Q&A with Oscar Nominated Editor Julian Clarke C.C.E.
The Canadian Cinema editors (C.C.E.) recently had one of their famous film screenings. This time the event was held at Deluxe Post Production facilities. The film to be screened was District 9, followed by a Q+A with Oscar nominated Editor Julian Clarke C.C.E.
When Clarke was asked about how he felt about his nomination for the Academy Award. He replied that he had some idea, as he was already nominated twice before, from the British Academy of Film (BAFTA), and the American Cinema Editors Award (ACE Awards). Clarke was very humble about his nominations, and had already begun work on a new Rachel Weisz film called Whistleblower.
Clarke discussed various workflow dynamics while in South Africa, including formats and visual effects. District 9 was shot on various formats, which included Red Camera, Sony HDCAM SR, Beta Sp, to even the EX1. Clarke then went on to discuss, how he and his assistances would be busy consolidating formats for the edit, all the while, as production crew would be popping in covered in sand, dirt and grime.
Clarke further went on to say it was a real experience, as the editors were the lab, and the edit suite rolled into one. Just to make to formats even more complex, producing dallies on DVD’s with names of Director Neill BlomKamp, and Producers were created. However, Producer Peter Jackson requested all dallies need to be on XDCAM. Just imagine working like this on daily basis in country you know nothing about in the middle of nowhere, with no real tech support. When asked about how difficult this was, Clarke humbly responded I had great assistances, and a great team to work with.
Clarke followed up by discussing how many dallies he was cutting through. Clarke would cut through about 8 hours of dallies, being the only one cutting, as his assistances were entangled with all the technical aspects of the RED Camera. This went on for 3 months 6 days a week.
When Clarke was asked about how the Visual effects worked on District 9, Clarke responded that with a tight budget they came with new ways create the look that Director Neil Blomkamp was looking for, many of which he said with a smile, he was sworn to "secrecy". Although Clarke did mention that after his 10 months of editing, there were an additional couple of months of Visual Effects that were later added.
fter the interview the C.C.E was provided an after party at the local pub. Over there many members were able to sit down share stories, and most importantly get to know the very talented Julian Clarke C.C.E.
The screening was an rounding success, for everyone involved, and provided a great venue for editors to learn from. If you wish to hear more details about the interview with Julian Clarke C.C.E., there will be a film posted soon which covers the event, and is available to all members.
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