Oppenheimer
The Rough Cut
How I Managed Different Formats in the Cutting Room
The film was shot on iMacs 15 perf and the five perf 70. The dailies had all the earmarks of a real classic picture, he says. "I stopped working for Scorsese a long time ago"
The OPPENHEIMER editing team of Jennifer Lame ACE, Mike Fay, Nick Ellsberg and Tom Foligno applied their collective storytelling talents to film technology both old and new. While Jennifer and Mike worked to shape and refine Christopher Nolan's story into an instant classic, Nick and Tom were tasked with mastering a hybrid film and digital workflow to make the most of Nolan's brilliant 70MM IMAX footage.
Based on the 2005 biography American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, the film chronicles the life of American theoretical physicist and polymath J. Robert Oppenheimer. The story predominantly focuses on Oppenheimer's early studies, his direction of the Manhattan Project during World War II, and his eventual fall from grace due to his 1954 security hearing; juxtaposed with this are events surrounding Oppenheimer's relationship with Lewis Strauss, a senior member of the United States Atomic Energy Commission who sees Oppenheimer as a rival. It stars Cillian Murphy as Oppenheimer and Robert Downey Jr. as Strauss, with the remaining ensemble supporting cast including Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett, Casey Affleck, Rami Malek and Kenneth Branagh.
JENNIFER LAME, ACEWhile Jen claims that her "wheelhouse" in editorial is films that feature people talking in rooms, as her work on MANCHESTER BY THE SEA (2016) and MARRIAGE STORY (2019) both prove, you wouldn't know it by her standout work in bigger features like Christopher Nolan's TENET (2020) and BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER (2022).
MIKE FAYAs Jen Lame was wrapping up things on WAKANDA FOREVER, she entrusted the early assembly duties on OPPENHEIMER to Mike Fay. Prior to OPPENHEIMER, Mike had been sharpening his skills as an assistant editor on LIFE OF PI (2012) and GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE (2021) and as a VFX Editor on JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3 - PARABELLUM (2019) and BULLET TRAIN (2022).
NICK ELLSBERGNick and Mike Fay had more than a passing familiarity prior to OPPENHEIMER. Like Mike, Nick worked on BULLET TRAIN (2022), GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE (2021), and JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3 - PARABELLUM as an assistant editor.
TOM FOLIGNOA veteran of the Marty Scorsese film school, having worked as an assistant on CASINO (1995), BRINGING OUT THE DEAD (1999), GANGS OF NEW YORK (2002) and THE AVIATOR (2004), Tom was able to return to his film editing roots and dust off his splicer for his role in the film cutting room on OPPENHEIMER.
Editing OPPENHEIMERIn our talk with the OPPENHEIMER editing team, we discuss...
- The beauty of awkward people talking in rooms
- Keeping up the pace on a three-hour biopic
- Whistling past the biggest scene in the movie because you already know it will be great
- Bringing film workflows back to life, bigger than ever
- Loving Chris Nolan's "all business' approach in the cutting room
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