For Your Consideration - Editor Michael Darrow

This Post is in a series of posts that is directed at the members of the IAWTV/Streamy Awards. The content will highlight different members of the Compulsions team. These are meant for both awareness and as a guide to showcase what each individual brought to the project.

Michael is an award winning editor and has done six feature films. Last month he won an Indie Soap Award for Best Editing in his work in Compulsions.

From Director Nathan Atkinson: After Principal Photography, I was so frustrated, I couldn’t get past the fact that I didn’t get all the shots I wanted (we shot all of Season One in 5 days) and {our budget} was spoken for, which meant that we weren’t going to have any reshoots – period. No pick-ups, no matter how big or small, nothing. Mike just simply told me, with all the confidence that only comes with experience, “Just come on in and let me show you what I got.” I simply could not have done it without him. Even when it seemed that we may have painted ourselves into a corner, he always found a way out. He simply understands tone, character development, drama, tension… Michael’s not just a gifted Editor – he’s a gifted Storyteller.

From Producer Michael Tohl: Aside from his strong sense of story and timing, Michael also had his own “off screen” challenge to deal with. How can an editor edit a digital piece without a computer? Half way through post-production, a water main burst in the wall of his apartment… he saved his computer, but it was packed up in a box while he bounced around living situations in the interim. While his computer was able to be unpacked and set up somewhere, he also had to take on more editing gigs to pay the bills, because let’s face it… we couldn’t pay that much. So how does an editor balance paid gigs with a low paid passion project, without a stable or constant work environment, and get it done by the final deadline? Dedication.

From Creator Bernie Su: I really can’t tell you how much I respect Michael’s sense of story. When you come into a script/story with non-linear timelines like our show, it can be confusing. There’s no right/wrong way to approach editing a story like that. Adding to that was our philosophy of having “perceived violence”. You actually don’t see much if any of the violent moments on screen, it’s all implied, and that in itself is a skill to edit together.

Below are a couple clips for a few episodes to highlight Michael’s editing.

Episode 1: 2:46 – This sequence in episode 1 is a combination of both story and “violence” together. Watch as the scene builds from Mark interrogating Adam, to Mark punishing Adam for his defiance. Note: We never see the hammer connect on anything… it’s all implied.

Episode 2: 0:45 – This is the exact same scene I highlighted for Sound Designer Tom Boykin, but now you can watch it for the precision in the editing this time around. Again you’re looking at rapid cuts back and forth between the office and interrogation scenes. Both scenes are completely opposite as far as moods and tones, and most importantly they both serve each other for character and story.

One final note to say. This series has three leads and each specific episode focuses on one of them, even though the characters intertwine. Michael was able to execute in his craft that the episodes maintain that mantra. You’ll notice it come Episodes 3, 5, 7, and 8 when the Mark character is in each episode but is regulated to secondary status. Always service your leads, and Michael did that in his editing.