One of the best films of the summer, Edgar Wright doesn’t waste a single moment getting you on board with “Baby Driver.” The gear-shifting action flick kicks off with a helluva statement of intent: a heist, followed by extended, beautifully executed car chase, all choreographed to the sounds of Jon Spencer Blues Explosion‘s “Bellbottoms.” If you’re not rolling with the film after those six minutes, you might as well leave the cinema then and there. And as you might imagine, that scene — and the entire movie — really tested the talents of the editing team.
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Speaking at NAB 2017 (via The Beat), cutter Paul Machliss said that “[‘Baby Driver’] was the hardest job I’ve ever worked as an editor.” Part of the challenge was that Wright asked Machliss to be on set during the shoot of “Baby Driver,” so he could edit sequences in real time to make sure they were working in relation to the music and other elements of the film. So, with a MacBook Pro, some hard drives, and Avid, Machliss dove into the movie.
“Roadside editing, you know, this is anywhere, anytime basically… you could literally wheel it out of the main truck and be ready for Edgar in minutes,” he explained.
It’s a pretty remarkable achievement, and even if you’re not savvy on editing techniques, one look at the opening sequence and you know a helluva lot of work went into putting it together. “Baby Driver” is now playing everywhere.