Oscars 2019: Inside the Best Film Editing category

Bohemian Rhapsody
Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody “is the classic narrative arc of alienated artist and inflated ego, who is then humbled and who finally brings the band back together for triumphal come back,” the film’s editor John Ottman, ACE told IBC365.

“We tell it in a down to earth fashion with nothing hyper real about it except for the concert pieces. These, I made a little more stylistic.”

The film is also a triumph of sorts for Ottman who quietly had to battle 20^th Century Fox’s intrusion on the final cut and the firing of director and regular collaborator Bryan Singer two thirds through filming.

Cast and crew were at pains to avoid talking about Singer during the film’s promotion for fear that it would become the main story.

“Bryan wasn’t really there in post but then that’s fine because he likes to give me my space to cut a film anyway,” Ottman said. “He’s more worried that if he directs me he might not discover things about the story that I’d create when left to my own devices.”

Ottman’s dual career as a composer mainly on Singer’s films including The Usual Suspects, X-Men 2, Superman Returns and Valkyrie made him a natural choice to edit a musical.

Singer also hired him as composer with the assumption that Bohemian Rhapsody was going to have an underscore. In the end it was decided to stick to Queen’s extensive back catalogue “to keep it pure”, although Ottman embellished a couple of the more emotional scenes with opera, such as when Mercury proposes to Mary.

“It fills the purpose of what…