With “Into the Wild” and “Michael Clayton” continuing to grab attention this awards season for writer-directors Sean Penn and Tony Gilroy, not to mention the film’s stars, it is easy to forget the tech artists who played an immensely important role in crafting the films. In particular, the pacing of the two films, created by their editing, was pivotal to the feel of each.

I recently spoke with the editors of both efforts, Jay Cassidy and John Gilroy.

Cassidy has been Penn’s editor on all of the director’s previous films. “He was involved all the way and we would even work at his house,” Cassidy recalls, emphasizing that the filmmaking process is part of Penn’s life.
John Gilroy and Tony Gilroy had never worked together prior to “Michael Clayton,” but they nevertheless know each other very well –they are brothers! At the end of the day, however, John says that he worked with his elder brother the same way he has worked with many directors in the past. “As he’s shooting, I’m cutting,” Gilroy explains, adding that he’s not a big believer in the “rough cut” and mines the scenes deeply as he gets them. After the shooting, however, he says that the two of them were working shoulder-to-shoulder.

Cassidy underlines that the atmosphere of comfort on “Into the Wild” went far beyond his relationship with the director. As Penn tends to reunite his crews from past efforts, virtually all the crafts artists knew each other before arriving on the set. “We all know Sean so well and it’s very comfortable working with the same team,” Cassidy explains. He cites Eric Gautier, the cinematographer, as a notable new edition but also says that “it took him five minutes to get in tune with our vision.”

Gilroy also considers relationships with other crafts artists to be of the utmost importance as they all are trying to create the best movie possible. “I’m a pretty hands-on guy,” he says. In particular, he considers himself pretty heavily involved in the sound design, more so as his career advances. He explains that this extends to work with composers, also noting that he worked closely with James Newtown Howard on “Michael Clayton.”

Both artists did point out particular challenges on the films. Cassidy found that pacing through the different themes of “Into the Wild” was a notable obstacle. He acknowledges that there were several places in the film where he and Penn made a conscious decision to “show off” the editing. But it was for the sheer enjoyment of experimentation.

Gilroy notes that throughout post-production, striking a balance between the film’s thriller aspects and its quiet, personal moments always had to be considered. But he does not hesitate to say that he considered the biggest obstacle to be the opening of the movie.

“We had this wonderful, free-associating dialogue by Tom Wilkinson but it was tricky trying to marry images to what he was saying,” Gilroy says. “We quickly knew we couldn’t do credits at the beginning and also soon realized we couldn’t show people because you’d associate the voiceover with the characters.” Eventually landing on showing the law firm at night, as a desolate, sleeping organism, was a decision that took a great deal of time to reach but one with which Gilroy is obviously very pleased.

For Cassidy, one of the rewards of “Into the Wild” has been gracious responses to the film. “This story was worth telling,” he says. “I think every film, if the material is rich enough, finds its own voice and if you recognize that, it tells you what to do. And there were no ‘if onlys’ when we were done.” There was no tension between filmmaker and producer on the film, Cassidy says.

Gilroy also acknowledges that producers and studios can often influence the picture heavily, noting that he has found himself in plenty such situations in his career. But he says that was not the case on “Michael Clayton,” that he and his brother were left on their own with no one looking over their shoulder, for which he is clearly grateful.
Despite having an enormous impact on the quality of a film, editors are almost never recognized by the movie-going public. But Cassidy does not mind, thinking that the job comes with an anonymous quality. “I don’t mind obscurity; if I do my job and it works, you shouldn’t notice it,” is Cassidy’s opinion on the matter, going on to state that he considers it faint phrase to say that a film is well-edited.

Gilroy considers editing to perhaps be a misunderstood craft, but he does not feel undervalued. “Hundreds of people, if not more, sweat and invest themselves in a movie, and it all comes down to us putting it together in the best way possible,” he says. “For me, that’s an honor.”