ScreenX team talks editing 'Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald' on 3 screens
 

SnitchSeeker recently chatted with Gail Gutierrez, the lead editor and production manager of the ScreenX 270-degree screen format, on how the team brought Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald to life across three screens.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is showing on select ScreenX screens around the world; actual locations can be found here. For an idea of what the sequel looks like on three screens, take a look at the trailer below.

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SnitchSeeker: What is the process of choosing which scenes from FANTASTIC BEASTS to enhance for ScreenX? How are these scenes edited for the screen?
Gail Gutierrez: The ScreenX team watched the film while the show was still in post-production. We like to choose scenes that lend themselves to the ScreenX format. We are particularly attracted to landscapes, fight scenes, and other shots that allow ScreenX to bring the audience into a moment.

SnitchSeeker: How long did the editing process take for FANTASTIC BEASTS? When did you first get to see the final cut (and what did you think of the movie as a whole)?
Gutierrez: We watched the film in September. In order to create the “wing” images, we coordinated with the VFX team and Editorial staff. After receiving CG assets (i.e. environments, digital doubles, matte paintings) and footage from Post, it took about 4 full weeks of ScreenX production. We have many teams of VFX artists working on the wings.

Fantastic Beasts offers us the opportunity to play with magical realism. ScreenX surrounds the audience with visual imagery of the magical spells.

SnitchSeeker: What are the biggest challenges in editing for a movie like FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD?
Gutierrez: Our main challenge is usually time. Fantastic Beasts has a lot of VFX shots. After post-production delivers the film, the ScreenX team has a tight schedule to finish production.

SnitchSeeker: Which scene was the most difficult to edit for ScreenX? And perhaps the easiest?
Gutierrez: I would say that difficult shots are those with a lot of camera movement. Sometimes, ScreenX has to manually track the camera movement, because we have to mimic that same motion on the wings. I think that “easy” shots are dialogue scenes within a landscape.

SnitchSeeker: How much collaboration did you have with the filmmakers of the movie on the editing process? Have you heard their thoughts on the format?
Gutierrez: We mainly work with the VFX Supervisor and the Post-Production Supervisor. In past projects, some directors were able to participate in a QC screening. I believe that they’re excited about the format because ScreenX provides another way to enhance visual storytelling.

SnitchSeeker: In your opinion, how do you think the enhanced screen will benefit fans and moviegoers from watching it on 270-degree screens compared to a regular flat screen?
Gutierrez: ScreenX is immersive cinema. When you watch the final scene of Fantastic Beasts, you are surrounded by the flames of Grindelwald. It’s a viewing experience that you can’t recreate at home.

SnitchSeeker: What are some new ideas you have for ScreenX movie experiences going forward for upcoming projects? And do you hope and plan to create this formatted version of the movie for the next three FANTASTIC BEASTS movies?
Gutierrez: I hope to enter a project before production. That way, the creative team can also storyboard with ScreenX in mind. With more planning, maybe we’ll be able to convert the entire film into the ScreenX format.

Order tickets here for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald at Fandango now.

Read SnitchSeeker's set visit breakdown of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, including the return to Hogwarts and London, and entering Paris's Wizarding world.

Warner Bros. Pictures’ “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” is the second of five all new adventures in J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World™.

At the end of the first film, the powerful Dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp) was captured by MACUSA (Magical Congress of the United States of America), with the help of Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne). But, making good on his threat, Grindelwald escaped custody and has set about gathering followers, most unsuspecting of his true agenda: to raise pure-blood wizards up to rule over all non-magical beings.

In an effort to thwart Grindelwald’s plans, Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) enlists his former student Newt Scamander, who agrees to help, unaware of the dangers that lie ahead. Lines are drawn as love and loyalty are tested, even among the truest friends and family, in an increasingly divided wizarding world.

The film features an ensemble cast led by Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Ezra Miller, Zoë Kravitz, Callum Turner, Claudia Kim, William Nadylam, Kevin Guthrie, Carmen Ejogo, Poppy Corby-Tuech, with Jude Law and Johnny Depp.

“Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” is directed by David Yates, from a screenplay by J.K. Rowling. The film is produced by David Heyman, J.K. Rowling, Steve Kloves and Lionel Wigram. Tim Lewis, Neil Blair, Rick Senat and Danny Cohen serve as executive producers.

The film reunites the behind-the-scenes creative team from the first “Fantastic Beasts” film, including Oscar-winning director of photography Philippe Rousselot (“A River Runs Through It”), three-time Oscar-winning production designer Stuart Craig (“The English Patient,” “Dangerous Liaisons,” “Gandhi,” the “Harry Potter” films), four-time Oscar-winning costume designer Colleen Atwood (“Chicago,” “Memoirs of a Geisha,” “Alice in Wonderland,” “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”), and Yates’ longtime editor Mark Day (the last four “Harry Potter” films). The music is by eight-time Oscar nominee James Newton Howard (“Defiance,” “Michael Clayton,” “The Hunger Games” films).

Slated for release on November 16, 2018, the film will be distributed worldwide in 2D and 3D in select theatres and IMAX by Warner Bros. Pictures.

This film is rated PG-13 for some sequences of fantasy action.