Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1542296
50 C I N E M O N T A G E F E A T U R E er those. Typically, by the end of every week, we would send him a batch of things so he could take a look and give some feedback. Cooper: He'll be getting everything together and refining it, and then putting it into an order. Then, when they've done that, they will have time to start to assemble things. When the movie is over, we don't watch an assembly. [The editing team] may make it for themselves, but I never watch an assembly. We just start editing. Greene: We just started from the top and started working through it. We did a mix of Evercast [remote live collaboration] and in-person. We had a great spot that [video production service] Company 3 had set up for us. It was convenient for [Brad- ley], and it was quiet. … We just started moving through it. Cooper: We're in it together. It's a lot of pressure. You can feel the walls coming in when you're going down a road that doesn't seem to be working. If I've learned anything, it's that there's no path not worth pursuing. Because even if it doesn't work, it always enlightens something else. Closing a chapter on [one] idea helps the other idea be born. [Charlie and I] have the same philos- ophy about editing, and I think that's been the true gift. [With] all the tense moments we had on this movie, and having to edit it at a breakneck speed, it was just always fluid. That's the key. You have to be open. In the editing room, when there's tension, you can't create. CineMontage: Bradley, when Alex is on stage for the first time, the camera stays with him. It's almost like we're in his POV. Cooper: I always want to be looking at Will, or whoever the comedian is. We don't cut to people reacting. We're just with [the performers on stage], and we're not safe — just [like] the way it feels on stage. … Those kinds of choices are what scare a studio, and there were definitely conversations like, "Can't you just get a little ..." But no, we were really clear from the beginning that this is the way we wanted to shoot it. And luckily, it worked out because we shot this in 33 days. Greene: When we're so tight on Will, that was a continuous take of him doing a full [stand-up] set, and then he goes off- stage. The choice of the tight shot, the 1.66 aspect ratio — you're very much in his head. Up until that moment, you were starting to piece together what's going on with this couple [Alex and Tess]. You know every- thing is not all right, but [Alex] is really telling us what happened. It's like a therapy session. We don't have a lot of laughter there [from the crowd]. The crowds in those scenes were genuine crowds actually reacting to the stand-up material, be it Will or some of the other comics. We wanted to have this sense of silence. CineMontage: On the other hand, when Tess and her date Laird (played by Peyton Manning) show up at the Comedy Cellar and unexpectedly find themselves taking in one of Alex's sets, the camera really holds on Laura Dern's face. We see a range of emotions on her face: shock, anger, and, finally, a kind of fondness and sadness for Alex as she listens to his account of their marriage. Alex, of course, is ignorant that she's even there. Greene: She's so wonderful. She's doing several different things in that moment. You feel her character processing everything that's happened. Cooper: That whole sequence, starting from when [Alex] gets the call that he's going to go up, all the way to when we get them on the street corner outside the Cel- lar, was one of the most arduous editorial endeavors of the film — just rhythmically [and in] pacing. You hope you can achieve it, but you don't know. As one of the Coen Brothers said, "You get three chances to get it right: you write it, and you shoot it, and then you edit it." Some things don't work, but that did. Ideally, I wanted to stay on [Tess] the entire time, literally the whole time, but that was too much. So I was able to go back to [Alex]. Then, the second thought was, "Well, if I go back to him, maybe it's a conversation [between them]." [Tess] is looking camera left, and [Alex] is kind of talking to her camera right. He doesn't k n o w s h e's t h e re, b u t i t 's a l m o s t l i k e t w o s i n g l e s — p e o p l e h a v i n g a conversation together. CineMontage: Charlie, did the film change radically in post, or did you have a core set of strong assemblies for most scenes? Greene: There were certain sections where we had a good core assembly. Then, o n ce we h a d eve r y t h i n g to ge t h e r a n d started viewing the film — really, the macro of it — we started playing around with the structure. Bradley always talks about rhythm, and I've learned so much from him in terms of the pacing and how the dialogue bounces. His experience as an actor really lends itself to this, and he's very inventive. I noticed this on "Maestro," too. We can watch a few scenes or the whole film, and with each watch, he completely wipes his slate clean and can view it with fresh eyes. Cooper: Charlie is smooth — he's just smooth. You never see him sweat. He's such a wonderful person, a great guy to be in the hole with when you're exploring. There's no judgment. Every idea is worthwhile. … I really feel like I found somebody very like-minded in the editing room. He's a massive part of why the movie works. CineMontage: Charlie, what surprised you most about editing a film for the first time? Greene: I was surprised by how I reacted to certain things emotionally. When you're not in the chair [as the editor], you're a little bit removed from it. … I think having hands on it, you're so invested in it. We screened in L.A. for Searchlight at the Warner Bros. stage. I said to Bradley, "That played really well. It was actually very emotional for me." Not only was I ex- periencing it, but I was also experiencing it through others, through the audience. I guess I knew I might have that feeling, but I did not know how powerful it would be until I actually experienced it. ■ 'We shot this in 33 days.'