Friday, May 31, 2024
Folks who work in film editorial don’t tend to travel much for work. In the course of my 10+ years in the industry, I have worked with footage shot all over the world from Montreal to New York and even Bulgaria. Editors are the near-perfect employees for remote work and most producers don’t see the need for the added expense of ferrying them out to location. Lord knows I’m uncomfortable enough on set. I always feel like I’m in the way on the rare occasions that I do visit.
So when I signed on to temporarily replace an editor on Cry From The Sea, a Canadian-Irish co-production that was preparing to do a week of re-shoots in Ireland, I’d figured it would be a case of me remotely cutting footage from home. I certainly didn’t have “Producer flies me across the Atlantic for a job” on my 2024 bingo card!
But as I write this, I am making the final preparations to do just that. Appointments have been moved, laundry is being done, and bags are being packed. I’ve already seen the movie about three times in various cuts as I familiarize myself with the material and the massive Avid project for a movie that’s been in post production for many months. The producers are hoping to lock a cut in time to submit to TIFF which will probably have occurred by the time this is published.
It will be a huge challenge diving headfirst into a project that someone else started months ago and working with an all-new set of people in far-flung locales on a small laptop. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t all just a little bit intimidating.
In any case, it’s the most exciting of times, it’s the most terrifying of times….
Sunday, June 2, 2024
As I write this, I am slowly recovering from the effects of jet lag after two flights and one 4 hour drive across Ireland to get to our base of operations. The entire trip took about 24 hours and there was no sleep for me on the plane. I expect to be a tad more bright-eyed and bushy-tailed come Monday morning.
One of the first things you notice upon landing in the Emerald Isle is the unexpected bilingualism of Irish Gaelic along with English on various airport and street signage. I knew Gaelic wasn’t dead but I didn’t expect it to be in such common usage.
The second thing is driving on the left side of the road. I was fortunate to be paired with the movie’s Director of Photography Brian who had navigated the often windy and small Irish roads countless times before during the main unit shooting last year. To be honest, he seemed a little too comfortable at times. I couldn’t imagine being that chill with the amount of swift oncoming traffic with little passing distance that we encountered.
The trip wasn’t all nerves though as we encountered scenes I had only witnessed in movies or postcards: Quaint Irish towns with possibly more pubs than dwellings, vast fields of grazing sheep (no wool shortage here!), the lushest, greenest rolling hills and valleys this side of a screensaver, and even a vast field of wind turbines.
Our lovely accommodations and fleet of work vehicles
We arrived safely in County Mayo and our accommodations are absolutely wonderful. Most of us are staying in a 4 bedroom airbnb. I have an extremely comfy bed (upon which I immediately took a 3-hour power nap) with my own bathroom. The house has a view of the ocean and even some unique features like a glass floor on the second level! Couldn’t ask for better really.
The real work begins tomorrow. I’m still not 100% sure that I’ll be able to get a second monitor for my editorial setup and there’s still a couple workflow things I’m not sure about. But you know what they say: the best way to learn is to do…
DP Brian and myself striking poses in front of Broadhaven Lighthouse
Monday June 3, 2024
I’m embarrassed to admit that I woke up this morning absolutely dreading getting up. The jet lag and lingering uncertainty of what lay ahead had taken its toll. I lay in bed for a while, staring at the ceiling and pondering if I had made a mistake coming out here. After all, as someone used to editing footage from the comfort of my own home, I’m quite out of my element here as a stranger in a strange land. I couldn’t help but feel that I might let everyone down. But my worries turned out to be premature as it turned out we weren’t shooting any scenes today. The main task at hand was to prepare one of the key locations: Broadhaven Lighthouse.
Originally built in the mid-19th century, the lighthouse and adjoining living space were refurbished by the production for shooting last year, including major repairs to the roof and a new coat of paint. It looks over the stunning Broadhaven Bay and your view can vary depending on the level of fog! We had all kinds of weather during our few hours on site from rain to wind to bright sunshine. Our director Vic made sure to get some B-roll in the latter conditions. Direct sunlight appears to be a rarity in these parts.
Director Vic Sarin grabs some B-roll with the camera crew as I look on
Our crew is a small one, currently numbering 11 including me, so everyone had to pitch in to help ready the location for filming. Set decorations had to be moved, props had to be dusted off, the fireplace needed to be tested, but most of us were tasked with preparing the outdoor yard. This involved cleaning up piles of sheep manure (Ireland is positively littered with wool-beasts) as well as installing two prop grave markers which were easily ten times heavier than they looked. It tookfive of us guys just to move them from the shed, never mind securing them in place. We had to be careful to match their exact placement from previously-shot scenes so as to maintain continuity.
After lunch, I tried setting up my full editing station for the first time. We haven’t shot any proper scenes yet, so this was mostly just to test it out. It’s a bit of a ramshackle affair consisting of a Macbook, external hard drive, mounting rack, wireless keyboard and mouse, and a Samsung TV as a second monitor. I had to ask around for key connecting components like an HDMI cable and extension cord, but luckily the landlady and producers came through!
Setting the scene with lead actress Sarah Bolger
Tuesday, June 4, 2024
One thing an editor often misses out on is the real rollercoaster ride of being on a film set. By the time we start our work, the trials and tribulations of the first day of shooting have passed us by and we spend the remainder of the shoot assembling dailies, either at a production office or from home. We miss out on the pleasure of working with talented actors, directors, and crews to make movie magic out of the craziest of circumstances.
Since I didn’t have any scenes to cut together yet, it only made sense for me to join the company as we gathered at the Broadhaven Lighthouse location for a series of small reshoots and additional scenes for the movie. There would only be two on-screen performers: Aaron Millar who was body-doubling for unavailable star Dominic Cooper and the second female lead Sarah Bolger whose part was being expanded after re-writes.
Sarah is probably best known for her memorable performances in films like In America and The Spiderwick Chronicles as well as her work on the small screen in hit series Once Upon a Time and The Tudors. As much time as I spend cutting an actor’s performance, I still can’t help but be a little star-struck when I meet them in person. But that’s a temporary feeling that wears off as you quickly become accustomed to them as a colleague. Sarah was a real trouper and there was nary a word of complaint as she acted in numerous dramatic scenes in often cold and windy conditions that I suspect her period costumes weren’t designed for!
Trying not to get blown off while filming atop Broadhaven Lighthouse
Our director Vic Sarin has had a long career in both the director’s chair and behind the camera as an award-winning cinematographer. Nearing his 80th birthday, Vic has been in the game long enough to have interviewed John Lennon and has worked all over the globe, including in Africa where he was once arrested for filming without a permit! These stories and more passed the time between the finish of prep and the start of the shoot.
Trust me when I say our film looks like a prestige Hollywood production, but these reshoots are accomplished by the incredibly hard work of a tiny crew often doing multiple tasks. Our producers Tina and Kim are especially hands on, as they prepped interior locations while we shot outdoors. Kim even made us a pasta dinner at the end of the day, complete with cans of Guinness!
We’ve wrapped on the lighthouse location (which meant we had to haul those heavy gravestones back to the shed!) and the whole company will travel to our next site tomorrow. Stay tuned…
Just casually waiting for those who dare to attack the walled city of Derry
Wednesday, June 5, 2024
The company moved today as we drove 4 hours north to the village of Culdaff. I rode with Brian again and he insisted on making a quick stop across the border into Northern Ireland to visit the walled city of Derry. It was a near-perfect mix of the medieval and the modern with a centuries old-protective wall and gate just a stone’s-throw away from a sleek shopping mall. It’s the type of place I would’ve spent more time in had I been in Ireland as a tourist.
After dropping our stuff off at the new guest house (a lovely property near the beach), we arrived at our shooting location: McGuinness’ Bar. It’s the type of place that seems frozen in time which made it perfect for our movie which is set in 1924. While principal photography had taken place in the actual pub, the scenes today were all on the second level in rooms that retained much charm from eras past.
I was once again on set to help with slating as the footage from the previous day still wasn’t completely ready (Our DIT Kyunwoo had forgotten to grab a media card from our sound mixer Guillaume). Since we were in closer quarters with our two actors for much of the shooting, I had to use “soft sticks” where I clapped the sticks slightly softer so as not to make the actor jump!
The owner’s 12-year-old daughter Ariana was rather starstruck by our rather modest film shoot and went out of her way to help us find set dec from her family’s personal possessions and help us move things around to make room for the camera, set and so on. I thought it only fitting to have her participate in a more official capacity by having her call out and clap the slate for a single shot. She positively beamed at the idea and despite a touch of camera shyness, she performed her temporary duties flawlessly.
Brian and Ariana ready for another take
After wrap, I FINALLY got a chance to ingest the footage and sound from the first day of shooting into the Avid project. I had a cursory look over everything, mostly to separate the B-roll from scenes featuring the actors. But since it was near midnight at this point, I decided to turn in and deal with it all tomorrow.
However, I suspect some of this work may be delayed as our producers may need all hands on deck tomorrow morning to move a very heavy rowboat (or “currach” as the Irish like to say), but more on that in the future…
Thursday, June 6, 2024
Today was the first chance I had to actually do some editing. While the company went out to shoot in various locations nearby (Inishowen, Wee House of Malin), I sequestered myself at the home base to begin cutting the first two days of shooting. While Kyungwoo takes care of backing up and transcoding the footage, I have to do what is usually assistant editor tasks like ingesting and syncing. It’s stuff I haven’t done regularly in years and I needed to brush up on some details.
Once all the technical junk was out of the way, I started the actual cutting. This project is unique in that there are numerous instances where new footage was shot for scenes that were lensed months before, mostly to beef up Sarah Bolger’s presence in the movie. While there were several instances where the weather didn’t quite match (not surprising given Ireland’s ever-shifting forecasts), my impression was that most of it cut in rather seamlessly. Hopefully Vic and the producers agree.
Hard to stay inside with scenery like this steps away from your door
As all of the above involves hours in front of a computer, it’s important to step outside every now and again for some much-needed fresh air. Fortunately, our guest house is located right next to Culdaff Beach. It’s a beautiful stretch of smooth sand and crashing waves. It was quite picturesque and distinct from the beaches back home in BC.
Only one more day of shooting left…
Sunday, June 9, 2024
This entry comes a little late due to the rather whirlwind nature of the last two days of the trip. My last day was largely spent making “selects” of newly-shot flashback footage of the main character’s deceased wife and son. Because this footage will likely only be seen in flashes among other scenes in the film, I just selected what I deemed to be the best takes and laid them end-to-end in a “stringout” sequence.
Had time permitted, I would have done a sit down session with Vic, Tina, or both to start weaving these flashbacks into the larger narrative. Because the both of them were so focused on production and Vic, being an elderly man, would go to sleep almost immediately after a long day’s shooting, such a session never ended up happening and this work will now be done with Austin here in Vancouver.
The last night in Ireland was a bit of a rush as our flight home was booked for 9am the next morning which meant we had to leave Culdaff at 3am. I had to at least get a head start at ingesting and assembling Friday’s footage before then, but first had to wait for Kyungwoo to back up and transcode the footage. In the meantime, Brian strongly suggested that I take the opportunity to quickly drive out to Malin Head, the northernmost point of mainland Ireland and one of the country’s natural beauties. Carpe Diem, right?
By this point, I still hadn’t actually driven in Ireland. My first time in the driver’s seat on the left side of the road was very much like driving school: eyes firmly on the road, hands and 10 and 2 o’clock, strictly obey local speed limits, and for God’s sake don’t hit anything! While I had a little trouble at a couple intersections, I found the overall experience rather pleasant. Irish country roads are quiet, winding and scenic. With ample sheep and cows on display, it’s a great place for fans of livestock.
As I parked the car near the top of a large hill, I was awestruck by the sheer majesty of Malin Head. With its green hills, colorful fauna, crashing waves, and rays of sun peeking through the clouds like rays from heaven. It’s a truly spiritual experience and with its makeshift cross surrounded by offerings, I believe a lot of locals feel closer to God here. It was a true highlight of the trip for me.
What a view…
But I could only stay for so long as there was new footage calling my name back at home base. It mostly consisted of flashback scenes featuring an older version of the protagonist’s son plus some b-roll of the star’s body double rowing a currach (irish rowboat) on the choppy ocean. I didn’t end up doing selects for this footage as by the time I had it ingested, synced, and sorted, it was after midnight and I thought it prudent to have a quick power nap before we had to depart at the ungodly hour of 0300.
Even with the best of preparations, there was still tons of scrambling as we made sure everything was packed and the airBNB was clean. On the advice of Geoff, one of the local crew, Brian took us on a slightly different route back to Dublin. It still seemed kind of windy to me, but the last third was on a freeway that according to GPS saved us about 20 minutes which we promptly filled with getting McDonalds and gas before returning the rental car at the airport.
We took a different route back to Vancouver with our first flight taking us to the German city of Frankfurt. The Frankfurt airport is designed in such a way that shuttle buses are quite essential. Busses shuttle you from the plane to the terminal, from one set of gates to another, and then finally to your departing plane. This didn’t seem especially efficient given that they were trying to fill a 747 jumbo jet, but they managed to get the job done even though we ended up departing for Vancouver about an hour late.
Flying away home
One transatlantic flight and 10 hour spell of unconsciousness later, I’m back home and reflecting on this whole experience. It’s extremely rare for editors, never mind Canadian editors, to be flown halfway across the globe to work on a movie. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever worked on and even though my contribution here was smaller than most of my credits, I will forever treasure the experience. There will still likely be some loose ends to tie up as the movie (hopefully) heads off to TIFF and its larger festival and theatrical run. But until then, I’ll be forever grateful to have visited such a beautiful part of the globe and worked with an amazing team doing it. Now pour the Guinness!