Cracking the Da Vinci Code

Film editors Dan Hanley and Mike Hill are an intrepid duo. The longtime collaborators of director Ron Howard were fresh from editing the acclaimed Cinderella Man (for which they received their third Academy Award nomination for Achievement in Film Editing) when they dove in to what may be the biggest film project of their careers, literally.

The Da Vinci Code, adapted from the phenomenally successful - and controversial - suspense thriller by author Dan Brown, is arguably the most highly anticipated movie of 2006. The film is opening simultaneously in nearly 70 countries, the kind of release that is typically reserved for likely box office hits. "We've made big pictures with Ron before, but this is a whole other level with a worldwide day-and-date release," says Hanley, about the film, which is opening on approximately 23,000 screens on May 19th two days after its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.

Keeping cool under such high-stakes filmmaking is no easy task, and Hill gives much of the credit to Howard, who has directed blockbusters such as Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, and Ransom. He explains, "Working with Ron is great. He's so calm, you never feel the pressure - even though you know there's pressure."

"We've made big pictures with Ron before, but this is a whole other level."
- Dan Hanley, Editor, The Da Vinci Code

Tight Timeframes, Tested Tools

During the four-month shoot in England and France, which ended in October 2005, the editing team set up shop at Shepperton Studios outside London. This enabled the editors to work with Howard and the rest of the cast and crew to ensure they were obtaining the coverage they needed while on location. It also allowed the editing team to work closely with the visual effects houses, which were all based in London, for previsualization of the extensive effects sequences. When the editors returned to Los Angeles for the final editing work, they faced a tighter-than-usual editing timeline due to the time required to prepare such a large number of prints for worldwide release and the absolute May 19th deadline. "This movie was so complex. There was a lot of intense work," says Hill.

The Da Vinci Code

To keep pace with the sheer volume of editorial tasks - including logging one million feet of film and handling approximately 700 visual effects shots - and to ensure a flawless on-time delivery, the editing team relied on a totally integrated digital editing setup. Hanley and Hill, along with associate editor Robert Komatsu and assistants Carolyn Calvert, Tom Elkins, and Suzy Gilbert, used as many as five Macintosh-based Film Composer XL systems during post. Each Film Composer station was connected to the Avid Unity MediaNetwork system for simultaneous sharing of projects and media - an essential feature given the film's stringent deadlines. The assistant editors also used Avid Xpress Pro software on a Macintosh G4 laptop, primarily to check the accuracy of dailies data.   

Throughout the editing process, Hanley and Hill, who won the Academy Award for their work on Apollo 13, used their usual tag-team approach to cutting. Because they have worked together for nearly 25 years and know each others' work habits well, they could work efficiently while remaining focused on the creative process.

"We cut everything as it comes in, just alternating scenes. If we feel something needs a fresh eye, we'll work with one another. If there is a sequence that's dear to someone's heart, we'll stay with it," explains Hanley about his equal editing partnership with Hill.

"This way, Ron gets two heads - two sensibilities. It's an approach that definitely has huge benefits - it's great for Ron, and it's great for us."

"This movie was so complex. There was a lot of intense work."
- Mike Hill, Editor, The Da Vinci Code

The Structure Holds the Key

Akiva Goldsman wrote the adapted screenplay, capturing all of the characters and their overlapping subplots in vivid detail while remaining faithful to the book's intricate plot. The challenge for the editors was keeping the densely packed narrative intact while maintaining the rhythm and pace of a thriller-like drama.

The Da Vinci Code

"It felt like it took a long time to get out of the Louvre," says Hill about the first part of the film, which takes place in the Louvre museum in Paris. "There are a lot of suspenseful scenes, but we were spending way too much time getting [main characters] Langdon and Sophie into their car and on their way. We went from about 80 minutes to a 20- or 30-minute section for the first act."

"This way, Ron gets two heads - two sensibilities. It's an approach that definitely has huge benefits - it's great for Ron, and it's great for us."

"This movie was so complex. There was a lot of intense work."
- Mike Hill, Editor, The Da Vinci Code

The Structure Holds the Key

Akiva Goldsman wrote the adapted screenplay, capturing all of the characters and their overlapping subplots in vivid detail while remaining faithful to the book's intricate plot. The challenge for the editors was keeping the densely packed narrative intact while maintaining the rhythm and pace of a thriller-like drama.

The Da Vinci Code

"It felt like it took a long time to get out of the Louvre," says Hill about the first part of the film, which takes place in the Louvre museum in Paris. "There are a lot of suspenseful scenes, but we were spending way too much time getting [main characters] Langdon and Sophie into their car and on their way. We went from about 80 minutes to a 20- or 30-minute section for the first act."

Other features that Hanley particularly likes are the blue replace arrows and the Matchback feature. "For me it goes back to when you have a writer and a director in the room with you, you just can't beat the way Matchback works. To be able to match back to the original take and open up the bin is great. The amount of time between thought process and action is so quick," says Hanley.

Effects Create Mystery

Komatsu used the Film Composer system's Effects options to create the temp visual effects, which were an essential part of the film's look and structure. "AniMatte is my new best friend. I love it," he says. "It gives us the ability to composite so many different elements together without the use of blue screens. We can create these seamless images that don't look clunky. I used it constantly on this film."

The Da Vinci Code

The effects shots were as varied as they were complex. In one scene, Tom Hanks's character visualizes an elaborate solar system with planets in motion to solve the puzzle of a missing orb that marks a key location in his search. Another scene consisted of a camera shot that travels inside an elaborate encoding device - the cryptex - to explain how it works.

There were approximately 500 traditional effects shots created by four visual effects houses, plus another 200 created in the digital intermediate stage. Communication with the effects houses was easy while the editors were set up at Shepperton Studios. When the editors moved back to L.A., assistant editor Simon Davis remained in London to help coordinate receipt and distribution of visual effects elements with various vendors and to prepare the digital intermediate. He used his own Film Composer system with the Avid Unity MediaNetwork shared-storage system for a seamless long-distance workflow.  
"We copied everything over to their [Avid] Unity before we left, so they had all the same media [in London]," explains Komatsu. "When we were back in L.A., when we had to get them a sequence, we'd just put a copy of the sequence in a bin and e-mail it to them. There's no FedEx of videotape or FTP of QuickTime files. It would take 10 seconds to send it. It became really easy for us to send updated cuts for review, and so on. We'd e-mail bins daily."

Hearing is Believing

Supervising sound editor Chic Ciccolini oversaw a 16-member sound team, which used 14 Digidesign Pro Tools systems to handle sound editing, sound effects, dialogue, ADR, Foley, and music. Six additional Pro Tools|HD systems were used on the mixing stage to handle a combination of pre-dubs and super sessions. The individual stations used on the mixing stage for music, ADR, sound effects, and dialogue were particularly useful for handling last-minute fixes, enabling the rest of the mixing team to continue their work uninterrupted. "Time was of the essence on this film," says Ciccolini.

The Da Vinci Code

Most of the sound team was on the Sony lot and shared files over the studio's network. However, the music team was located off lot, so music editor Dan Pinder used the secure DigiDelivery digital file exchange system to quickly swap files with the rest of the sound team. "DigiDelivery proved to be a terrific time saver - it's very fast and very helpful," he says.

Ciccolini, who has worked with Howard for 21 years, found The Da Vinci Code to be an interesting project for creating sound, with its unraveling mysteries and settings in both the past and present. "The thing I really like about working in sound is that you don't have to be literal about what you use. You can take something completely unrelated and place it with an image. You want to use whatever you can to enhance the imagery."

Ciccolini cites one scene that depicts a catapult from medieval times. In the sound design suite, he and sound effects editor Danny Pagan used a Pro Tools|HD system to create a sound to accompany the arm of the catapult as it was released. Instead of using a sound typically associated with a mechanical device, they used an elephant's trumpet. "We brought the elephant sound into Pro Tools and used some plug-ins, which gave it an interesting quality that worked well. With sounds like that, I get a kick out of telling Ron, "Do you know what that is?" He hasn't a clue. To him, it sounds like a catapult, and that's just what we want."

Da Vinci's Legacy

The art and science of filmmaking have never been more on display than in The Da Vinci Code, with its compelling storyline supported by extensive settings and elaborate visual and audio effects. A cinematic work of art, with its inception in the Louvre, the film relies in no small part on the creative talents of the post team.

The Da Vinci Code

"It is a true collaboration - the meeting of sound and picture together, working hard to achieve the director's vision," says Ciccolini. "You listen to the director and ask yourself, "What is he trying to create?" We are all simply the extension of his vision."

*CREDIT: Photo: Simon Mein. © 2006 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. All Rights Reserved.