“This keeps getting better and better,” says Dutch (Arnold Schwarzenneger) early on in 1987’s Predator. Indeed, the film franchise that followed continues to outdo itself — especially with Prey, which just hit the masses and is setting viewership records on Hulu. Led by a dynamite Amber Midthunder, the action-horror flick succeeds on multiple levels — and it owes a big thanks to the editors in particular.
Claudia Castello — who has worked with acclaimed director Ryan Coogler on Creed, Fruitvale Station and Black Panther — took the reins in cutting together Prey and has wonderful things to say about the editing process. Connecting with us from El Salvador, Castello recently dished on the acclaimed prequel that has even gotten the blessing of Predator‘s original cast, including Bill Duke.
The Complexities Of An Editor’s Role
MW: Could you talk about your role as an editor, and what goes into it, especially with a film like Prey?
Claudia Castello: Editing, as a lot of people are familiar with, is the third time a movie is written. The script, the direction, and then the editing are the three main structuring and written-restructuring parts of a movie. So as an editor, I see this role as a sculpting job, where you get all the raw material, all the takes, 100 hours of footage, and make it into an hour and 40-minute movie.
And Prey, it had a lot of footage. It had a lot of options, so we had a lot of latitude to play with in the editing room, which was great. We also had a lot of special effects. But the cool thing was that most of the special effects were actually done practically and then, you know, details were done afterward. Besides the whole Predator ‘glow thing,’ it was an actual Predator. It was an actor doing the Predator. And afterward, we did all the final looks, which were really well done. I am very excited about how it looks in the end.
The animals, all those, there were a lot of special effects involved, but all the locations were real. The fights were well-choreographed, and then we just had to do little things in the editing and put it all together in the most seamless way.
What I usually focus on in the editing is the emotional arc, you know, making sure that we understand the whole story, making sure there’s nothing missing. And then in the editing process, you see things that you couldn’t see when the script was being written, for example. And then, ‘Whoa, there’s a gap right here. How do we fix this gap?’ And that is the fun thing about editing also. It’s like, coming up with solutions. And we went through a lot of those situations. We had a few reshoots. And all that, you discover during the editing process. It becomes a really important role in the whole movie.
Looking Back On The Predator Franchise
MW: Had you been a fan of the Predator movies before joining the Prey team?
Claudia Castello: I was already a fan. And then, when it came my way, I started watching all of them. And I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I love this. This is so much fun.’ I got into it really passionately. And in this specific one, what caught me was an Indigenous woman fighting the Predator. And I thought, ‘Wow, a Predator movie which, you know, the fans are so diverse, I think it’s going to be so much visibility for the Native American people. It’s gonna be amazing. This is what I want to do.’ I see a junction of two very important elements: the fandom that’s already gonna make the movie big and this element of broadening the spectrum. And that was the most exciting thing for me besides being a fan of Predator.
MW: The scenes where the Predator was camouflaged — were they more difficult to edit?
Claudia Castello: We had a sensational in-house VFX editor supervisor, Ben Howdeshell. And because I had Ben, it made my job so much easier (laughs).
Challenges That Come With Editing A Movie Like Prey
MW: What were the scenes or parts of the film that were most difficult to edit together?
Claudia Castello: I’m not sure I’m allowed to say specifically which ones (laughs). But there were several, and we had to come up with lines and full scenes to help with telling the story. The relationship between the two brothers was one situation that needed help, and some other elements that needed to be clarified in the end for the whole story to be understood because sometimes, things go too fast. There are so many elements for this art to be understood. So we did tests to see how people were responding and see the places that the audiences had the most problems with. Then we would focus more and solve that problem. We had several test-audience screenings.
Future Projects for Claudia Castello
Disney+
MW: Are there any projects you’re working on that you’d like share about? Something that you’re particularly excited about?
Claudia Castello: I just started a TV show, it’s called Black Cake. The EP is Oprah [Winfrey]. It’s from Kapitol Entertainment, and it’s going to be shown on Hulu. This project is going to be exciting because it really comes from a female’s point of view. It’s written by females, about females, produced by females, edited by females, directed by females. It’s the first time that I have this opportunity. The story is really good. The project is big-budget. They’re going to be shooting in different locations, different countries. So I’m gonna be excited about this one.
MW: Is there anything else you’d like to share about your experience on Prey?
Claudia Castello: I just wanted to bring up the importance of the editing team. I’ve been working with my assistant editor, Alex Oppenheimer, for many, many projects. And now, I think he’s gonna go into his solo career as an editor. But the team that we had for this movie was the best team I ever had. We had so much collaboration, and we worked in a happy environment. Everybody was willing to contribute and feel like their opinion mattered on this project. I hope we can work together on future projects.
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