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Talent on Tap – Holly Pavlik – Explaining Final Cut From A Dark Room

Moving pictures was the term they used to describe movies. After all, they were black and white, and they were silent. These days, films have advanced so much that it’s sometimes hard to tell real from a visual effect. The sound is now surround and is just as important as the visual in terms of immersing oneself in the story, the film and Action! The storylines have gotten stronger, more interesting and some tell of true events, mystery, romance, action, comedy and action/thriller. We need our films for escapism – to help us forget about the daily grind, the lovers quarrel, the stresses life can bring, but sometimes we go to celebrate a special moment with our kids too. Animated film has made leaps and bounds with extraordinary box office sales and they’re not slowing down. 

 

As an audience member enjoying a film as the story unfolds, I want to be sold on the characters, the plot and the visual effects. I really want to believe it’s all happening, even if it’s only for an hour and a half. It’s all the time my mind needs for a reset, especially if popcorn was being inhaled (unrelated to popcorn lung). When the credits roll, everyone gets up and leaves the theatre, however I believe it’s the time we should all remain seated and begin clapping. Clapping for all the incredible talent listed on the screen – that made the film so enjoyable. It’s easy to forget that it took 1000 people working long hours, multiple locations, the contracts, the lawyers, the casting decisions and all the editing required to cut it, colour it, lock it and present it to the masses. The editors are the unsung heroes of the film industry. They are tasked with putting all the ingredients together, to complete the vision that a writer started with while standing in the shower and having the curtain ripped open by his dog – startling him so much that it planted a seed for a blockbuster story. It’s called movie magic for good reason and I wanted to recognize an editor that has made tremendous contributions to the film industry, Vancouver’s own – Holly Pavlik.

 

Holly Pavlik is a film editor experienced in both live-action and animation. Her credits range from Marvel Knights’ animated series Ultimate Wolverine VS Hulk to The Seahorse Trainer (live-action), feature films – Men In Black International, Jumanji, Suicide Squad and The Kingsman (The Golden Circle) and numerous other works that have screened around the world earning her multiple wins and nominations for Best Visual Effects and Best Editing.  

Holly admits that film editing is not for everyone. You’re locked in a dark room for 13 hrs a day, you’re alone and your creative skills are ignited. In speaking with Holly, she admits that she loves it all and is so comfortable working alone in the dark until the picture is locked! She takes great pride in being part of the process and has worked    at visual effects facilities, such as Sony Pictures Imageworks, Method Studios and others. 

 

Holly co-produced/co-wrote/co-directed season 1 of the animated web series Under the HUD, picking up 6 awards in the 2014 web festival circuit. The first of its kind to use Kinect as a motion capture device, the series won Merging Media 5’s Viewer’s Pick Contest and was invited to showcase at the 2014 conference in Vancouver. Holly also co-produced The Seahorse Trainer which earned 13 awards and 11 nominations during its festival run. She is currently working to develop The Ostrich (feature film) with the same team and details on the project can be found at Rooxter Films.

 

Holly Pavlik was our very special guest and she opened a window into the cutting room floor and what it takes to master the art of a good edit. Roll the tape!

 

HNMAG “Thank you for talking to us, it’s not often that we get the opportunity to talk to a film and animation editor. I have seen some of your work most recently in The Seahorse Trainer. Terrific film and concept – congratulations on that.”

HOLLY “Yes, it was a very ambitious project for a tiny team. Everybody got really close and there was a lot of bonding. Because it was such a small team, everyone got to wear a lot of hats, we were all assisting each other – which made the roles very blurry.”

 

HNMAG “When did you realize you had an interest in editing?”

HOLLY “I think it was in film school. I immediately gravitated towards it. I’m introverted and like being by myself and am very happy to work closely with a couple people here and there. I’m perfectly fine sitting in a dark room for 13 hours, I love it. I think it definitely takes a certain type of individual to sit in the dark that long.”

 

HNMAG “How long have you been editing films?”

HOLLY “I’ve been in post production doing various jobs for 13 years. I’ve jumped around in that time, including cutting an animated series, I then moved over to visual effects while continuing with the editing. Although I’ve shuffled around in the course of those 13 years, it’s always been in post-production.”

 

HNMAG “When did your interest turn to animation?”

HOLLY “That was the early days of my career and I was just interested in getting my feet wet in editorial. It was an easier route for me in getting familiar with all the editing software.”

 

HNMAG “In addition to animation, you’ve also worked on some big features, including Men In Black, Jumanji, Suicide Squad and others. Can you explain how that process might work?”

HOLLY “I was working at Sony Imageworks, which is a big visual effects company. I would act as the link between the cutting room and the VFX team over at Sony. The visual effects editor on the studio side would send me everything from the editor. I’m like a hub – I like to compare a VFX editor to an air traffic controller; everything that comes in and out of the studio are much like the planes. It’s a big gig and there’s usually only 1 per show.”

 

HNMAG “Is there a constant pressure of meeting deadlines and do you get a chance to breathe when you’re on a big project?”

HOLLY “For a VFX editor, the craziest time is the beginning because the influx of footage and data being delivered, needs to get ingested into the system as soon as possible. The entire team, which can consist of 100 people, are waiting on you to give them the information to do their job – so there’s a lot of pressure in the beginning. From there, it slows down as the cuts start to get locked. The cut is always in flux as we’re receiving new information, so it’s always changing. When the cut starts locking, things start to slow down. Once they say ‘final cut’, the pressure’s off.”

 

HNMAG “Once the film is finished, there must be a lot of secrecy surrounding it before the release?”

HOLLY “Sometimes we’ll get a pre-screening before the release date/goes out to theatres, which is really fun.”

HNMAG “For the big budget films, how far in advance would you receive the films?”  

HOLLY “It depends on the project, but it’s usually a year. It can vary though, depending on the complexity of the VFX. Most of the projects I’ve been on have been a year.”

 

HNMAG “I’ve been to film school myself and we were told that one specific SFX scene in The Matrix, took 3 years to create. Have you ever worked on one scene that took a long time to complete?”

HOLLY “I don’t know if you’re familiar with The Kingsman movies, but there’s this one fight scene in a diner that went on for a very long time and it’s made to look like one seamless shot. The opticals that were involved and the re-timing that the editor did, was a lot of information to process. That was a very complex scene. I don’t remember how long it took, but it was the most time-consuming piece/scene I’ve ever worked on… but when you watch it – it’s pretty f#*king cool (laughing).”

     

HNMAG “When you’re at a theatre, is it quite a thrill to see your name in the credits?”

HOLLY “It’s fun and we’re all friends, so we’ll all wait to see each other’s names. When we go to the screenings and we see our friends’ names, we’ll clap (laughing). It’s a lot of work, a lot of overtime hours going into it, so it’s nice to see the project completed.”

 

HNMAG “To work in animation, do you need to be good at illustration?”

HOLLY “As an editor, you don’t need to be an illustrative artist. It basically starts off as an animatic, which is the storyboard all cut together to make it look like it’s moving to provide reference for the animators. You really need to be creative because you’re trying to sell it. The entire team – the director, producer, they’re all going to see it, so you’re trying to sell the idea that the storyboard artist is trying to put out there. You don’t need to be an illustrative artist but you need to be an artist in the sense that you can add sound effects or a software effect that can enhance the illustrations in making it look as real as possible. You have to be able to think outside the box because you’re only cutting together drawings, to try and turn it into something.”

 

HNMAG “Do you have a preference between animation or live action?”

HOLLY “I love all of it. It’s all exciting to me but animation is cool, especially if you’re cutting comedy. You can do funny things with sound effects and there’s ways that animators will contort the bodies – so you can do more – but live action is exciting as hell.”     

 

HNMAG “Do you also work on movie trailers?”

HOLLY “I’ve done movie trailers for Indy projects that I’ve worked on, such as The Seahorse Trainer, but that was pretty simple. It’s a very specific craft and there’s some editors that work strictly on cutting movie trailers.”

 

HNMAG “You’ve won a number of awards for your visual effects work.”

HOLLY “I think the most recent one was for The Seahorse Trainer, yeh!”

 

HNMAG “What is it about a project that gets you excited to be part of it?” 

HOLLY “If the project is unique, that’s very refreshing, especially if it’s a little wacky, that would get me excited. When you work in VFX, there’s a lot of sequels and remakes happening, so it’s really cool when you get to work on a project that’s a fresh new idea.  For example, The Seahorse Trainer is a concept I’ve never heard of before and everyone was so excited to help out on the project, because it was so different and unique.” 

Holly Pavlik is an outstanding talent with a tenacity that compliments any project she touches. She is fearless, she is proven and she is in the credits strolling after your favourite movie you’ve just watched in the theatre – so don’t be too shy to clap for her and the rest of the unsung heroes that have helped to entertain us and provide escapism – even if it’s only for an hour and a half!

 

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