Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1530454
OUTLOOK FILMMAKING A quick look in the rear-view mirror reveals a trying past year or so for Hollywood, what with fallout from the strikes and labor disputes, still-sparse post-COVID theatre audiences, competi- tion from streamers and the potential biggest disruptor of all: AI. Yet despite such problems, movies are being made, and thanks to some monster (pun intended) summer hits — Deadpool & Wolverine, Inside Out 2, Despicable Me 4, Dune: Part Two, Godzilla x Kong, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice — Hollywood is a lot happier these days after a slow start to the year and such disappointing misfires as Joker: Folie a Deux, Furiosa, The Fall Guy, Madame Web, Megalopolis, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire and Horizon: An American Saga. Here, some leading directors talk about the challeng- es of post, and their views on the future of the industry and AI. DENIS VILLENEUVE: Dune, Dune: Part Two, Blade Runner 2049, Arrival, Sicario, Prisoners The French-Canadian filmmaker began his career making low-budget indie French- language dramas, including Incendies, which earned an Oscar nomination for Best International Feature Film. He then transitioned into making acclaimed English-language thrillers, such as Sicario, before embracing ambitious, provocative sci-fi films, culminating in the blockbuster Oscar-winning Dune franchise. STRENGTHS: "I love all aspects of post and I adore editing — so much so that if I was not a director, I would be an editor. It's one of my favorite parts of the whole filmmaking process, to have all the alpha- bet in front of me, and to then have the time to assemble all the pieces and sculpt the movie. For Dune: Part Two it was just me and my editor, Joe Walker, at his house, where we set up an editing suite, and we worked for nearly a year like that, and it's something that I could do forever. I absolutely adore cutting a movie." WEAKNESSES: "I think that the big weakness is the uncertainty of the whole structure, especially in terms of how visual effects are done and how they have to be farmed out all over the world these days. And making sure that communication be- tween departments is always good. That is a challenge, and you can have problems on these big films full of complex visual effects. The answer? I make sure I'm always working with great people." OPPORTUNITIES: "For me, editing gives you so many opportunities, and I love everything about the editing process. It is my job to make sure that we have all the shots we need in the editing room and all the visual ingredients to bring the movie to life. But there's something else that comes in the post process that always has a tremendous firepower, which is the music. One of my closest colleagues is an artist that I absolutely love working with — composer Hans Zimmer — who brings incredible elements and ideas to the score. For Dune: Part Two we used this new instrument called an Osmose, along with a great synthesizer program, to get these amazing sounds. And that is something that, not being a musician myself, I'm always amazed by. It brings a tremendous amount of power and strength to the movie, especially as that comes a bit later in the process." THREATS: "There's a lot of talk about AI as a great tool that may really help DIRECTORS S.W.O.T. BY IAIN BLAIR Timothée Chalamet with director Denis Villeneuve on the set of Dune: Part Two. The Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats facing leading filmmakers