Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1547041
deal that J.J. Abrams made. Then we eventually moved to Warner Bros." When did you start working more closely with the director? "We were in a scenario where the di- rector and I were at Warner Bros., and my crew was still at Bad Robot in Santa Monica, so we were in Burbank because David lives in that area. He didn't want to do the commute, and I was very glad not to have to do the commute. At the same time, I was disappointed that my crew was separated from me. But there's software called LucidLink…and we're ba- sically sharing an Avid project remotely. It was pretty amazing how it worked." Is Avid your preferred editing system? "Yeah, I think Avid is definitely the indus- try standard in Hollywood. I know that (Adobe) Premiere is very popular, espe- cially in indies, commercials and whatnot, but I learned Avid in 1991, so I was right at the infancy of digital editing in general. And at the time, there was probably 10 competing platforms." Editors seem to really like the ScriptSync feature? "It [lines the script up] with all the takes, and I can basically compare a line read- ing for all the takes in the movie. So, if you shoot 10 takes, and then the actor does it several times within the take, it's all lined up, and it's a great organization- al tool. Especially when you're working with directors that really want to analyze performance, which most do. For that reason alone, I'm a die-hard for Avid. At this stage of my career, I don't want to do another platform." There are quite a few scenes where VFX are front and center, and other scenes where subtle visual effects appear in the background. What scene would you point to as a highlight? "(I'd) say it's a sequence rather than a scene, but the sequence when Ewan is out exploring the neighborhood, looking for the family dog. The kids are still at home, and they see something out the window. There's a whole series of scenes. Anne Hathaway's character, Denise, is going to look after the older lady, Mrs. Huddleston. What was nice about it is, it was very modular, because there are dif- ferent pieces to this whole sequence as they're discovering that they're not still in their old environment. "I was able to move things around. We're able to say, 'Well, let's move Ewan walking and put it here, and then when Anne Hathaway is going in the house, let's delay that a bit.' And what's on the page, written in the script, is great, but then editing is a final rewrite. You are dealing with so many factors, such as actor per- formances and the way it's shot and the pacing, so that way you can move things around. That did require a lot of moving pieces, and I felt we really got to a good place with how it was structured. "And then with the visual effects, literally, we're dealing with visual effects stunt guys wearing these gray suits and carrying a stick that has a dinosaur head on it. I'm so impressed (with) how the actors reacted to something that clearly wasn't there, but using their imagination and acting prowess. "And then, of course, we deal with the post vis. That informs us, 'Okay, maybe we want to spend a little more time in this shot because of the creatures.' Or maybe I held this shot too long, and we gotta get out of it, so there's always a give and take. It's constantly evolving." www.postmagazine.com 13 POST SEPT/OCT 2026 The feature was shot in Atlanta, but post took place in LA. ILM created the film's visual effects. Editing was performed using Avid systems.