Patrick Z. McGavin
Photo editor Julie Cohen couldn’t resist returning for Season 2 of the Hulu series Tell Me Lies.
After cutting the pilot, episodes three and seven, and the 2022 premiere season finale, Cohen is back in action with episodes two and five, as well as the eight-part drama about a twisted modern love story. The finale of the limited series.
The series, adapted by showrunner Megan Oppenheimer from Carola Loughlin’s 2018 novel, swings between eight-year time frames, looking back at Lucy Albright’s (Grace Van Gogh) Patton) and Stephen DeMarco (Jackson White)’s relationship in college.
CineMontage: What drew you to this show two years ago?
Julie Cohen: I fell in love with these scripts and I really wanted to help bring the stories to life and help them find their tone. I really believe in what showrunner Megan Oppenheimer is doing.
The pilot clearly had trouble settling on a tone. It’s a pretty visceral story. We had to do some work to figure out how best to tell what was going on in Lucy’s head when she first met Steven at her wedding in 2015. We got to build it out, which was really fun.
When I first logged in, I only read the pilot script, but then I received all the rest of the scripts. I was really struck by the consistency of the writing, especially in terms of tone. Every episode makes me want to read more.
CineMontage: As a photo editor, what are the great challenges of returning to very specific material a second time?
Cohen: I think every show has its own language, its own rhythm. One of the bigger challenges of returning to the show is getting back to the language and rhythm of the show.
The show is more of a drama, more about subtlety, more about capturing the moment and trying not to cut it, really seeing the small differences in the performance between shots and making sure the performance is as cohesive as possible. . because i was [the show] Since the pilot, I’ve become very familiar with the language we set and why we set it up that way.
CineMontage: How would you describe the language of the show?
Cohen: It’s a sexy college drama. It’s about the toxic relationship at its core and how it affects these young people in college. They’re both young, and they’re both making choices that will affect them for the rest of their lives. They kind of create baggage that they will carry with them for the rest of their lives. I think it’s about exploring that and exploring how some of the dynamics and decisions you make at that age have an impact.
CineMontage: The series is built on familiarity and audience identification. Is there anything specific that you and the filmmakers want to do to make a difference?
Cohen: I think that’s in the script for season two. They really took all the characters to the next place and they were all engaging. So, there are a lot of rewards and rewards, there are a lot of surprises and twists, and things aren’t always what you think they are. So I think just making sure that we stay true to the spirit of those twists and all the characters, I think that’s what we’re really trying to do this season.
There are also some callbacks to things we set up in season one that I think viewers will be excited about. Much of the show is about nostalgia, since it takes place in 2007 and 2008, as well as the 2015 framing device. A lot of what we did was designed to take you back to a specific time in 2007 and 2008, which was a very exciting time for these characters.
CineMontage: The central relationship is either messy and complicated or toxic and unhealthy. How do you reconcile between these disparate emotional realms?
Cohen: Both of the main characters, Stephen and Lucy, have had a lot of trauma in their pasts. The way they behave is largely determined by this trauma. So they play with each other and push each other’s buttons. Of course, the first season is more of a love story, and the second season is more of a war story.
So for both of them, it’s not just about what they did to hurt each other, it’s about their own history and where all the anger and distrust comes from.
CineMontage: What was the most enlightening or surprising part of returning to these characters and their stories for you?
Cohen: There was a sexual assault in the second episode of the season. I’m very proud of the editing of that scene. Super complex. It happened in 2008, before the #MeToo movement took off, when it was more culturally acceptable to ignore or minimize inappropriate behavior and sexual assault.
I think the acting was heartbreakingly beautiful to this storyline as long as it was sensitive to the story. I feel very lucky to be able to put this together. It’s definitely something we’re very careful about to make sure we’re really showing the story authentically and not over-dramatizing it, but also giving it the attention it deserves.
CineMontage: This drama is based on a woman’s novel, has a female producer, and centers on a very compelling young woman. Is this important and valuable to you?
Cohen: Absolutely. I’m really committed to telling women’s stories that have never been told before. It’s a story about relationships, about coming of age as a woman in college, about trauma and toxic relationships and those dynamics that really have a strong female perspective. It’s very important to me to be a part of that.
In season two, which deals with sexual assault, I feel very lucky to be able to tell this story. I felt like the story was told in a way that I had never seen on television. Pippa’s (Sonia Mena) reaction and what happens to her is nuanced and interesting, and I think feels psychologically true to the character and to the experience of many women.
CineMontage: How have your methods and techniques for editing performances evolved over your career?
Cohen: I think editing performance is very much a guttural sense of what works. I definitely think what I’m always looking for, especially with a drama, is how long can we stay in a performance without editing so it doesn’t feel contrived or manipulated.
I definitely learned new techniques and new ways to deliver a performance and stay true to the performance they give you. One of the things we sometimes do is switch between different shows. Sometimes actors feel like if they have to do multiple takes, they might not be doing it right and they try to get to that perfect place. In fact, along the way, they gave us some variety that we could use to convey the broader emotion of the scene.
CineMontage: You seem to like shows that are centered around a very strong creative personality.
Cohen: With “Tell Me Lies,” Megan Oppenheimer knew what the show was going to be about from the first script. The consistency of the script, the tone of the show, the way we put it together, the music and everything were very much crystallized in her brain. It was so fun working with her to bring this vision to life.
CineMontage: Was becoming a photo editor planned, or was it more of a side career move?
Cohen: I grew up in Southern California. My dad was actually an optical printer and was involved in the film industry. My parents are from New Jersey, and the story goes, my uncle worked in post-production here, and he told my dad, “You should come to Los Angeles because you can get a high-paying job in tech. A field without a college degree.” ”
We lived here until I was 15 and then moved to Florida. My mom was in the art business and she had a gallery there. My father was absolutely supportive of me wanting to be an editor. I went to Emerson College in Boston and studied film. The editing class was actually full when I went, so I sat in and it was probably the best decision of my life.
On my thesis film, there was an editor, but he really didn’t like the feminine, subtle story we were telling. I eventually took over the editing duties. When I first went to an Avid studio to edit, I knew I wanted to be an editor. I started working in the morning and I was a little hungry. Then I walked outside and it was completely dark. The whole day passed like this and I had no clue. It was a magical feeling. This short film eventually won the Best Editing Award at our school’s film festival. I knew then that my destiny was written.
CineMontage: Does the act of editing satisfy something intrinsic or intuitive about your personality?
Cohen: Absolutely. Honestly, I don’t think there’s anything in the world an editor is better at than bragging. It’s just that I feel like when I found an editor, I finally found something that I not only enjoyed but was actually good at.
I do feel like an artist and editor who found my medium in college.
I’ve really done that ever since. When I moved to Los Angeles, I got into reality television editing and worked there for 10 years. After that, I went back to assisting to get into the scripting phase and then moved up from there.
I like editing. There’s nothing more zen in the world than being able to be creative every day and be a part of making something that moves and makes people laugh.
Patrick Z. McGavin is a Chicago cultural journalist and author. He writes about movies in his Substack newsletter “Shadows and Dreams” (www.patrickzmcgavin.substack.com).
