Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/681807
39 Q2 2016 / CINEMONTAGE Rexach, who has been Wilcox's assistant editor for two years. "The 2016 version feels like you're right there with everybody, and those events are happening to you," says Rexach, who adds that one of the biggest challenges was to distance himself from his 2016 mentality. "I tried to get into a mindset where I'm not judging these characters, or bringing my 21st century cultural baggage to how these characters would react, because it's an unthinkable situation." For Wilcox, it was an opportunity to bring his cultural background to the project: "This sense of where our people have come from, what our journey has been, how to appreciate what our ancestors went through, and how strong we must be to endure what happened during that period." Night Three Neil Mandelberg, ACE, Editor Victoria Grimsley, Assistant Editor Thomas Carter, Director A t its heart, Night Three is about the attempt to stay together as a family but ultimately being pulled apart. "It's certainly not as physically brutal an episode as it is psychologically brutal; it's actually the most intimate of the four. It takes place on a smaller plantation run by Tom Lea, a poor landowner who fathered Chicken George because he regularly raped his mother Kizzy," offers editor Neil Mandelberg. While Nights One and Two are the story of Kinte, Nights Three and Four take the audience through the life of his grandson Chicken George. In Night Three, Chicken George seems to have it easier than the other slaves because he's not toiling out in the fields in the blazing sun. Instead he's training birds and traveling to cockfights with his master — the outcome of which will change his life forever. Director Thomas Carter, who is known for his sports films, treated the cockfighting scenes like sports coverage, according to assistant editor Victoria Grimsley, who says that those scenes were the most artistic — and the most challenging — part of the episode. "They're really flashy with quick cuts and a lot of speed ramps going from fast to slow, and fast again," she explains. "Most of them were shot in slow motion so Neil could make them regular speed or slow them down again." Grimsley also reveals that there was a lot of footage to wade through for this episode. Not only were there many takes because of the variable frame rates, but also because of the difficulties of filming a cockfight. "Birds are not supposed to connect [their feet are not supposed to touch one another] so they'd have to reshoot," she says. "And then the birds would get tired and they'd have to switch them out for new birds." "Because our script, director and cast delivered strong characters and performances, the most significant challenge we faced in Night Three, aside from the cockfights, was the movie's length," Mandelberg explains. "The length was longer than we hoped for and because this is a historical film, you can't just chop, you have to let it live. Our challenge was finding the best length movie we could without giving up pieces of these characters and their story that are so important to the growth and arc of their lives, which in our case continues CONTINUED ON PAGE 54 Susana Benaim, assistant editor, and David Beatty, editor, Night Four.