In 2019 Writer / Director Rian Johnson’s Knives Out surprised and delighted audiences with his modern take on the “whodunnit” mystery movie. To help deliver this wickedly stylish story, Rian turned once again to editor, Bob Ducsay. Having worked together on The Last Jedi and Looper, Bob and Rian’s familiarity and shared sensibilities not only combined to make a great film, but also an enjoyable one to make.
“Making a movie is really hard and you work a lot of hours. And one of the things about getting to know somebody really well and providing what they need is that it makes everything all that much more fun. And we have a blast working together”.
Keeping the audience engaged and informed, while at the same time creating the misdirection that’s necessary in a mystery, was what made Bob’s work on Knives Out truly admirable; most notably in the film’s opening interrogation scenes.
“I would say that’s probably the most difficult sequence in the movie, because it’s so essential. And at the same time, you plop the audience in the same room for a really long time. And so pace becomes a very important part of putting that sequence together”.
In this edition of The Rough Cut, Bob shares lots of anecdotes that working editors will enjoy and relate to, as well as great advice for film school students or anybody else that’s trying to pursue a career in film-making.
“If you read a screenplay and the screenplay’s great, you’re probably going to have a pretty darn good movie. And if you read the screenplay and it’s tons of trouble, every single place that there’s trouble…when the movie is put together, it will be there. Almost all trouble leads back to the screenplay”.
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