Die Bully Die Q&A with Editor Nathan Lacey
Editor Nathan Lacey talks with Assistant Editor Annie Zhang.
Q. What is Die Bully Die about?
Die Bully Die is about the lasting effects bullying can have on you as an adult. The film revolves around the character Max, who catches up with this high school bully Adam, who bullied Max for being gay in high school. Although serious in subject matter, the film is largely comedic in nature and an ode to anyone has overcome the trauma of being bullied.
Q. As well as editing Die Bully Die, you also directed it with your brother Nick. How did you find jumping between those two roles? Did being the co-director help with the editing side of things?
I think it helps a lot. Being an Editor helps to inform your choices as a Director and being a Director means you’ve already got some form of the movie living in your head, so you go into the edit with a very clear idea of what you are trying to achieve with each scene. The role of the Director is most synonymous with style and vision but there is so much of that the Editor injects into the film too, and I think having a directing background opens my mind to more possibilities as an Editor.
Q. What was your process for editing Die Bully Die?
I like to start assembling the movie straight after we’ve finished the shoot while the footage is still fresh in my mind. I’ve also still got a post-shoot adrenaline high going so I find it beneficial to keep this momentum rolling through into post. I use Resolve to create proxies, and once those are done I plough through the sync and group as fast as possible because at this point I’m itching to start cutting.
Myself and Nick usually shoot with two cameras, and on Die Bully Die we shot with anamorphic lenses on the Sony Venice and Sony Burano cameras, in a mix of 4K and 6K resolutions. We knew we wanted to master in 4K so we did various tests in pre-production with our DP Patrick Coe to decide on the aspect ratio, bitrate and resolution prior to the shoot.
I cut Die Bully Die in Premiere Pro, mainly because I knew I’d be doing some work in Photoshop and After Effects along the way so it would make life a bit easier. Once I have everything prepped I’ll start cutting. Usually by this stage my head is full of ideas which have carried over from the shoot so I tend to jump between scenes a lot, trying out ideas and experimenting as much as possible. Even though we’ve planned every scene very carefully during the shoot I try and leave myself open to the process of discovery in the edit and ideas that arise organically as I’m cutting. My timelines are a mess at this stage, but slowly and surely I’ll work towards an assembly of the whole film. I tend to work in a timeline for each scene and will combine them all into a full assembly once I have something watchable for each one. Watchable being a very loose term.
At this point the film is full of imperfections and still very much a work in progress but for me it’s an important milestone to hit as it’s a very tangible indication of progress in the edit and that’s very motivating. From here I also find the film much easier to dissect - the problematic areas become clearer when viewed as a whole, likewise the areas that are starting to shine. At this point myself and Nick are the only two people to have watched the film so we’ll begin to share it with close friends and colleagues to test on an impartial audience. From there I’ll go back and refine, rinse and repeat. The film will quickly begin to take on its true form from here, each iteration bringing us closer and closer to the day in which I can whisper those two magic words: “it’s locked.”
Q. Was there anything you learned (can be a technical skill) and/or something you found particularly tricky that you had to overcome in the edit?
For this film in particular, we knew our first cut was too long. Short film audiences are pretty unforgiving so every second on screen needs to count and this is something myself and Nick are very aware of as directors. The biggest challenge I had in the edit was deciding which parts of the film we could lose without sacrificing the integrity of the story. There was a lot of trial and error involved to get to the final result but it was a rewarding challenge and I’m very happy where we landed with it in the end. The finished film was just over 16 minutes long - about six minutes shorter than the first cut.
Q. Was there a particular scene or moment in the film that you found the most fun editing?
The scene I enjoyed cutting the most was the bathroom scene which takes place in the middle of the film. The scene depicts a flashback of Max being bullied by Adam in their high-school bathroom. We wanted to push the horror and surrealism of this scene to really make the audience experience the fear and anxiety that Max felt in high-school at the hands of Adam. The pacing of this scene was paramount in achieving this, as was the sound design, which was the most involved of any scene in the film. I enjoyed editing every scene in Die Bully Die but that one was particularly fun.
Q. What is a major upside and a major downside of being a Director/Editor? And do you try to make up for that downside in any way?
I don’t think there are many downsides! I guess there’s always a risk that you can get tunnel vision as you become so hyper-focused on the project without time away from it, but the major positive is that you are always considering the edit when directing, and I think this can save a lot of time in knowing what is essential to the story and to your vision. Ultimately it helps you become a more efficient storyteller, and for a director I think that is a huge advantage.
Q. How did it feel winning Best Short Film at the Sydney Film Festival Dendy Awards?
It was a very special moment. Being able to premiere the film in Sydney was fantastic in itself but to come away with that award was very surreal. Short films in particular are a labour of love for everyone involved so to have the film receive industry recognition like that was a testament to the hard work and dedication of everyone who worked on the film.
Q. What’s next for Die Bully Die?
Die Bully Die will be playing at Screamfest and also Iris Prize Film Festival this coming October which we’re super excited about.