Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1543164
53 S P R I N G Q 1 I S S U E CALLAHAN CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15 It's no surprise that right-wing politicians and the billionaires they serve want us weakened, or, better yet, eliminated. As our local takes on a greater role in the public sphere, some of our members will not agree with all — or, in some cases, even any — of the stances our union takes. That's OK. A healthy union needs to brook debate and dissent. But when individual members object to the union's taking a political posi- tion and insist that the organization instead ought to stick strictly to "union business," they need to realize that democracy and justice are, in fact, central, not incidental, to union business. It's not incumbent upon our little local or even our international union to figure out how to defeat authoritarianism. But it is im- perative that we join with our union kin and FRANKENSTEIN CONTINUED FROM PAGE 37 mo." I don't think there's a shot that reads as slow-mo, but there are tons in the film that technically are. CineMontage: So he'll shoot a high frame rate, and in post, you nudge it where you want it? Schiff: Yeah. He basically shoots at 36. We don't do much in the middle. Plenty of shots from 36 go straight back to 24, but in key moments where you want more time or elegance, we keep 36, mixed with 24, and it's seamless. CineMontage: This was a very large production. Schiff: The tricky part narratively was the schedule. We did stage work first in Toronto, then a month of miniatures in London, then Scotland for the manor hous- es and the exterior of Victor's mansion. We have characters walking from Scotland into Toronto. Some pieces were four months apart. Of the movies I've cut, this is the one where the holes in the timeline lived the longest, things slotted in all over the place right up to the last minute. The challenge was watching the film and sensing: What do we still need? How's the pace? Are any story parts missing? And doing all that while holes kept popping up. CineMontage: What else was a challenge? Or what are you most proud of that you'll take to the next project? Schiff: The scene where the creature finds out where he came from and who he is. It's quiet and not long but very moving to me. It got shorter but hasn't fundamentally changed since my assembly. We spent a lot of time on the creature creation, the body-assembly montage, and the montage of Oscar with Elizabeth while William goes to the tower. Guillermo values editorial so much that he wants to be there every step. This edit was done together, 100 percent. End of day, he'd take a QuickTime home; I'd go home and dream about cuts; we'd talk the next morning. He doesn't really want surprises — just lots of discussion about what we need, how to boil it down, and keep moving. The whole movie was essentially cut during what would normally be the assembly, so we didn't have a separate editor's cut. We had a director's cut, but it was already far along. Most of the crucial creative decisions happened during the shoot (it's a blur now) between me, Guill- ermo, and Dan. Guillermo would go home and rewrite. We got to the quadruple or quintuple salmon-colored pages on script revisions. After wrap, there were a couple big changes, but mostly it was making a big, epic movie shorter without compromising. CineMontage: That's always the challenge. Schiff: One thing I learned on "Pan's Labyrinth" watching him: when the movie works, how do you deliver a shorter version while keeping what you love? There are tips, tricks, cheats — editor tools I picked up that helped here. While we were in Scotland, we had a trailer they'd tow around set so I could be as close as possible. We'd get there super early. The shoot lasted about six weeks, very mobile through Scotland and England. We cut with him early and on weekends. Back in LA, we didn't do preview screenings; we screened for other directors whom Guiller- mo is friends with. You can imagine the list. We s p e n t t h re e d a y s w i t h A l f o n s o Cuarón on Zoom, scene by scene. He gave a great gut check: "Do you need this? I don't understand that. Can you cut these story points and still get it across?" He had a great note on the creature creation: add more tension about whether the lightning will hit exactly where it needs to, to power the batteries and the creature. We had miniature exteriors from London. We added a few, made them nighttime and rainy, and modified them to fit Cuaron's suggestion. It helped a ton with the tension of, "Is it going to happen?" Something else that we went back and forth on: where to start the creature's story, and how much overlap with events you've already seen. You don't want to repeat footage. We shot the scene with the creature surrounded by fire and exploding batteries two ways: from Victor's POV and from the creature's. While shooting in Toronto, we discussed the best place to start the story and decided it was where the creature really has to fend for himself because of a deadly threat. That was the right place to jump back to without feeling repetitive. CineMontage: His way of working really seems to define the final film as much as anything. Schiff: There's always some controlled chaos around that man! ■ with allied organizations in a popular front to preserve democracy in the workplace and in society at large. Despots, oligarchs, and their enablers all want us out of the way. But they're not going to find us sitting out this fight. ■ Rob Callahan is Director of Organizing for Local 700.