Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/637797
34 CINEMONTAGE / Q1 2016 As with Birdman, rehearsals were blocked, but there were many more moving pieces to play with. "The challenge of the opening battle was point of view," Mirrione adds. "If you spent the entire battle as one long take, then it becomes monotonous." Therefore, they found ways of changing the emotional point of view from realism to more abstract moments. The much talked-about bear attack contains even greater intensity and sublimity, creating empathy for both the grizzly, which was a mother protecting her cubs, and Leonardo DiCaprio's fur trapper Hugh Glass, who emerges from the death grip as a more spiritually aware person. "The level of complexity to the cut and the storytelling increased exponentially," Mirrione explains. "We had a mountain of technical challenges to climb in order to accomplish something that I hope comes across as poetic and expressive in the editing. I'm proud to have been part of a team who worked so hard to create such a powerful and realistic portrayal. The opportunity to work with such a high level of artistry regarding the images, sound, music and performances gave us so much freedom in the cut and power in the ability to shape emotion; I really hope that's one of the things that people are connecting with." McArdle provided clarity and restraint to the fact-based journalism procedural Spotlight (his fifth collaboration with director Tom McCarthy). The challenge was juggling shifting points of view between Michael Keaton's editor and his three Spotlight reporters, played by Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams and Brian d'Arcy. "We tried to stay focused on the investigation," McArdle recalls. "It was important to keep the film moving, to keep the scenes tight and to make sure things were clear for the audience. We had screenings every three weeks and tried to track what information people were following and what they were missing. We would then make adjustments to the cut to help with clarity." And the film was true to the investigation, providing an inside glimpse into the particular tension between insiders and outsiders at the newspaper and within the larger community, with the Roman Catholic Church at the epicenter of power. "A challenge with Spotlight was to take a film about reporters making phone calls, knocking on doors and making spreadsheets, and to keep it interesting — and to make it feel suspenseful. As an editor, you work hard so that every beat feels right and there isn't one unnecessary moment," McArdle concludes. Although Star Wars: The Force Awakens contains the same spirit of fun and adventure as the first trilogy, the objective for co-editors Brandon and Markey — ACE Eddie nominees as well — was to avoid imitating the same cutting style as the other films in the franchise. This was the mandate of director J.J. Abrams to his long-time editorial team. "All we had to do was to be sensitive to that, choose the right pieces of film, and keep it alive in the cutting," explains Markey. "Because of the way Maryann and I split up the film — I cut both the beginning and the end — I have to say both were challenges. We actually struggled with that very short scene in the hut of Lor San Tekka [Max von Sydow]. It was originally shot to be a longer scene, but we had concerns about whether we were spending too much time with a character who was shortly to depart the story, and creating too much delay getting to the heart of things. J.J. shot some material so we could shorten the scene and show Oscar Isaac's Maryann Brandon. Tom McArdle.