Everything with David Fincher is intention, precision, and exacting qualities. And some of that intention is the filmmaker knowing what he wants and surrounding himself with some amazing talents. Over the years, that’s included giants like Academy Award-winning composers like Howard Shore and Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, legendary directors of photography like Harris Savides, Darius Khondji, and Jeff Cronenweth, to name just a few.
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However, Fincher’s secret weapon and ace in the hole, at least in recent years, might be two-time Oscar-winning film editor Kirk Baxter, who won his Academy Best Editing prizes for“The Social Network” in 2010 and “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in 2011 (he was also nominated for “The Curious Case of Benjamin,” Button” in 2008; his first feature-length solo editing credit no less).
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Baxter has worked pretty much exclusively with Fincher since 2008; editing every one of his feature films from that point on, including working on the Fincher-directed episode of “House Of Cards” and “Mindhunter” (one of his earliest credits is being an additional editor on 2007’s “Zodiac”).
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Baxter has done a lot of commercial work over the years as well and has been tapped by filmmakers like Michel Gondry, Alexander Payne, John Hillcoat, Lance Accord, Yann Demange, and of course, Fincher (the Calvin Klein “Downtown” ad with Rooney Mara is particularly memorable).
Naturally, Baxter is the editor of Fincher’s sumptuous black and white Netflix drama “Mank,” too. And in this exclusive clip, which we’re proud to present, “Precision Cutting,” Baxter details the assemblage of Fincher’s acclaimed new film, while additionally, digging in on navigating the director’s wealth of coverage, building transitions, piecing together the climactic “Mank” tirade at Hearst Castle and much, much more.
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“When you watch a lot of old movies, there can be this clunky timing to things, it’s sort of not the language to today,” Baxter said about the challenges of crafting a movie to appear to be made in an old style, but still using the modern rhythms and grammar of today. “I think you can make something look and sound old, but to deliberately edit at a pace that’s dull, is not going to help anyone.”
“Mank” is available now on Netflix. Watch the exclusive clip below.