Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1545125
37 S U M M E R Q 2 I S S U E F E A T U R E to prove his innocence to the advanced AI judge, Maddox (Rebecca Ferguson), whom he once helped create, before she deter- mines his fate. Nguyen and Keeling, along with third editor Dody Dorn ("Memento") and their team of assistant editors, helped def ine the f ilm's immersive visual lan- guage, blending live action and animation in nearly every frame and pushing the boundaries of sci-fi storytelling through innovative intercutting, POV work, and depth-of-field manipulation. Nguyen (whose previous credits include Sundance selections "Emergency" and "R#J") and Keeling (Sony's screen-life thrillers "Searching" and "Missing") were d e e p l y i nv o l v e d f ro m p re - p ro d u c t i o n through final delivery. They collaborated closely with director Timur Bekmambetov and nearly every department on the film, including visual effects, music, and the sound team led by sound supervisor Robert Mackenzie, to ensure every editorial choice was intentional and narrative-driven. C i n e M o n t a g e c a u g h t u p w i t h t h e post team to discuss how this unusually immersive, editor-driven process helped them shape the carefully crafted story of "Mercy" — a decidedly human one, despite being about AI. CineMontage: How did you and the team approach the unique challenges of this film? Robert Mackenzie: Timur was collab- orative and interested in what sound could bring to the table. As a sound department, we wrote up what we called the "Mercy Manifesto," a rulebook for everyone that i n c l u d e d e v e r y t h i n g T i m u r h a d b e e n discussing about the world of "Mercy," because it's so different for us, a different way of storytelling. This screen-life process was daunting when Timur described it, but he was really excited about it and helped us all stay on the same page as we figured this thing out, because it was both a technical and a creative challenge. Austin Keeling: Lam and I both came on very early in production. It was three months before principal photography began, so we were engaged pretty early on, meeting with Timur every day and tasked right away with creating a pre-vis of the film using a table read Chris Pratt had done, Robert Mackenzie. EDITORS: Lam T. Nguyen, Austin Keeling.