Third Floor Editing’s Barry McMann is ‘a production hound from way back.’ Turns out, the high-level Toronto spot editor played more than his share of roles in the production community before settling in as the cool, Canadian cutter he is today.

Right out of high school, McMann worked as a ‘professional musician’ before graduating from the film program at Welland, Ont.’s Niagara College in 1990. It was this course of study that brought the young ‘hound’ into the production business. In fact, his ‘graduate film was shown at the Montreal World Film Festival. And then [he] was invited to two film festivals in Belgium.

‘I did the whole chain. I was a pa, a grip and an electric,’ says McMann. ‘One day, I had the opportunity to come for an interview with [Third Floor bigwig] Richard Unruh. [Securing a job], I worked with Richard for a couple of years as an assistant [in the early ’90s].’

Since then, McMann has become a trusted editor in the Third Floor stable, attracting commercial jobs from across the continent. In the last few months alone, McMann has edited spots for Lubriderm, Bell, Telus, Conoco and Suzuki.

McMann calls his editing style ‘alternative storytelling. There’s a lot of ways to present a dish. It’s all in the way your prepare it. And the presentation. The spice.’

For this spot cutter, the ‘number-one thing about being an editor is organization. You’ve got to know what’s going on and where your material is.’ The balance lies in the talent for ‘creative jamming’ that McMann brings from his music background. This allows a strong artistic sensibility amid the strict organization.

Editing on the Avid system, McMann calls the tool ‘an extension of his creativity.’ However, a big part of an editor’s job is dealing with people. All the forces involved in the production must be satisfied. For this, McMann’s tool is his superior social skills.

‘I’ve talked to creatives who say they dread coming in and seeing the rough cut, because they’re not sure it’s going to match the vision they originally had. I want to make sure there is a creative open-mindedness in the editing suite. When you work to make a film it’s a collaborative effort.

‘The most important thing about a relationship between an editor, a director and an agency is trust. It’s a big one, because you’re taking a baby and this is the birthing room. It’s like, ‘Here it comes!’ ‘

Along with a ‘perfectionist’s attitude,’ McMann understands the importance of ‘complete honesty’ in this birthing room. ‘No hidden agendas, no trying to push anybody around,’ he cautions. Nonetheless, ‘you have to have the ability to work in the room and drive the session.’

In his beautiful first floor editing suite (Third Floor is located on the first floor of a Spadina office building ‘to confuse the couriers’), McMann takes a cookie and a coffee before going through the process he has become so familiar with as a spot editor.

First, McMann says, ‘in an ideal situation, we do some pre-visualization in the quoting stage.’ In some cases, McMann will quote on a job with a director as part of the team. ‘In other situations, the agency will come to us directly and say, ‘We want you to do this project and we want you to bid with these different directors,’ ‘ he explains.

‘At that point, there may be a preproduction meeting that we’ll be involved in. And that’s one of the keys to being an editor. Being a creative solution provider.’

Once McMann is awarded the job, he will ‘possibly’ attend some meetings and might, in fact, be asked ‘to go on set,’ something McMann always enjoys. Then, the editor waits for the rushes to come in. At that point, ‘Raju [Sharma, McMann’s assistant], brings in the material and unloads it.’

Then McMann ‘has a quick look at it, making sure the picture is looking good and that [there are no] technical problems.’

From there, Sharma continues breaking the material down into ‘scenes and takes and then starts to make assemblies. After that, [McMann] goes through and meticulously selects the material.’ McMann explains: ‘That’s one of the philosophies that I have, handed down from Richard Unruh. Every piece of film has the possibility of being in the spot. If it’s gone through the camera, it has the right to be in the spot. Because it may be that one off-camera moment…’.

McMann is cutting a spot for Bell as he demonstrates how he makes his assemblies. Looking at a scene with three takes, he assembles them into ‘one chunk.’ Then he ‘looks at it and picks the ins and outs specifically. Now we’re going to go through it and eliminate the crap.

‘[After], I create a bin with all the assemblies of these scenes. And then I take those assemblies and break them down into select reels by looking at each take. Now we’ve narrowed it down, and I can begin cutting, a process that sometimes runs through the night. Every editor worth his salt in the business has slept on his couch for a few nights,’ McMann explains.

Next, the editor will organize the material in order based upon a structure. At this point, the agency or director may come to have a look at these selects.

From here, McMann may import a little bit of music. ‘I go into Simple Text and take the audio cd and take a little bit of this track and import this into our audio bin.’

With a sense of the sound, McMann must then rough in the special effects, so as to get a feel for how the spot will ‘sparkle’ after its time in post. ‘Often you’re asked to be a compositor and a graphic artist,’ he says. ‘We export [the material out of the Avid] as a QuickTime movie. Import it into After Effects, do the effects work, and then export it from After Effects back into the Avid as a QuickTime.’

With this part of the process complete, McMann shows the rough cut to the agency, while the account group makes sure that all the concerns of the client are met.

‘Then we do a client screening. We explain to the client that it is a rough mix.’ Unfortunately for McMann, the clients aren’t always as well versed in the production process as he would like. ‘On a recent project, someone actually said, ‘Will that time code be on the final picture?’ ‘

To combat this lack of knowledge, McMann again applies the social skills so integral to success as a spot editor.

Even with his soft touch, McMann says ‘more often than not there are a couple of changes. Sometimes we are loathe to make those changes because we feel what we’ve done is the very best thing. But in the end you’ve got to make the client happy and make yourself happy with how you make those changes.’

With client approval, the editor takes his transfer list and edit decision list and goes on ‘to the next stage, which is transfer and online. At this point we take the time-code numbers and we create these lists that we use to first transfer the spot and then put it together. We also create templates that are sent to the music house and online facility.

‘Then we go and do our transfer and we work with a fantastic colorist. When we transfer the stuff, the scenes are all out of order. So then we take it to an online situation – be it a Henry or Inferno or whatever you’re going to use. And then we assemble the spot.

‘At this point, we make sure the colors are matching, everything is smooth and it all looks good. And then we add the special effects, then the graphics. We make sure the logo is big enough for the client, and everything like that,’ McMann says.

The final step in the spot editors’ process is the sending of a 3/4-inch master tape to the music house, where ‘they do the final mix to picture. And then it’s restriped – meaning they put the final audio tracks onto the master. The master is then sent to the duplication house, and away it goes.’

McMann, who ‘has thought seriously about the South’ is in no hurry to get out of Toronto, where he loves his home and his colleagues. Although he says the ‘market [in Toronto] is a little cluttered,’ he is excited to get the opportunity to work on the American jobs that come through the city, alongside his Canadian work. *