Art of the Cut

Today on Art of the Cut we speak with Oscar-winning editor, Mikkel E.G. Nielsen, ACE, about his work on Martin McDonagh’s Wild Horse 9.Mikkel’s been on Art of the Cut before for Banshees of Inisherin, for which he was nominated for an Oscar, a BAFTA and an ACE Eddie. He was also on for Sound of Metal for which he won an Oscar and was nominated for a BAFTA and an ACE Eddie. His other work includes Beasts of No Nation, Hamlet, and A Royal Affair. Our discussion today includes when to hold back music from a scene, the benefits of working with a director a second time, and restructuring based on emotion. You can read along with this interview and see the clip that Mikkel discusses at the end of the podcast by visiting the BorisFX blog site:borisfx.com/blog/aotc

Today on Art of the Cut we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Best Picture Oscar-winning classic from 1976, Rocky. The film also won an Oscar for its director, John Avildsen. And for Best Editing for its editors, Richard Halsey, ACE and Scott Conrad, ACE.This interview is with Richard Halsey – and you’ll occasionally hear from Richard’s wife, Colleen, who is also an A.C.E. film editor. Richard was nominated for an Emmy and an ACE Eddie for editing Pirates of Silicon Valley and an ACE Eddie for the film Coast to Coast. In 2014 ACE gave him the Career Achievement Award in Editing for a career that included such classics as American Gigolo, Moscow on the Hudson, Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Beaches, and Edward Scissorhands – which he edited with his wife, Colleen.Today’s discussion is about cutting the film’s famous training montages, the shocking revelation that one of the film’s most famous shots is in reverse, and swapping out the film’s original ending in post.You can read along with this interview and see the trailer and photos at the BorisFX blog site:borisfx.com/blog/aotc

Today on Art of the Cut, we speak with the editors of Amazon Prime’s Spider Noir. In two separate interviews we first spoke to Jennifer Barbot, ACE, then to Geraud Brisson, ACE, and Eric Kissack, ACE. Jennifer Barbot cut the series finale of Amazon Prime’s Lucky. Her other work includes Dope Thief, Your Honor, Raised by Wolves, and Man in the High Castle.Geraud has been on Art of the Cut before for Coda and for Lessons in Chemistry, for which he was nominated for an ACE Eddie. His other work includes the recently released film Being Heumann, the film Camp X-Ray, and the TV series, Shogun.Eric has been on Art of the Cut before for his work on The Studio, on which he also worked as a producer. His other work includes Pam & Tommy, The Good Place, VEEP, and Horrible Bosses 2. Todays discussion includes the creativity of the Emmy-winning sound of a different kind of Spider, the advantages of collaborating in person, and the importance of temping voices with the right cadence.If you'd like to read long with this podcast and see the trailer, images of the editors and images from the show, check out the BorisFX blog site:borisfx.com/blog/aotc

Today on Art of the Cut we speak with the editors of the HBO series, Lanterns, which recently had its season finale.We spoke with Emily Greene, ACE, Matthew Colonna, ACE, and supervising editor, Vikash Patel.Vikash - or Viks - has been on the show before for Black Rabbit and Ozark. He was nominated for Emmys for both those shows. He also won an Emmy for Top Chef. Viks’ other work includes The Sympathizer, The Morning Show, and Jack Ryan.Emily was nominated for an Emmy and an ACE Eddie for American Crime Story. Her other work includes Foundation, The Blacklist, Percy Jackson and The Olympians, and Mrs. America.Matt is an Emmy nominee for Dexter. His other work includes, It: Welcome to Derry, Narcos, and Friday Night Lights.Our discussion covers the dangers or remote work, developing the aesthetic of a series in the pilot, and editing multiple versions of a scene to test the right tone.If you'd like to read along with this podcast and see images of the post team, check out the BorisFX blog.borisfx.com/blog/aotc

Today on Art of the Cut e speak with Conor O’Neill and Oscar-winning editor Stephen Mirrione, ACE, about editing Alejandro Inarritu’s Digger.Stephen’s been on Art of the Cut before for F1 and The Revenant, for which he was nominated for an Oscar award BAFTA and an ACE Eddie. He was nominated for another BAFTA  and an ACE Eddie for Birdman. He was nominated for an Oscar and a BAFTA and won an ACE Eddie for Babel.He also WON the Oscar and was nominated for a BAFTA and an ACE Eddie for editing Traffic. Conor has edited numerous documentaries including Cobain: Montage of Heck, Capitalism: A Love Story, and Crossfire Hurricane for which he was nominated for an Emmy. He was additional editor on Moneyball and was an editor on the TV series Lioness. He also won the special jury prize at Sundance for the editing of MurderballToday’s discussion includes the value of screening dailies with the director and other H.O.D.s, how Hamnet influenced Digger, and what NOT to say in a job interview.If you want to read along with this podcast, and see actual before and after screenshots of the Avid timelines of certain scenes, go to the BorisFX blog:borisfx.com/blog/aotc

Today on Art of the Cut, we speak with Oscar-nominated editor Dody Dorn, ACE, about her work on David Ayer’s film, Heart of the Beast.Dody’s been on Art of the Cut before for Power Rangers and Army of the Dead. Her other work includes Memento, for which she was nominated for an Oscar, Fury, and Insomnia, among many other film and TV shows.Today’s discussion includes things like re-purposing the end of the movie to be the new beginning, the editing challenges of a dog co-star, and placing flashbacks for maximum emotional and story value.If you want to read along with the podcast, you can check out the blog which also has images and featurettes and the trailer. It's on the BorisFX blog site:borisfx.com/blog/aotc

Today on Art of the Cut, we speak with Oscar-nominated editor Christopher Tellefsen, ACE, about his work on The Whisper Man.Chris has been on Art of the Cut before for The Menu, The Many Saints of Newark, A Quiet Place, and Assassin’s Creed. He has an Oscar nomination for Money Ball. He has ACE Eddie nominations for The Menu, Joy, Money Ball, Analyze This, and Man on the Moon. Chris was an assistant editor to legendary editor, Thelma Schoonmaker.A discussion of how The Whisper Man was radically re-shaped to speed the story and establish its thriller tone, plus developing a rhythm of the story beats to strengthen emotional revelations, and much more.If you want to, you can reac along with this interview and see the trailer and images from the film on BorisFX's blog site:borisfx.com/blog/aotc.

Today on Art of the Cut, the Emmy-winning editors for Best Picture Editing for a Nonfiction Program: Sean Combs: The Reckoning, a four part doc-series from Netflix. Interviewed for the project were Charles Divak, ACE, Jeremy Siefer, ACE, Evan Wise, ACE, and Benjamin Kast, ACE. Unable to join in the call were editors Adam Goldstein, ACE, Jack Gravina, ACE, and Jonathan Miller. Charles Divak has been on Art of the Cut in the past for Chimp Crazy, for which he was nominated for an Emmy and won an ACE Eddie. His other work includes Full Frontal with Samantha Bee for which he was nominated for an Emmy, and The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth, for which he was nominated for an ACE Eddie.Jeremy Siefer’s previous work includes HBO’s Storm Over Brooklyn, Netflix’s Blood Brothers: Malcolm X & Muhammad Ali, and Showtime’s Bronx Obama.Evan Wise has been on Art of the Cut in the past for Chimp Crazy for which he was nominated for an Emmy and won an ACE Eddie. His other work includes Q: Into the Storm, for which he was nominated for an Emmy, and The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth for which he was nominated for an ACE Eddie.Benjamin Kast is a previous ACE Eddie nominee for The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth. His other work includes the HBO docu-series, Monsters of God, and The Britney Griner Story.Today’s discussion includes how the structure of the series evolved, the remote workflow, and the editorial strategies used to clarify a complex story.If you'd like to read along with this podcast, check out the BorisFX blog site:borisfx.com/blog/aotc

Today on Art of the Cut, the Emmy-winning editors for Best Picture Editing for a Limited Series: Kevin Ross, ACE and Max Koepke (KEP-key) and their HBO series, DTF St. Louis.Kevin has been on Art of the Cut in the past for his work on Stranger Things for which he was an Emmy and ACE Eddie nominee. His other work includes Yellowjackets and Halt and Catch Fire, among others.Max has also been on Art of the Cut before for his work on Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty and Chad Powers, among others.Today’s discussion is of topics including manipulating the chronological story to improve the storytelling, working with a showrunner who is also the director and writers, and the value of editing a the same scene with two different intentions.You can read along with this interview if you want and see images and the trailer from the series on the BorisFX.com blog site:borisfx.com/blog/aotc

Today on Art of the Cut, Carsten KoorPANek discusses the editing of a film that is very unusual: Coyote versus Acme. Firstly, it’s a combination of live action and animation, and second, the studio decided not to release it after it was already completed. Only years later did another company swoop in and buy the distribution rights and decide to release the film that had been languishing in a vault for almost three years. Kurpanek has edited numerous films, including Rambo: Last Blood, Escape Plan 2: Hades, and an episode of the TV series Eastsiders. He also was a previs editor on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.Today’s discussion includes topics like the benefits of “prevising” an entire movie, the iterative process that shapes a film, and the scene that was scripted for the middle of the film but ended up as the inciting incident.You can read along with this podcast and see images from Carsten's edit suite and post production process as well as the trailer and a clip from the film on the borisfx blog site:borisfx.com/blog/aotc