Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1468810
'There's giant action, then we slow it down to something emotional.' 41 S P R I N G Q 2 I S S U E C O V E R S T O R Y thing, we tell each other about it." During a year-long post-production process that featured a hybrid of in-person and virtual editing, the communication lines between the editors were always open. "We were able to be in-person and go to each other's rooms and show each other things, and then even when we were remote, I would send PIX links to Terel and Tim," Tan said. Added Roche: "I can't say enough about Terel and Rosie. . . . We were always on the same page in terms of trying to get things done, helping each other out. I never felt shy about pitching an idea or even receiving ideas. I felt like it al- ways made the project better." The presence of thousands of visual effects dictated that t h e te a m a d h e re to a s t r i c t timeline. "Because there are s o m a n y b i g v i s u a l e f f e c t s sequences, I think the largest p r e s s u r e w e a l l f o u n d w a s trying to get things locked as quickly as possible," said first assistant editor James Gadd. "When you've got thousands of visual effects to do, and that's spread over so many [visual effects] companies, it was just a lot of stress." When producers requested take changes, the editors and assistant editors tried their b e s t t o a c c o m m o d a t e t h e requests. "Even just changing one take can really affect the outcome for the effects, be - cause the company's already been working on that specific ta ke fo r s o l o n g," s a i d f i rs t assistant editor Kaitlin Hollingsworth Hecker. "It was just really a balancing act of trying to figure out at what point can we not literally make any more changes." All the same, first assistant editor Rahul Das said that Marvel encouraged the team to feel free to make changes that were bene- ficial to the series — no matter how late the hour might have been. "There's a certain schedule of turnovers and things have to be locked by a certain time, but until the very last minute, everyone is trying to just do so much better for the show," Das said. "You always have to be flexible." Questions of pacing and rhythm are important to a show like "Hawkeye," where big, kinetic action sequences might be alter- nated with quieter character moments. "I have a big giant chase scene in Episode 3," Tan said. "You could have a really meaning- ful conversation inside KB Toys, and, boom, suddenly she lifts off to super-crazy action and arrows and people fighting and jump- ing around." It was important, the editors said, to let the audience catch their breath. "We all have scenes like that, where there's giant action sequences, then we slow it down to something emotional," Tan said. "[The scenes] all come at different times, because they're all shot different days, and then we seamlessly put it together with score and music and our sound design." No matter which episode they were working on at a given moment, editors and assistant editors had to keep track of the series as a whole; a change to one epi- sode might impact elements in other episodes. "We definitely had to keep current and be con- stantly watching each other's episodes to be aware of what's happening," said first assis- tant editor Caroline Wang. In the end, millions em- braced "Hawkeye" — and the odds are, they'll continue to revisit the show. "There are go- ing to be people who are going to watch it next Christmas," Roche said. "It's such a good, smart idea." When it comes to a show as unique as this one, sometimes it's the smallest reactions that count the most. "A buddy of mine's kid is obsessed with 'Hawkeye,' so I gave him my postproduction sweatshirt," Roche said. "I wasn't there and they sent me a videotape, and he was in tears. I was like, 'This is the sweetest thing ever.'" ■ Peter Tonguette is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, National Review, and other publications. Rahul Das and Terel Gibson. P H OT O : M A R K E D WA R D S