Jennifer Lame poses backstage with the Oscar for ‘Film Editing.’ Photo Credit: Michael Baker, A.M.P.A.S.
Academy Award winner Jennifer Lame chatted about editing “Oppenheimer” in IMAX format.
Lame won the Oscar for “Best Film Editing” for “Oppenheimer,” where she triumphed over nominees Laurent Sénéchal (“Anatomy of a Fall), Kevin Tent (“The Holdovers”),
Thelma Schoonmaker (“Killers of the Flower Moon”), and Yorgos Mavropsaridis (“Poor Things”). This marks Lame’s first career Oscar win.
Her acceptance speech may be seen below.
Aside from “Best Film Editing,” “Oppenheimer” won a total of seven Academy Awards including “Best Picture,” “Best Actor” for Cillian Murphy, “Best Supporting Actor” for Robert Downey Jr. and for “Best Director” for Christopher Nolan.
Lame on editing in IMAX format
On the challenges of editing the movie in IMAX format, Lame responded, “It’s actually not that challenging. It’s such a boring answer, but it doesn’t really make a difference. It’s still just editing a movie.”
“The way Hoyte [van Hoytema] and Chris [Nolan] do it, it just kind of folds in naturally. At the end, we kind of make some decisions visually, but really it’s just the best performance is best version of the movie. Yeah, so it’s really not that big a challenge.”
Lame on having the spotlight on her editing work
Lame opened up about having the spotlight on her editing work. “It has been incredible. Working for Chris, when he hired me, I was in shock because it was so many new things that I’d never done before, and I was so out of my comfort zone on so many levels, and I did things I never thought I would be able to do,” Lame said.
“So, actually having a spotlight on this film is really great for me to just thank everybody for giving me these and opening these doors I never thought would open for me,” she elaborated.
“So, it actually has been quite incredible, however, talking about editing is not one of my strong suits,” Lame noted.
Lame on the quick pacing of the film ‘Oppenheimer’
She discussed the quick pacing of the film, and whether it was a struggle to convey all that was going on in the movie so quickly.
“Yes, it was a struggle,” she admitted. “I never wanted it to feel too quick. So I hope it didn’t feel too quick. But, yeah, I think it was a struggle to get and to give all the performances were incredible.”
“Everything that Chris shot, his script was incredible, and I wanted it all to be in there, and I want everyone to enjoy it as much as I did when I read that script, but I didn’t want it to feel too rushed,” she acknowledged.
“So, that was obviously an incredible challenge that Chris and I worked together on so hard every day, and it means so much to me that so many people enjoyed the film and came out to watch it and told me they didn’t think it’s too long even though I know it’s almost three hours,” she elaborated.
Lame on editing Cillian Murphy’s scenes
On editing Cillian Murphy’s scenes as J. Robert Oppenheimer, she said, “I have so many favorite scenes with Cillian, because his performance blew me away.”
“I have to be honest, when I read the script and I know what I know about the man Oppenheimer, I couldn’t imagine how could this sustain for three hours because nobody knows him and he’s inscrutable,” she said.
“Cillian brought this intensity to it and I’m just mesmerized by his performance, and you wanted to know who he was, even though he wouldn’t really tell you,” she explained.
Lame continued, “Some of my favorite scenes are when he’s vulnerable, like in Truman’s office when he actually wants to take a stand and he’s bumbling and he’s acting like he can’t make a sentence, which you’ve never seen him do before. And I had a way longer cut of that scene.”
“Or when he’s in the Casey Affleck scene and he’s really bad at lying. So yeah, there was so many of my favorite scenes with Cillian that I did have to cut down because he is fantastic,” she concluded.
Please Note: This journalist was credentialed for the 2024 Academy Awards, and he participated in the Press Room interviews with this year’s Oscar winners.
Read More: “Oppenheimer” review.