Editing Wild Horse Nine | Oscar Winning Editor Mikkel E.G. Nielsen

0:00What was different to R.I.P. In this film that attracted you aside from the fact that you worked with him before? I might be the one who fucked it all up, which is an intriguing feeling. It does have the comedy, the drama, but then he even adds this layer of thriller. Best editing is where you go in, you start a film and you completely forget about it. And you come out and it's like, what on earth was that about? I tried to fall in love with my main character. And then in the end, you tried to protect your character. I was completely shocked by it and it's a true cinematic masterpiece. I really hope John Malkovich wins and I think he probably will. But it's definitely will. But it's definitely going to be up for a lot of awards, and deservedly so. The speed takes this speed. And then there's a surprise and then there's a, I mean, that's really what Martin's scripts does really well.

1:01Hi, Mikhail. My name is Jawad. How are you? Hello. Thanks for having me. While I was watching Wild Horse 9, which came on my radar out of nowhere and a very beautifully crafted film all around from cinematography to performances to editing. And it gave me a lot of the vibes of films like The Stink with Robert Redford and Paul Newman and also a lot of 90s era. So bravo first of all on that, really enjoyed it. Well, thank you so much. Thank you. I would love to get started with the fact that you've actually worked with Martin before, right? In the previous film, what was different to you in this film that attracted you aside from the fact that you worked with him before? I mean, that's always like a default but sometimes there's more reasons for that. So we'll just have to hear that side of things first… first, please.

1:57Yeah, I mean, I think, I mean, from my perspective, From my perspective, I could probably relax a little bit more, given that I have tried to be in the edit, I knew sort of how and what tone and how he liked to structure as well, not only just the edit, but also to how to, when to do what, to do what in terms of finding the different elements of the film.

2:39And I really enjoyed the relationship and the work we did on banshees and then reading this script, seeing that it sort of has from a balance point, it does have the comedy, the drama, but then he even adds It's this layer of thriller, which is about information and giving information. But then also we had on benches, we worked on these moments of montages where you sort of can bring a little bit of your own stuff into it, thinking about what questions or things have been asked or told. And here you then added to the Chris's character of having his memoirs or talking to a dictaphone, talking about his inner world.

3:43So there were a lot of balls in the air juggling, which is of course intriguing for me in the edit room, because how do you find a balance It and what you've When I was a younger editor, I thought it should, oh, why, is, the first assembly not, why am I not feeling anything?

4:53Why can I feel the characters. But then relaxing, knowing, well, that's your job. And that's what, so it's more about doing an assembly that feels mechanical,. Finding. And so and if we do? Don't know as little in

6:29You see films and I really have no idea, I might be the one who basically

7:59And if, look for all the time the time and

8:56And a pause of just staying alone with the character. With the character and what and

9:26But

10:26And then the learning process

11:26When he We are very focused, but also I work on that assembly. It's mechanical. I show it. He's seen all the dailies. You write on each line the temperature or what he likes in the thing. I have already lined my process of going through footage, the way, to enter material and to understand what the film and what the film is about and how.

12:12Watching the d

12:42And then, so it should feel, I mean, ideally and I and, I a.

13:21Thank you for seeing that. Because I try to make it invisible. Our because you forgot about the technical aspect of it. You don't sit and nitpake about the sounds

14:42I will come, I will come to the found. The… I

16:05He's not a very likable character. And what he's done is not very, I mean, so what I try to do and the way I work really is to see can I be as open as possible for as long as possible. Meaning I don't have, I'm not really a person who say, oh, this is. I'm open to trying things. And sometimes it reveals itself or something comes out of that, those mistakes if you try the different things.

17:12And then hopefully you fall. I try to fall in love with my main character and then in the end, you try to protect your characters. And that's why, because in the end, that's why you really start to play with the relationship, the friendship. Those are the, that's really the last pass of a film where you work with that whole balance of the relationship, how does it work? How long do you stay on that look between the two of them? I mean, I did, I really, I really

17:59I really enjoyed working with these characters on this film. And I think it was very enjoyable, even though it's a very dark story, and it was actually very enjoyable in the edit. We had a lot of fun as well doing it, and very playful. And Martin is also extremely nice to work with and very respectful. He's also very open for me too, with suggestions. So that's also something where you're like, oh, okay, if you're invited in, it's something we could also do this way because he's very secure in what he likes and what he doesn't, and it works already from in the script. So if there's something that can feed it, he's very open for that.

18:49Yeah, no, I wanted to, you can tell that it was a collaborative effort, right? With movies you can tell how everybody kind of just synchronized even if there wasn't not in this movie just in general even if there's some backstories of drama going on but just when the work when the work came everybody synced and I'm with my wife and we watched it in a packed theater and I had to right next to there was a young couple in their early 20s or at least there maybe they were not couples but they were in the early hooked so that was very because people of young age, not necessarily are connected to this kind of genre. And they probably won't even understand the history behind it or whatever, all that. But the way the last act of the film is, right, having directed three feature films myself, I've done a lot of editing, theBway you crafted. I don't, prospective.

19:53And there was a character

20:23And try to lose as much as much plot as But if

21:54Then They go it's all it's all good and I really appreciateup. And that's two things I wanted to touch upon the film balances drama, humor and tension right which I kind of talked about it and you touched upon it.

22:39Was the rhythm very organic for you to kind of pick that up or was there any challenges accomplishing that. It's really trial and error, because it's also about what the film wants and sometimes it's difficult to them. You know this section feels stiff or feels sort of like not organic. It doesn't have the, it's not, it should feel like a ballet really. Sometimes it's

23:45Because then you also have, you can't suddenly have a huge chunk. So then those rules that you set for yourself, it's like, okay, this is the balance of the scene, how we go in and out of the scene. We can't suddenly just change that completely unless it's something where you want to activate us. But those are like through the different passes of first, of course, just of course of structure, and then of course of character work, and then of rhythm and pacing, and then the music pass, how much to you balance it, and then you try one version and it's completely, I mean the whole third act is not burned, but then you suddenly find that it should be about the red between the two of them. And then you shape it and you find the balance of the scene so it feels true or earned towards where you are going.

24:54Because it should be that if this is the important thing, how do we get the best way up to that? And how do we activate. So if you feel completely bored here, that is not the issue. It's somewhere probably seven minutes before. So what did and how, what is it that we're doing to make you as an audience lose interest or, and that's really the trial and error with also with the showing it to friends and family or a test or whatever it is like sitting there, and I'm just feeling a room of... And also yourself. I mean, because the thing is I don't never watch the film.

25:40I watch certain aspects and parts of the film. So everything feels fresh because now I'm only looking at character work. These characters. I'm only looking at Chris' character, I'm only looking at the island as a character, together with the horses' characters. I'm only looking at music, I'm only looking at sound bites, information. How do we stick to the rule that we stay and we hold back information throughout the whole film? Or are we actually cheating ourselves? Trying to find these small things where, so you can take little by little, you take it all off, so hopefully stands out as a whole in the end.

26:26And then hopefully, when you see the film, that's where you show it at a premiere and it's done and it's out and it's your film instead of ours. Yeah. John Malkovich a character, you know, he's an aging guy. Like I think it's like mid seventies, late seventies, early eighties, but there was just some sort of a connection. I felt it. My wife felt it. The audience felt it. And age was not the factor there. Right. And I think there was just something about his pain that we all connected to. And for you, whether were you're reading the script when you were editing it, or when you watch the final cut with the audience, at all those stages or stage, what did you learn about yourself working on this project? As a human being. No, I mean, the film ask a question.

27:30And I ask myself that question. It's like, what is it we spend time on? Am I living the life that I'm supposed to live? And should I mean, in his case, should he rather be with a

28:07For my family and for my friends and for the world and am I doing enough good and am I, yeah, it's pointing towards myself. What am I, what is it that I'm bringing to this? Which was, there's a melancholy as well in the film which I sort of like And at least I have it in me, which is, I like a lot of the questions that Matt asks, and it doesn't give you the answer, but it asks the questions. So it's something that stays with you or with me. And then also just the whole experience knowing that this is not add a little bit more of yourself It's not so rare.

29:11It's not something that you get to do every day. And be appreciated. Someone asking for your opinion or that you want to look at your material, their material. It's not something you take for granted. It should be something that you value and treasure and be humble and grateful. It's not so many friends that wish to do something, but I've got to do it. So I should be very humble in that I do what I love. And that's not something that just everyone. Yeah, I agree. I agree. And one thing I really enjoyed with the film was the look, the color the grading, yeah and so much so and a now that I was gonna say because I'm so glad I was gonna, because I'm so glad movies…

30:37I mean, and everything is also how from the costumes and the sets and Ben's amazing work as a DP, but as Adam, the colorist, and Martin and I, and Ben, spend a lot of time making everything pop and be this whole actor-chrome feeling of the colors from the 70s as an homage And also this whole, how the Westerns were in the old days, that everything stands out, but also as a common to the story, because it's a contrast, this colorful, bright contrast to this darkness in the story, which suits each other very well, because if it was desaturated and dark, it would be too much.

31:32So we spent so much time on making all the colors pop for sure, R.E.R. But also just making sure that you really see their eyes and that everything. There's a lot of things going on in the eyes. So we even like a small spider crawling on his neck and these things that are just tiny details that it's rare you have the time to be so detailed orientated. When you have at least don't waste your time, spend and put the effort into it because, hopefully, it will show itself in the end for the final product really. Amazing. Have you been to Ireland? Yeah, I went for four weeks, two weeks before the shoot and two weeks into the shoot. Sorry. And what an incredible place It actually felt like they hold the keys to a life which a lot of us hasn't necessarily understood yet.

32:39I mean, seeing people every night go down to watch the sunset with their families and kids singing and eating ceviche and stuff, that was just incredible. What a place. That's amazing. It's on my list to go and now I'm sure the tourism is going to increase because this film comes out. Lastly I want to talk to you about this earlier. The film camera is 16 millimeter, right? So it appeared that they were rolling at the same time when they were being filmed. So the synchronization was in place. But was there a process, a technical process of making sure that it's there as 16 millimeter and people enjoy it as that, kind of like an archival footage? Or was it just a seamless thing, you know, cut from here, cut to there?

34:09And then it shows Lee with the camera and talking about, I'm taping this, I'm recording this, just look in the camera, so you make a connection between the archival footage and this, so that's a contract between us because we know we wanna use it throughout the film. I did not pick that up, I mean, I remember that. It's just a tiny trick, really, to enter the world through the archival footage with our main characters. And that's where you then jump out and you see the camera. We just show the camera from two different angles really as well.

34:49So the first shot is eight millimeter of John's character. And also from the square, the actual square where Alejandro was standing in Santiago. Hm, yeah. Amazing. You should be, and I know you already are, I don't know you that proud of this film because it is it is really I mean it from the bottom of my heart. I was completely shocked by it like I wasn't expecting it the way it was done everything and it's a true cinematic masterpiece. I really hope John Malkovich wins and I think he probably will and but it's definitely going to be up for a lot of awards and deservingly so fabulous work. I'm definitely going to be. Thank you so much. And thank you so much for talking and all your questions. That was a nice conversation. Thank you. No, it was a pleasure. Thank you. Looking forward to your future work, sir. Thank you. All right.