Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/462877
49 WINTER 2015 / CINEMONTAGE flash of cuts. "I got to do much more than the average assistant editor, yet avoided much of the political pressure of the guy in the chair," says Webber. "I got to be very creative, and Zene and Evan allow creative collaboration. Zene is all about mentoring his assistants and giving them opportunities to move up." Baker is a veteran editor of four Rogen- starring films, including Neighbors (2014) and This Is the End (2013), the latter of which Rogen directed. Of all, The Interview by far had the most footage. "For the written script, they chose one path, but had those other paths ready to try," he says. The picture logged up to 400 hours of footage, and the final interview scene between Kim and TV tabloid journalist Dave Skylark (James Franco) was 70 hours shot across many cameras, with at least 12 hours of scene material, according to the editors. The producers knew they needed the help of another editor to help cut the off-script material, which is when Henke was brought onto the film. "Zene said, 'Jump in!'" Henke recalls. "'Why don't you take a stab at reel one, and I will take a stab at reel two?' Rogen and Goldberg could go into Zene's room, work for three hours and give him notes, then come over to me and work on a different reel. We trusted each other." About co-editing, Baker adds, "I'm not an editor who's protective about my stuff. Yes, I cut things the way I want, and there's a good reason I cut them that way. But if you come up with something better, I'm not ashamed or afraid to admit you topped me. And it makes the product better." His philosophy is that there is no room for ego when collaborating with other editors. "We are all in a really magical business where we get to facilitate entertaining people," Baker says. The Interview contains a pertinent visual gag for editors. In the climactic scene, a fight breaks out in the control room with Rappaport battling an angry, finger-biting, North Korean videotech operator (presumably non-union) who wants to cut the live feed. As they are wrestling over the video switcher, they bump the controls that cause the camera switching to go haywire, and Rappaport is screaming not only in defense of his life but to make sure Sook gets to the controls in time to "switch to Camera 3!" Then a button is pushed that triggers a series of star wipes — the editor's most obnoxious possible transition! The film may be a goo all comedy, but it does have its moments where some messages get through, along with some inside jokes for those of us in post-production. Winning the battle at the end, Rappaport shouts, "Don't f *ck with my angles!" At least he is standing up for the rights of all editors and technical directors. f The Interview, Sony Pictures Entertainment.