all so much extra freedom, as we were never totally locked into anything. So as we hadn't shot the ending when we were shooting the middle, we could make any changes and adjustments to the ending when we got there, and that worked so well." How did you and Billy Goldenberg work together, and what were the main editing challenges? "It's really hilarious how we did it. As I said, because of COVID we did all the editing in his living room, and his teenage daughter was upstairs working on exams and taking tests all day, so we weren't allowed to work on any of the more vio- lent scenes that had gunshots and so on, as they were too loud. So our whole edit schedule was based around his daugh- ter's high-school testing, and we could only work on the quieter scenes with di- alogue during the day until she'd finishe her tests. It was actually really lovely, sitting there on his couch and moving footage and scenes around. It was just the two of us, and that gave us this great sense of freedom and play, and we could try anything we wanted. If we'd been on the lot, surrounded by post teams, it would have felt very different." Do you like the post process? "I absolutely love it. I sat through post on The Imitation Game, and as a writer, you quickly learn that it's the final ewrite of your film. ost is where it all comes together and where you actually make the film and sculpt it and efine it. But a a writer, it can make you feel like an idiot, as you see scenes that worked so well on the page, and then they just seem over-written on-screen or unnecessary. And an editor like Billy is invaluable, as he just moves things around and cuts a line and fi es the problem. We actually made a point of never looking at the script again when we began the edit, and that was a great approach. Instead of think- ing, 'What's it supposed to be?' It was, 'What do we have? What can we do with it?' And I quickly found that an actor of Mark Rylance's caliber could do far more with the slight rising of an eyebrow than I could with a page of monologue. So we found ourselves cutting a lot of dialogue and just replacing it with glances and looks that were far more effective." The film has a very intricate aural landscape. Can you talk about the importance of music and sound? "All that was hugely important, and at the same time, as we were editing, we had this great sound team in London sending us material, and then our great composer was working on the score in London and Paris, and also sending us stuff, and we could try things and experiment a lot with ideas. We did the final mix at Twickenham, and I was extremely invested in all the sound work and very involved, because before I became a writer and director, I was a sound engineer. On one level, all my experience with that was helpful, but on another level, it wasn't, and I can guaran- tee that our sound designers and mixers knew far more about sound than I ever did. I thought it'd be the one area of post where I'd be able to communicate in the same technical language, but I quickly realized that I'd be far better off le ving it to the sound team. I was also very aware that I didn't want the film o seem at all allegorical and not set in the real world just because it all takes place in one space. It had to feel and sound real — that it's Chicago, in the '50s — so calibrating the amount of street noise we hear every hour, every day, was critically important. And because it's all set in one space, we didn't have access to the usual cinematic language of establishing shots showing the passage of time, so all the sound de- sign had to do that very subtly, as well as ratchet up the psychological tension." I assume the VFX also helped in that regard? "Yes, exactly. We had a great team at Automatik, who were on-set, and like the sound design, we wanted all the VFX to look perfectly real and natural. The really big VFX shots they created were the very fir t and last shots of the film, sh w- ing the outside and skyline of Chicago, and the fir t one was particularly crucial in establishing that sense of reality for the whole film " What about the DI? Who was the colorist and how closely did you work with them and the DP? "I sat with Dick Pope and our great colorist Adam Inglis for two weeks doing the DI at Dirty Looks in London, and we worked hard on getting a great palette and look based on the LUT Dick had used. The amazing thing is just how fast DI technology changes every year now. You can now do in a couple of clicks what used to take days to achieve. It's another part of post I just love, and I can't wait to direct again." www.postmagazine.com 13 POST MAR/APR 2022 The feature was shot in 24 days. Editor Billy Goldenberg cut on an Avid. Actor Mark Rylance and Moore on set.