Editing Scream (2022): An interview with editor Michel Aller

As Scream (2022) was filmed at the height of the pandemic, editor Michel Aller wasn’t able to join the team on set, (something she normally would have done), she had to cut the film entirely from home, and instead of face to face collaboration with directors Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin Michel found herself having to decipher which voice was ‘coming from which head’ with a computer screen of masked (apt perhaps?) faces.

Yet despite all of these challenges, Scream (2022) is a dynamic rollercoaster of a ride, filled with scares that keep you on your toes and cuts that keep you guessing who’s behind that infamous Ghostface mask right until the explosive ending. The fifth installment of this cult horror franchise has been a massive success, at the time of writing it’s grossed over 120 million USD and a sequel has already been greenlit.

Editing such a beloved franchise as ‘Scream’, Michel appreciated what was at stake, ‘I knew I wanted to make sure what we did was as in line with what Wes Craven established as much as possible.’ Her efforts were rewarded with some incredible feedback from original Scream (1-4) editor Patrick Lussier.

Enjoy Michel’s insightful interview!

There are a couple of SPOILERS in this interview… you have been warned!

Editor Michel Aller

What has been your relationship with the Scream franchise? Have you always been a fan or did you discover it more recently?

I have been a fan of the franchise, especially the 1st and 2nd, not so much the later ones. But I did rewatch those, I found it invaluable to be familiar with all the films in this franchise.

Editor Michel Aller editing Scream (2022) in her home edit suite.

Can you tell us a bit about the first scene you cut?

The first scene that was shot and edited was the opening attack with Tara.  The directors had asked that I cut it as quickly as possible for them to review because it was a location that they were probably not going back to so they wanted to make sure they had all they needed.  Especially being the opening scene to this franchise, it had to be great. They had shot a oner of Tara walking through the house on the phone with the idea of seeing if we could make that work, but they had also done some coverage as a safety.  Ultimately we realized using the coverage was what was needed for the pacing at this moment in the film. It was great to be able to start off with the opening of the film, it really sets the tone and rhythm, it’s rare you get to do that.

Jenna Ortega as Tara in the opening scene, the first scene Michel cut.

Scream (2022) has a sizeable ensemble cast, can you talk a bit about editing a large number of strong characters?

This film created its unique challenges because you had to juggle the legacy characters that were very well established along with introducing an entirely new cast for the audience to root for, or against I suppose.  It was helpful with the structure of this film, it gave us time to set up the new characters, to let the audience get to know them and like them and then bring in the legacy characters.  The biggest goal was to always keep the audience guessing, could it be him or her, where are they at a specific moment in time to rule them out as the killer or make you think they could possibly be the killer. That is the fun of this franchise. 

Tell us a bit about the key dynamics of creating suspense and scares in the edit. 

For me when creating suspense or a scare, there is no hard and fast rule. Once you set up a specific pattern, I like to change it up. You don’t want the audience to feel the cadence or rhythm, I think they can start to anticipate a scare. With Scream, the directors were very creative with their blocking so it lent itself to some fun ways to change it up. The scene with Wes in the kitchen opening doors and anticipating someone behind it was wonderful. Every time you think someone is behind the door, it’s coming, oh wait he opens another door, the scare is here, and then he opens the next door and it’s still not there, you’re then caught off guard when the scare does happen.

Can you talk us through the editing of the final act and the dynamics of the reveal?

The final act was probably the most fun part for me to edit. My main thought throughout cutting was I want it to feel satisfying to the audience and within everyone's established character in the reveal. But I also wanted to keep the audience on the edge right up until it's revealed who the killer is. It was still juggling the characters, showing the audience each one that was left and having them still question the identity of the killer(s). There was also a lot of rearranging of scenes we tried in the edit to make moments feel like it was all happening simultaneously. 

The Scream franchise has a very passionate (and vocal!) fan base, did this ever feel intimidating? What were the challenges of knowing this?

I was always super aware of the fan base, it's hard not to be with a franchise of this scope. I knew I wanted to make sure what we did was as in line with what Wes Craven established as much as possible. The directors are huge fans of Wes’ and the franchise so it wasn’t a difficult task. They had reached out to many people involved with the other ones including the editor, and they did not hold back sharing the insight and thoughts, which I found helpful.

We sent an early cut to Patrick Lussier, Wes’ editor on the other Scream films, to get his initial reaction and feedback.  He wrote to say he thoroughly loved the film, congratulations on making it uniquely it’s own and a wonderfully retro Scream movie. He went on to say he thought Wes would have loved it too. To get that validation from someone that understands this process and was so involved with all of the others meant the world to me. 

Which character did you feel the strongest affinity with (if any!) whilst editing and why?

All the legacy characters were incredible to watch in dailies, like old friends I hadn’t seen in a while. Bringing them all to life in this film was incredible, which is an understatement but I’d have to say, Dewey. For me he was always one of the most fun characters to watch and follow in all the other films, so however, his character evolved and ended, we had to do that right. There was a time when I was watching the cut back and it hit me, I’m cutting a Scream film, holy shit this is amazing.

Dewey Riley has been a staple throughout all 5 Scream movies, and is editor Michel Aller’s favourite legacy character.

Technical question alert! How do you arrange your bins?

My assistants do an amazing job organizing the material for me so that I can jump in and start watching dailies.  My dailies are organized in scene order, within the bin I use the frame view, it shows you a small image of the shot.  If multiple cameras are used I like to have the clips grouped together so that I can toggle between the set ups.  Recently I’ve been using the script program within the avid, so my assistants basically line the script with the clips.  It's a wonderful feature that I now like on all my shows.  It can be a lot of work for the assistants, but it saves time when you want to review the performances of certain lines.  

Did anything get cut or cut down for being ‘too gory’?  

The opening attack with Tara we slightly trimmed down not so much for being gory.  She had to survive the attack so we had to be aware of that fine line of what can we really put her through and yet still live.  The amazing thing about the Scream films is that they are super gory, yet fun.  I’ve said that a few times and know that those two things shouldn’t be able to live in the same sentence yet Scream has proven its possible and that is why these films are so hugely successful.

Anything else you’d like to share about working on Scream (2022)?

This film was made entirely during the pandemic, we worked together via Evercast the entire time.  I was cutting the film from home and they would all go into the same office together.  Mind you they would continue to wear their masks so I never really got to see their entire face as we worked together for 7 months over computer screens, talking through scenes or creative ideas.  I remember on the first day of showing my assembly I had 3 masked faces and 3 different voices talking to me, I said I’m really sorry, but I have no idea whose voice is coming from which head. It wasn’t long until I was able to put the voice with the masked face, but at first, I thought how am I ever going to get through this. As I’m sure you can imagine, they were an absolute pleasure to work with. They love what they do and working with them was a wonderfully fun collaboration. As you can see from the film, we got through it and it was wonderful.

A huge thank you to Michel for giving us an amazing glimpse into the editing process on Scream (2022).

You can read Michel’s career story here.

You can find Michel on Twitter @MichelAller and IMDB.