by Nancy Jundi as originally published by CinemaEditor
Let’s just get one thing out of the way up front – yes, I’m writing about a film with a five-minute long, on screen prostate exam in the Awards issue. Ladies and gentlemen, that’s director David Cronenberg for you. He likes to make people squirm even if they’re fictional. Maybe it’s especially if they’re fictional. To be honest, the exam was one of the only “action” scenes, considering nearly the entirety of the film takes place in one very small space. The main character, a billionaire hedge fund manager, Eric Packer, played by Robert Pattinson, spends the majority of the day, which spans the movie, in his limousine. His goal is to cross town to get a haircut. With the President of the United States in town, Occupy Wall Street like protests consuming the streets and general traffic woes of New York City this is a longer trip than usual. It’s made additionally long by a handful of stops to visit his new bride in various parts of the city. His mistress in a hotel, picking up business partners, another mistress and his doctor all break up what could seem like a challenging environment for a film. “David Cronenberg did not give us a lot of variety because he wanted Eric in the car as much as possible” said Sandy Pereira, First Assistant to editor Ronald Sanders on COSMOPOLIS. “I think the central feeling was that Eric Packer was in a bubble of his own making. The car is virtually sound proof and keeps him sheltered from the world around him. There was at least one scene that was originally scripted for a different location but ended up being shot inside the limo. Just sitting and watching dailies we knew this was going to be a very strange picture. We also laughed quite a bit – I think there’s a lot of humor in the film! Definitely during the prostate exam in particular, there are some choices there that made the scene funnier, and very uncomfortable!”
The fact that Pattinson turns in a performance that leaves his TWILIGHT persona in ashes is just icing on the cinematic cake. With supporting cast members like Paul Giamatti and Juliet Binoche, as well as reteaming with Howard Shore to score the film, it’s easy for me to lobby a nod for COSMOPOLIS. With so much of the film focused on quiet and concentrated in one space Shore’s work becomes more astonishing than expected. “I don’t know how much David and Howard discuss during prep” said Pereira, “but Howard usually visits him on set and then comes into Editorial to watch what Ron has cut to date in order to get a feel for how the film is taking shape. David doesn’t like to hear any temp score so our cuts usually have no music in them at all. Once Howard has had a chance to watch an early cut he’ll start sending us cues and only then do we start cutting in score.” Their team of regular players is largely Canadian team to boot (pun intended). With the Cronenberg, Shore, Sanders, Pereira and the majority of the crew being our neighbors to the north they seem to have a different feel about their cutting room. With such longevity in team loyalty and wildly distinct projects I wondered how different their editing world is up there in the near Arctic. “Most of us, including Ron and David, live in Toronto, so I guess there is some practicality to [our proximity]!” remarked Pereira. “However, there are many Canadians on the team who now live in the US who have worked with David for years and come up to Toronto specifically to work with him. I haven’t worked on too many American films, but I believe the biggest difference [between the Canadian and American Film Industries] is the studio system. Canadian films rely mostly on arms length agencies such as Telefilm, and also co-productions have become much more common. While studio pictures come with bigger budgets (which would be nice!), they also come with more external demands and pressures. For example, we weren’t required to do any previews for either COSMOPOLIS or A DANGEROUS METHOD. There just isn’t as much involvement from producers, so directors are freer to put out the film they set out to make.”
Sanders and Cronenberg have been making movies together since FAST COMPANY in 1979. Many people are calling this Cronenberg’s “return to his roots” due to the tone of COSMOPOLIS. “David was very decisive on set with this one” Pereira noted. “From my experience he usually is, but this one in particular if felt like he really knew what he wanted. Ron brought up EXISTENZ immediately, and it came up many times in comparison to COSMOPOLIS in the cutting room. I think thematically it also has a lot in common with VIDEODROME for sure. So yes, I think in a way David did ‘return to his roots’, but thematically there is a common thread between all his films, so it’s also part of his evolution as a filmmaker.” Cronenberg has shared that he adapted the book for screen in a mere 6 days. “I read the novel as soon as I heard that we’d be doing the film” said Pereira. “I had read “Libra”, a Don DeLillo novel, before, but had actually never heard of “Cosmopolis” until I heard David was adapting it. After I read the novel, I was curious how it would translate to a screen. I felt the same way again when I finally read the script. The dialogue was so terse and specific, and very close to the novel. There was no room for improvisation. There was definitely a clipped rhythm to the writing and I was eager to see how it translated into the film.” Pereira saw a similar response to the material from Cronenberg in post. “Editorial was equally instinctual” she said. “There was definitely some refining once he and Ron started working, but David only spent a handful of days in editorial before he had a cut he was happy with. Ron’s cut was very close to the finished film. David is very involved with post, however, he really trusts Ron with the cut. He rarely comes in or requests to see anything during production and on COSMOPOLIS he only spent a handful of days in the cutting room before he had a cut he was happy with. They are a really tight team – practically telepathic.” After 33 years together, a feat few director/editor teams reach, I can only imagine how smoothly that collaboration works, how it’s evolved and the kind of brain that gets to soak up their wisdom and experience. My thanks to Sandy Pereira for giving us a peak into her time with them, her background and her edit room!
1. Where did you grow up and did that background lend to an interest in film or editing in particular?
I grew up primarily in Toronto, but we ended up living in a suburb just west of Toronto when I was a teenager. I got a part-time job at a small video store while in high school and the world of film opened up for me. It was a quiet shop and I would just sit there watching movies between customers for my entire shift. I watched everything from Hollywood blockbusters to independent foreign films.
2. How did you get your start in editing?
After completing my Cinema Studies degree at the University of Toronto, I worked at a small format film lab. While there I explored several areas of film making through workshops and night school, including film production and screen writing. During one workshop, we had to shoot and edit a video. It was the first time I used a non-linear editing program (Adobe Premiere) and I was hooked. After that I started working as a Trainee Assistant Editor and I had the opportunity to work with Ron Sanders on David Cronenberg’s A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE. I was initially supposed to come on as a trainee, but because I had some film cutting experience they ended up bringing me on as a Second Assistant, which was great because I was able to be more involved. I was absolutely thrilled (and a little terrified) to be working with Ron and his team. Not only was I ecstatic to work on a Cronenberg film, but also Ron was one of my idols! I was so fortunate to learn from him and his first assistants at the time, Tad Seaborn and Aaron Marshall. Ron and his team have been the best teachers and mentors. I was thrilled when Ron and Tad asked me to join them on EASTERN PROMISES again as a Second Assistant.
3. Is there one scene in television or film that you can remember having given you an appreciation for what an editor does?
One scene that I can think of is the final montage in The Godfather Part II when Michael is having his son baptized and simultaneously having all his enemies assassinated. I remember watching it and being totally absorbed, and later thinking how incredibly well it was cut.
4. Is there something you’ve cut or worked on that you’re especially proud of?
I am proud of everything I’ve worked on. There’s always something in every film that you know you have made a contribution to, in some big or tiny way. In all of those moments you feel that sense of accomplishment and pride.
5. Is there a scene in television of film that you would love to go back and put your own spin on?
Honestly, no. I think back to many of the films I’ve watched, some with such memorable, iconic scenes, and I can’t imagine changing a frame. It’s so hard to reimagine a cut when it’s already been imprinted onto your brain. From being a witness to director/editor relations, to cutting myself, so much detail goes into making a scene and film feel and move the way it does that to go back and change anything would almost be criminal!
6. What platforms are you familiar with?
Avid is definitely my preferred platform. I don’t know FCP very well at all, although I’m determined to learn it and conquer it one day! However, I started out in the industry at a time before cutting on film was completely obsolete. Being able to pull and sync dailies and conform a cut for preview really helped round out my abilities as an editor and as an assistant. I find it a little sad that I don’t get to handle print in the cutting room anymore.
7. Technically speaking, what have you found to be your system’s best feature?
Avid has the best trim tool and it’s probably the tool I use the most. It’s so much more intuitive than any other non-linear platform I’ve tried. As an assistant, I love being able to color code all my different elements. This makes my job so much easier when it’s time to turn over the cut.
8. What feature are you hoping to see in the future?
Speed in general. No lagging, no need to render, and faster exports.
9. Is there one person in the industry, living or dead, be it director, editor, or otherwise would you like to work with?
Martin Scorsese.
10. What upcoming film, other than your own, are you looking forward to?
Ang Lee’s, LIFE OF PI. It looks amazing!
