Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1492834
the battle at the end, I sent it to Antoine. First of all, I was unbelievably blown away by the material that they shot in all of ten days for that end battle. How they choreo- graphed that was reminiscent to me very much of [D.W. Griffith's] "Birth of a Nation," and absolutely beautiful. Structurally, I put that together pretty easily. That was the least challenging area of the film. When I sent it to Antoine, he said, "Don't change a frame." And then, he sent back, "Well, there's one little area where Peter shoots one of the Confederate soldiers that I'd like you to adjust." Other than that, it's intact. CineMontage: The film was photo- graphed by Robert Richardson, ASC, who created a look that primarily reads as black-and-white but has occasional sparks of color. Buff: I was receiving dailies that pretty much looked like what the final film looked like. Rob Legato, our visual effects super- visor and second-unit director, and Bob collaborated on how to define the look. It's unique, I've never seen it before. They could shoot in color but basically desaturate it, and then bring out, to whatever degree they wanted, color in isolated areas. CineMontage: How did you approach the long passage of Peter on the run follow- ing his escape? It relies on the physicality of Will's performance, because there's not very much dialogue, and it's largely from his point-of-view. Buff: That was the most difficult area for me, frankly. There was a good amount o f m a te r i a l i n v a r i o u s e nv i ro n m e n t s. There was a certain progression script- wise that was designed, but again, very subjective amount of material, more docu- mentary-like. . . . My first cut of that second act basically was just so fat and, honestly, at times, tedious. I had to figure out how to parallel the stories up of Fassel, the family, and Peter. How do I add tension? How do I let it breathe because there's so much room for enjoying the environment and just the action? That took the most time — to finally arrive at a balance that worked. It was impossible to record any kind of sound for a lot of it, given what the situation was, so a lot of it's MOS [i.e., was shot with no synchronous audio track]. I have to credit [supervising sound editor and re-recording mixer] Dave Esparza, [supervising sound editor] Mandell Winter, and [re-recording mixer] Steve Pederson for elevating it way beyond what I constructed. Sonically, it's just a beautiful, beautiful job of Foley and backgrounds and details, sound effects. . . . [Before their work], we're looking at people running through swamps with no footsteps, no water, no mosquitoes. To make that come alive was great fun to work on, in spite of the dark material. CineMontage: Since so much of this sequence is without dialogue, was it like cutting a silent movie? Buff: Well, a lot of times, even in a dialogue situation, I will turn the sound off and just watch the pattern. Do I like the visual and editorial structure? It really helps sometimes just to kill the sound — I know what the dialogue is — and just see the arrangement visually, cinematically, not being driven by anything sonically. ["Emancipation"] is certainly one of the first times in years that I've had that much MOS material. CineMontage: What do you hope audi- ences take from "Emancipation"? Buff: The realities of what did go on — maybe not literally, because this is a dramatized film — but those types of expe- riences that people endured, and that kind of hatred and treatment, that still goes on. We're still trying to overcome a lot of that, not only in the U.S. but internationally. CineMontage: Was it draining to edit the film? Buff: Yes, for sure. I'm divorcing myself to a degree, being an objective filmmaker/ editor. I think it was much more difficult for the production crew. I know production was very sensitive to the fact that the subject matter was a challenge. In the call sheets there were notes that if anyone would like support or help on a daily basis — this was offered during the making of the film. Because I'm somewhat detached from the physical production in this case, it might've been a lot easier for me to deal with. It's tough stuff. ■ Peter Tonguette is a freelance writer who specializes in filmed entertainment. 'It helps just to kill the sound and see everything visually.' 28 C I N E M O N T A G E F E A T U R E A scene from "Emancipation." P H OT O : A P P L E T V +