Written by Bea

The murder of an MP’s researcher in the BBC series ‘State of Play’ had audiences utterly enthralled as it twisted and turned, galloping at a devilish pace with stunning visuals to reveal the links between government and big business.

Four years later I saw the fifth Harry Potter film ‘The Order of The Phoenix’ made by a new director and team. I was struck by its impact and the vast improvement in its ability to capture the audience’s imagination; Improvement in the direction, the acting as the children grew older and especially in the excitement infused by the editing.

I was thrilled therefore to have the opportunity to chat to the completely charming and renowned film editor Mark Day, whose creativity had brought me such enjoyment in both these productions. I was eager too, to find out more about the role of the editor which whilst everyone knows is seminal is often underplayed and not as widely recognised or appreciated as that of the director, producer or actor.

Hugely talented, Mark has won three BAFTAs as well as a RTS television award for his work on ‘Sex Traffic’, ‘State of Play’ and ‘Screen Two: The Insurance Man’ and has been nominated for countless other awards including a prime-time Emmy for ‘The Girl in the Café’.

Currently working on the final Harry Potter films ‘The Deathly Hallows’ (part one and two) Mark very kindly agreed to take some time out from his exceptionally busy schedule to answer some of my editing questions for The Worst Seats and talk about his role in the new Harry Potter films, as well as how he got into the business and what he sees coming up in the future:

TWS: How did you first get into editing?

Mark Day: I started at the BBC on the trainee assistant editors course (unfortunately they don’t do those kind of courses now). It was fascinating as you were placed in cutting rooms in various departments, for example, drama, documentaries, music and arts, current affairs and children’s where you would spend 6 weeks per department learning about the cutting room and film making and soaking up the atmosphere. It was during this period that I decided film drama was the medium I wanted to edit professionally but loved working in music and arts too and that is where I started editing my first transmitted programmes with documentaries like Arena and Omnibus a couple of years later.

I think something many people wonder is whether the editors work only begins once all the filming is finished, or whether you are involved from the beginning of the project and on set?

The editor on a film normally starts a week or two before principal photography begins. Then he/she will be on board right through shoot all the way to the end of the post production period which includes the sound mix (dub) and grade (where you set the colour tone and feel of the film) In other words, right at the end of the production.

In TV documentaries it’s different as the editor starts once the film has been shot but in drama I am editing the previous days filmed rushes the following day and if the whole scene has been shot in one day then I will have that scene ‘assembled’ in the way that I think works by the end of that day when I can show the director and get any feedback. Obviously if it’s a much longer or more complicated scene then it will take longer for me to edit.

What state do you get a feature film like Harry Potter in?

I get the film into as good a state that I can given the fact that I am not the director and maybe sometimes ‘misinterpret’ a scene that’s in the directors head when he/she shoots it but usually the directors I work with are very happy indeed when they see my first cut of a scene or whole film as I hope I have got the most out of the performances and kept the pace, tone and rhythm of the scene or film in keeping with the aspiration of the director. At that early stage I will include every scene shot in the assembly as it’s virtually impossible to judge whether or not to lose, shorten or lengthen a scene before you have the chance to view the film in context a number of times.

I am very lucky as I have been working with David Yates (Harry Potter director) for nearly ten years now and we are good friends and have the same sensibilities and when you know someone well and have worked with them for that long you can almost second guess the way that they want the film to evolve. Then once the film has finished shooting David and I will work very closely together and forensically examine every scene and see whether it is working in the context of the whole film and if it isn’t we will experiment with it by using different takes and playing the emphasis of the scene in an alternative way. Editing is an ever-evolving process and even if a single scene is working well, when you view it in context with the rest of the film, it can seem not to work so that’s when you have to analyse why that is and change it accordingly.

How much film do you have to discard on a feature film like Harry Potter?

I can’t give you the exact figure of the amount of film I discard but when you think that two units have been shooting Harry Potter (the final two films) almost continuously for a year and each film is about 2hrs 20 mins on average then it doesn’t take a genius to work out that the ratio is pretty high!

Is it hard choosing the bits of film to use?

The role of the editor is to be discerning and hopefully choose the best takes of a performance or the best parts of multiple action set ups, which are invariably shot with multiple cameras. The hard part (but ultimately satisfying) is sifting through the amount of film shot whilst remaining level headed and well organised, I have two excellent assistants who help me with that last task. Editing is analogous to having a huge jigsaw puzzle but no box with the picture on to show you how it should look. OK, you have a script so you know which scene comes before or after which scene but once you start editing the choices are infinite and that’s when I find I have to immerse myself in the scene and imagine I am part of it in a strange organic way and that can dictate when and where I cut to another character and for how long. Reading that back it sounds pretty weird but it honestly really helps me to edit a scene!

How long roughly does it take to edit a big budget feature length film?

On most films the amount of time you shoot for is usually the same amount of time you will be editing so a 12 week shoot will mean a 12 week edit (24 weeks total including shoot) but with Harry Potter we have been shooting for over a year now so I will be editing for the same amount of time again – but it is 2 films this time and because of the amount of CGI (visual FX) it does take longer than a conventional drama only film.

What has been one of your favourite projects to work on?

Apart from Harry Potter which has been an incredible journey considering I had never worked on a complicated CG feature film before and the fact that I have now been involved with Harry Potter for over 5 years (Mark has edited both The Order of the Phoenix and The Half Blood Prince as well as currently working on the final two Harry Potter films). I would say when I was working in TV drama then undoubtedly State of Play ranks very highly due mainly to the brilliant script by Paul Abbot (which is where it all begins) Once again, beautifully directed by David Yates with some fantastic actors many of whom have now gone on to bigger things. I also won a BAFTA award for editing, which was wonderful finale to a highly successful BBC six part series.

Did your editing have to change when you moved from something with a lot of adult content like ‘Sex Traffic’ to something more child friendly like Harry Potter?

Not really to be honest. Editing is all about story telling – how you keep the viewer involved intellectually and emotionally, be they adult or child. Are the scenes compelling enough in their narrative structure to hold the interest of the audience? That’s the key to making films or television programmes I think.

Which do you prefer to edit, TV or feature film?

I love them both as every project sets new and interesting challenges. Obviously it all depends on how good the script is and how good the director is as an editor ultimately is only really as good as the material he/she is given. I have been lucky, as most of the projects I have worked on have had good scripts and talented directors with a few exceptions!

How hard is it to condense the narrative of a film into a trailer without too many spoilers?

In TV we used to edit our own TV trailers and teasers which I quite enjoyed although they do take their time to get right, but in features, particularly Harry Potter there is a whole department at Warner Bros who do the trailers for us from the cuts that we send to them and they do them extremely well and we always look forward to seeing them and having our input into what works and what doesn’t.

You have had a very varied filmography. If you could edit your past would you change anything?

No, I don’t think I would change a thing as I have an incredibly wonderful and supportive family and have been very lucky to work with some great directors like David Yates, John Schlesinger, Paul Greengrass and Richard Eyre and I have thoroughly enjoyed my time so far in the film industry and hope to continue as long as humanly possible and as long as directors want to work with me!

Have you any advice for anyone wanting to get into the editing field?

Every field of film making is difficult to break into nowadays but if you really want to make it you will but it takes determination and tenacity to do so.

I get many young people contacting me about getting into the cutting rooms. I never discourage them as it’s a fantastic area to work in as the cutting room is essentially where the film is ‘made’. I think editing is a highly creative art form which is not quite recognised as much as it should be (say like cinematography, design or music) but I think that’s because it’s an invisible art form in so far as the audience should be immersed into the story and not really notice the editing unless of course it’s bad!

Where do you feel editing is going in the future with CGI etc – Is it hard to work with green screen?

When I first started working on Harry Potter it was pretty confusing I must admit but I soon got to understand why particular shots were filmed with green screen and then used by the visual FX department to create certain backgrounds or creatures for interaction with live performances. As long as we keep using ‘flesh and bone’ actors I will be happy.

What has been one of your favourite moments on the Harry Potter films?

One of my favourite moments is when we take the film to Chicago before it is completely finished with final visual FX and with a rough music score to show a public audience who have no idea what film they are going to see. Being part of the excitement of the reaction when they are told it is Harry Potter is very special. After the film has finished they hold a question and answer session and it’s very interesting to hear the public’s comments, positive and negative. It helps us to understand what is working with the film and what is causing concern.

We then address those problems in the cutting room when we return to the UK before ‘locking’ the picture and completing the dub and grade prior to release.

What has been one of the most challenging moments in your editing experience?

Apart from Harry Potter which has been a huge learning curve over the last few years due to the complexities of combining visual FX and drama in a successful way, editing Sex Traffic presented a number of problems because it was filmed in three different countries over several weeks including Romania in the native language plus it was a traumatic subject in a dialect I was unable to speak which presented some interesting challenges whilst editing dialogue scenes but I am very proud of the way it turned out as it was a very well made, hard hitting, thought provoking drama.

Do you have a favourite film or film moment from an editing perspective?

There are so many films I admire from an editing perspective but three that come to mind immediately are Memento, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and City of God. Stunning pieces of work.

What would you like to do after Harry Potter?

After a bit of a rest (as I would have been on the last two Harry Potter films for two and a half years) I would love to work on a film with no visual FX or green screen but just pure drama with no wizards!

Many, many thanks for taking the time to give such brilliant answers. And a note to all readers to look out for the new Harry Potter film ‘The Deathly Hallows’ (part one) coming out in November 2010.