Interview with Lucas La Battaglia the editor of The Luring and Elimination Strain

We sat down with the talented editor Lucas La Battaglia who’s work includes The Luring, Elimination Strain, Romantic Realism The Art of Roderick A. Wells, and many others. His collaboration with Christopher Wells goes back when they were both students at School Of Visual Arts.

Lucas can be found:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lucaslb7/

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0478375/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

Q: I understand you were on set for The Luring, did that help you in the editing process and if yes, do you think that shoild be a common practice for most productions?

A: Yes it definitely helped me with the editing. As en editor there is the process of first getting acquainted with the footage and there is no quick way to do that. You have to catalogue it in your mind in a way that you can recall where everything is. By being on the set you’re already way ahead on that process when you go into post production. It would probably be ideal for that to be common but it is very rare for an editor to have also been part of the shooting. 

Q: What was your process in terms of editing The Luring? How long did it take? What are some important steps an editor takes to move ahead smoothly as I can imagine there is a lot of footage.

A: I was part of this project from conception so, as I mentioned, I was already very familiar with the whole thing by the time we sat down to edit. Editing a feature is a monster of a task and I always make sure to try to be as organized as possible from the get go. That is also another advantage of having been on set is that I was able to organize things with the post production work flow in mind. The edit from start to finish took several months and went through many phases. First is always sitting down with the director to get on the same playing field in terms of the feel, look, pace… Then we do the logging and mapping it all out. Then there is the assembling of the story which is like building the foundation of a house. Its just a like a skeleton that shapes but not yet any details. Then you go in there and really start to work the story and put all the pieces together. It was particularly challenging with this film because it is complex and the characters have a lot of back story to them and there is also a lot of foreshadowing and flashbacks so it was definitely a large puzzle to solve but thats what made it so delicious to really delve into. After we had it in a nice place we liked then there is the finishing part of the edit which we hand over to the sound engineer and colorist. In this case I also did the color myself so there was no hand off but usually that all gets sent to different studios. 

Q: How was it working with Christopher as a director? How many films have you collaborated with him on? 

A: Christopher and I have known each other for about 25 years now. We met in film school so we’ve been friends and been collaborating for a very long time and have become a great team. It’s become a very intuitive working relationship where we can almost finish each others sentences and know what the other is thinking and don’t have to explain things out. Its the kind of thing that takes a long time to achieve and also not always a walk in the park. lol. But that is always part of a great working relationship because everyone is individual and has their own perspective and that’s the way it should be cause that’s what makes greatest of collaborations. We’ve worked on so many projects from comedic student films to journalistic style series, documentaries, narrative shorts, corporate type stuff. And neither of us ever really had money to work with so we’ve been in the trenches together and thats where you really learn film making so we have many war stories to tell. 

Q: The mood and pace in The Luring is very eerie and certain scenes have this amazing build up of tension. Is that hard to accomplish and what do you need as an editor to ensure you can deliver? 

A: That’s something that is established beforehand and its something that takes patience and a lot of trial and error to get it just right. You don’t want to make it so slow that people are falling asleep in their seats but you don’t want to rush it for sake of rushing it. Have to get the temperature just right and it can be challenging to find that balance but one of the most amazing things that happens in the process of making a film is that it becomes an entity of its own in a way and the film, in magical way starts to dictate to you where it wants to go. Its is a truly fascinating phenomena that is one of the reasons why I love filmmaking so much. It can’t be explained really, something you have to experience. But there are all these forces at work and you feel like your a part of it doing your pushing and pulling and influencing a way. It truly is magical.

Q: Most films don’t get a distribution deal, what was it like to be able to share The Luring with family and friends on a major platform? 

A: It was awesome to see it go from idea in Chris’s head he told me at a bar or something one day to being on the screen watching it on amazon prime! It is strange indeed cause no one really thinks about how the sausage in made. We all just assume someone presses a button a  movie comes out but it is a very complicated and long process where many things can and do go wrong but it is such a fun and exciting adventure that I couldn’t think of doing anything else. Everyone loves films. 

Q: What editing advice would you give to other editors and what advice would you give to directors when collaborating with an editor? 

A: Thats a tough one. Well as an editor I would say in general, always remember you are editing someone else’s film. Its tempting to want to take over cause you are at the center of the process but I always see the director as being the captain of a ship. You can suggest and and give your two cents, but at the end of the day they are the ones steering the ship and will decide which direction it goes in. Im sure maybe some might not completely agree with me or might see it a bit different but there can only be one captain on a film. Sometimes editors or cinematographers, actors etc try to impose their will and go over the line a bit. And as far as advice to directors, I would say, and this might sound a bit contradictory to what I just said but, don’t try to micromanage the departments. If you do a good job of picking your team then you have to trust that they are good at what they do and giving them space to do their thing will only make you look better. At the end of the day you are the decider and can put the finality on any decision but let them spread their wings cause it will be to your benefit. It is really all a question of control. You can be in control of a film and give everyone the space they need. Those two things are not mutually exclusive. The best films come out of the proper balance of those things. 

Q: You recently edited Elimination Strain written and directed by Christopher, what was that process like and did you learn anything from this recent collaboration? 

A: This was honestly one of most fun edits I can remember. Long edits can sometimes get mundane and can make you go a little kooky. But this was a quick and was a blast. We were really constrained with time and that sometimes makes things easier. With the amazing technology we have at our disposal now in day, there are so many options that it can be overwhelming so being given restrictions is not always a bad thing. It was still challenging however and it was harder than I thought it would be when I sat down to edit it. I think it was just a matter of getting in tune with this particular project and like tuning a radio once you find it then you can hear the music clearly in a sense. 

Q: Elimination Strain is a proof of concept that’s 6 minutes and 32 seconds long, The Luring is a feature film about 90 minutes long, besides the amount of work that goes into a feature compared to a short, what other differences (pacing, drive space, overall arch of story, etc.) are there that non-editors may not be aware of? 

A: Well there’s definitely the pacing and cadence of the story that’s different. In a short you are forced to tell in a more compact way. You dont have as much luxury of letting moments simmer a bit longer like you do with a feature so it completely changes the dynamic

Q: What was your favorite scene to edit and/or most proud of in The Luring?

A: The opening scene was a great scene to edit cause of the back and forth play between what was going on in the dining room and the basement with the boy. Like two different stories being told simultaneously. They both had their own build up happening side by side and interconnected like a lattice so the climax completed each other. It was nicely written and the result came out really nice. Was fun scene to cut

Q: The lake scene in The Luring is one beautiful dolly shot, as an editor is it hard to keep things simple like in that scene or is it clear that was the way to go? How do you know?

A: This was more of the director, Christopher’s gut feeling on the scene. Because of the rainy situation on the day of shoot, we didn’t get a chance to get as much coverage as we wanted so we were limited from the get go. But such is the magic that happens on a film shoot where you plan for something and it doesn’t go how you plan it but there was this break in the rain and we got these beautiful takes of the master shot from behind the actors with this incredible clouds in the background. Gorgeous shots that we ended thinking. Hey why not try to do the whole thing as one take. Like if you are spirit kind of observing them in stalking manner. It’s beautiful with a touch of creepiness lurking in behind them. That wouldn’t of happened if things had gone our way that day. Lol 

Q: Talk to me about the editing style in The Luring compared to Elimination Strain? I’m partially interested in your quest to understand the language of each project and how are you able to be open minded enough to change up your editing style. 

A: They are two very different stories. The Luring has a much more subtle, slow burn pace that picks up as the film progresses. Elimination has a more a anxious paranoid feel from the get go. One of the most important things to get right with an edit is the cadence. Every film has a different cadence and feel and obviously as the editor it is my responsibility to ensure that is happening the way the director wants.

Q: The Luring’s characters talk and deal with nightmares, especially  Claire, played by Michaela Sprague. In one nightmare she dreams about her boyfriend Garrett played by Rick Irwin acting submissive towards Jennifer played by Molly Fahey and at first we don’t know if this is a dream or if Claire is able to see what Garrett is doing while she sleeps? There is a lot of foreshadowing with the choking and the poem in that particular scene as well. I’d love to hear your thoughts on your approach, what did you think when reading the script and what did you need in order to get the directors vision to ensure you’d be able to deliver? 

A: This is my favorite type of editing to do. The mixing of the reality and surreal and blurring the lines as to where the borders are. That particular scene really fucks with you because we’re not only mixing up Claire’s world between her dreams and her reality but it is now all mixing with Garret’s worlds. Its this juxtaposition of everyone’s realities being mixed up which is what the spirit in the house is doing. Messes with everyone who comes in contact with it on so many levels. Real mind fuck for everyone!

Q: What sort of mistakes do you see in productions that limit the editing process and how can actors, and directors to limit those?

A: Most mistakes have to do with bad planning or not executing the plan to tell you the truth. If, in the pre-production phase, things aren’t mapped out right in terms of workflow then it will cause confusion for me as an editor. For example, if things aren’t correctly labeled and slated or if the audio tech labels his/her files in a way that doesn’t correspond to how the film crew is labeling theirs then that will be a nightmare. Organization is the key and of course executing a well organized plan. But it can be so many different things along those lines. If an actor isn’t well rehearsed then that can cause problems cause there might not be as many good takes to chose from etc. Having said all that, you also dont want to be super rigid with certain things like with actors especially where everything is super rehearsed and a director has them stick too strictly to a script. You want it to leave some space for it to be organic. Some of the best scenes in film were spawned on the spot from the actors creativity happening right then and there. So its a game of balance but on the technical side you pretty much always want to be as hard core and organized as possible. 

Q: You also edited the show Good Question, were you in set for that and what was the post production process like? 

A: Yes, I was doing the DIT on that show. That is obviously a completely different animal than narrative and requires a completely different approach. With Good Question it was important for us to get that finished in a timely manner since subject matter like politics and events change so fast. You dont want to be debuting the material that was discussed on a certain day like a year later cause it wouldn’t be current. Not that you can’t show it later cause its is still relevant but you want to get it out initially when it is current. There was a lot of material to sift through but luckily we had very intelligent and informed people we interviewed and a nice variety of folks. That makes it easier than if the material isn’t there cause then you have to painfully extract it out and that is not fun. Kind of dovetailing off the last question about an actor’s performance. If its not there then it becomes an arduous task to try to extract something out of nothing.

Q: What are you working on now, what is your IMDB, website, social media and contact info? 

A: I am currently working on a documentary style informative short about the story of a mother and the effects of air pollution from a nearby airport on her health and her family. 

Q: As an editor how is finding the story in Romanic Realism vs a film like The Luring different? Do you have more wiggle room in a documentary vs a narrative feature film? 

A: Not sure I would call it wiggle room. Its just a completely different mind set and approach. Romantic Realism was a very fluid project. Christopher shot it on his own and then just phoned me up one day and was like “Hey lets edit this” so I had no part of the planning of it whatsoever. And we started with a blank canvas and let the film come to us. At first Chris wanted to make something more like a piece for his family and friends but as we went along it started to grow into more of a narrative and powerful story and took on a life of its own. That is the most amazing part of the filmmaking process is when you get the feeling that this entity is taking on its own persona and is now starting to tell you what to do rather than the other way around. Truly magical experience. And that definitely happened on Romantic Realism.

Q: Something you do very well is pacing, in The Luring you often build up this underbelly of tension, in Romantic Realism there is this beautiful whimsical way about it that just relaxing and yet doesn’t feel drawn out. I’m sure you have conversations with Christopher about the pacing but a lot rests in your ability as an editor. Can you talk us through that process of finding the right pace and when do you know it’s working when it’s still a rough cut? 

A: A lot has to do with one’s intuition. I’m also very interested in directing and have directed some projects so that is an advantage in the edit room cause I can approach an edit with a director’s intuition and mind set. Something unique to Christopher and mine relationship is that we’ve been working together since film school so we kind of learned the craft together in many ways so we are so in tune on an edit. So much so to a point it is sometimes freaky but that is not always the case with a director/editor. I would say thats usually not the case but if you can find people to collaborate where you have that situation I think it makes for better results. Christopher really trusts me and believes in my abilities. That is very important. A smart director will let the people on their respective roles spread their wings cause it will only make for a better film. The ones who try to control every single aspect of the process fall flat in my opinion. There has to be trust. And that works in both directions of course. 

Q: Do you take the same approach when editing something like the show Good Question vs Romanic Realism in particular to b-roll as well as keeping ?

A: Not really. Even though they are similar genres they are vastly different projects. Romantic Realism was a slow burn. A story that is not in your face or screaming for attention but yet so rich once you sit down to discover it. Like finding an old photo in the trunk in an attic but the photo tells the richest of stories. Good question is much more current events and with the times, city life, things happening in a flash, very dynamic. Couldn’t be more of a contrast in style. But then again it was more of journalistic piece so not sure you can compare the two like that. 

Q: For Romanic Realism I heard Christopher’s shooting ratio was 1:1 and basically set his camera up and allowed his Father to talk about his art. What does a low shooting ratio do for you as an editor and how is your approach different then when it’s higher? Is the only difference in organizing? 

A: Well like I was explaining before. There really was no game plan. He just pressed play and came to me with the footage. Those are the projects that really take on a life of their own. As opposed to something more planned with higher ratios. Those are already half born by the time they get to me. Now you would never want to shoot a narritive that way cause it just wouldn’t work but for a documentary there is much more flexibility.

Q: In Romantic Realism the B-roll is very interesting, from old photographs to of course Rod’s beautiful artwork, how do you know when to inject these shots and how do they help tell the story? 

A: With any documentary you want to break it up with visuals. You have to break it up or people would snooze off to oblivion. No one wants to just watch someone talking the entire time so b-roll is a must. But of course you want to balance it with the person talking because it is much more personable and intimate. You just have to find the right flow. 

Q: How long did it take you to edit The Luring, Good Question and Romantic Realism and is it hard to know when it’s done? 

A: It took several months to edit The Luring. Feature narratives always take long. Good Question was faster because of what I mentioned before about wanting it to be current and it was shorter format. Romantic Realism took a decent amount of time cause we had no plan and letting the story come to you is very rewarding but usually takes time to get there. As far as knowing when a film is done. Thats a great question and the answer is very tricky because you want to take your time and make sure everything is just right but you also can run into the danger of perpetually never ending the process because you can always go back and change something. You have to give yourself a realist amount of time where you can reasonably cut off the process. You can usually tell when you start obsessing over little things for hours on end. There are signs that tell you when its time to get a move on but sometimes you are so close to the core that you miss those signs. Like I said it can be very tricky and you can get yourself into some unpleasant territory or doubt and fear but that is all part of the process. If it was all predetermined already and an alarm when off to tell you was done then what would be the point of that really? The journey is the best part!