The No Film School Podcast

How to Edit for a Screen Life Film: Insights from the Team Behind Mercy

April 9
37 mins

Episode Description

GG Hawkins speaks with editors Lam T. Nguyen and Austin Keeling about building the visual language of Mercy, a hybrid screen life thriller directed by Timur Bekmambetov. They break down how editorial shaped not just pacing and performance, but also the film’s digital camera moves, interface design, screen choreography, and collaboration with VFX. The conversation also expands into how texting, phones, and screen-based storytelling can work in contemporary filmmaking, and why the core principles of editing still matter even inside a highly technical workflow.

In this episode, No Film School's GG Hawkins and guests discuss...

  • How Lam T. Nguyen and Austin Keeling first came together on Mercy

  • What defines the film’s hybrid “screen life” visual language

  • How the team used early previs to explore a more immersive 3D screen experience

  • Why the Apple Vision Pro became an early point of reference for the film’s digital courtroom design

  • How editorial functioned as editing, design, animation, and virtual cinematography all at once

  • The Premiere Pro workflow they used to manage complex multi-layered timelines

  • Why the team kept the process technically simple with adjustment layers, transform effects, and blur

  • How they decided where the audience should look when multiple story elements were happening at once

  • What the handoff to VFX looked like and why the editorial version had to be nearly final

  • Their thoughts on how texting and phones can be made cinematic in modern films

  • How Mercy balanced futuristic technology with interfaces that still feel recognizable to audiences

  • Why collaboration, adaptability, and saying yes to unexpected opportunities helped shape their careers

Memorable Quotes:

  • “We had four weeks to build the previs and all they wanted was in traditional screen life formats.”

  • “The best way to do is simplify it, right?”

  • “The fundamentals still apply as an editor for this film.”

  • “It’s all just using the tools that are available and kind of like using them to your advantage.”

Guests:

Resources:

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