Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1492834
T H E G U I L D ' S M E M O R I A L R O L L C A L L picture — and the studio became nervous about the relatively inexperienced editors. "Ron went to bat for us," Hanley said. "He came up with an angle, saying, 'Hey, why don't we bring on this old MGM editor, Bob Kern, as a supervisor? He won't be able to cut much, but he can keep an eye on these two guys.' And the studio said, 'OK.'" Howard said that due to the editors' efforts, "Night Shift" was released some six months ahead of schedule. "Because the film came so quickly, in a miraculous three-and-a-half weeks from the time we wrapped, we had virtually what our final cut was going to be," Howard said. "The studio loved it, and it tested really well." Thus began one of the longest-lasting partnerships in postproduction. "I had to fight for them as a team on 'Splash,'" said Howard, referring to his first film after "Night Shift." "But I really loved their chemistry." Hanley and Hill proved their bona fides on their next film with Howard, "Cocoon": The editors winnowed a three-hour cut of the film to releasable length. "It was solid — no one was in a panic — but we knew it couldn't live at three hours," Howard said. "[Producers] Richard and Lili [Zanuck] and David Brown all went away for their Christmas break, . . . and we dug in over Christmas and took 55 minutes out of the movie. There was a tremendous amount of experimentation, but a lot of creativity: combining scenes, finding ways to meld two scenes into one in a really effective way." Howard knew he had found his editorial team for years to come. "I just knew Dan and Mike had some- thing special together — individually both incredibly talented guys who did work on their own from time to time," Howard said. "From then on, I felt our working relation- ship was something to build upon." Hanley and Hill would each cut their own scenes, but because they were both so attuned to the film's underlying style and theme, no one would be able to tell who cut what. "Something clicked," Hanley said. "A couple people have said: 'How did that even work that you put three people together and they just clicked?' Well, it just seemed like the director and the film dictates the sensibility, so our cuts really shouldn't look that different between scenes." The pair went by instinct in deciding who cut what on a given movie. "The first scene would come in," Hanley said. "We'd look at each other and say, 'Do you want it?' 'Well, what's coming in next?' 'You mind taking this one? I'll take the next one.' . . . He got to cut the first round of that fight scene, so I would cut the next round. It fell into a natural rhythm in dividing up the scenes." Among the highlights of their collabo- ration, Hanley said, were the racing scenes in Howard's Formula One movie "Rush" (2013), for which they received a BAFTA Award; and the long dialogue scenes in "Frost/Nixon," starring Michael Sheen as David Frost and Frank Langella as Rich- ard Nixon. Howard praises Hill's interventions in a fight scene in "Cinderella Man." "Mike went back to work on it and just suddenly it had the intensity, it had the emotion that I was looking for," Howard said. "He said he started experimenting, and he was using fragments — frames — from seven different camera angles on a single punch. It was imperceptible. Once I understood what he was doing, I could fol- low it, but it was so organic by appearances and yet so artfully achieved." "Mike was a humble, generous guy," Hanley said." "His ego never got in the way. His ego was about getting the best cut. If there was any competition, it was just about making sure your scenes looked as good as the other guy's, or you didn't let your partner down." Added Howard: "If they really were changing anything, or really making any big bold revisions, they'd always share it be- tween themselves. They had a lot of respect for each other." After working together as usual on How- ard's "In the Heart of the Sea" (2015), Hill received a diagnosis of COP (cryptogenic organizing pneumonia) and, at that time, he decided it was time to retire. Hanley co-edited Howard's next picture, "Inferno" (2016), with Tom Elkins, ACE, before retir- ing himself. "I wouldn't have had it any other way," Hanley said of a lifetime of collaborating with Hill. "After Mike passed, I had never felt like this before. You don't know what you've lost until it's gone." In addition to his wife, Hill, who relocat- ed to his native Omaha in 1988, is survived by his daughter, Jesica; son-in-law, Bran- don; and sisters, Nancy Walter and Vicki Henderson. His brother, Ken Hill, preceded him in death. — Peter Tonguette NOTE: The next issue of CineMontage will contain a tribute to Donn Cambern, ACE, who died on January 18. 53 S P R I N G Q 1 I S S U E I N M E M O R I A M STANFORD ALLEN ON CALL EDITOR FEBRUARY 10, 1941 – DECEMBER 16, 2022 54 YEARS A MEMBER YALE "HUCK" PENZELL NEGATIVE ASSEMBLY JAN. 3, 1962 – DEC. 26, 2022 28 YEARS A MEMBER FREDRIC JUDKINS SOUND EDITOR MAY 9, 1953 – DEC. 17, 2022 45 YEARS A MEMBER