The highly anticipated pilot of the prequel series It: Welcome to Derry establishes its own chilling rhythm, and much of that meticulous work rests in the hands of Editor Esther Sokolow. In a recent interview, Sokolow offered a behind-the-scenes insight into what it took to create the station wagon cold open.
Esther Sokolow, editor for half of the episodes of the upcoming HBO series It: Welcome to Derry, is a key creative force behind the show’s dark and highly anticipated tone. Having previously served as the First Assistant Editor on It: Chapter Two, Sokolow details her expanded role in shaping the new series, and her close collaboration with director/EP Andy Muschietti.
It: Welcome to Derry arrives on HBO Max
The first two episodes of HBO’s original drama series, It: Welcome to Derry, from Warner Bros. Television, debuted last month on HBO Max in celebration of Halloween, beginning Friday, October 31. The episode also aired on HBO on Sunday, November 2 with Subsequent episodes of the eight-episode season will continue to air Sundays on HBO and HBO Max, leading up to the season finale on Sunday, December 14.
Filmmakers Andy Muschietti and Barbara Muschietti, and Jason Fuchs developed the series for television. The series expands the vision Andy Muschietti established in the feature films IT and IT: Chapter Two.
Station Wagon Cold Upen
Sokolow detailed the meticulous editorial work that defined the pilot’s narrative and scares. In the interview, she revealed how creative post-production choices brought Director Andy Muschietti’s vision to life. The Station Wagon Cold Open was a labor of love in the editing suite. To ensure maximum flexibility, Muschietti shot the entire scene using a volume wall. The sequence builds tension by subverting a conventional family moment: a spelling game. The unsettling use of the word strangulation serves as a subtle, chilling warning sign before the horror truly begins.
The station wagon sequence is just such a labor of love. It was so detailed, and the way that Andy really leans into kind of the shock and horror. Like getting to play with how long to hold on the birth? Do we just tease it for like three frames? Do we really live in it? One of the shots that Andy and I had a lot of fun with lingering on is when the practical baby is like pushing, sucking back in, pushing again. It was just really, really gnarly and really fun to explore that. Andy’s familiarity with editing is so helpful, and because of that familiarity, he makes really smart decisions that allow us the most amount of flexibility in post.
This is a huge show with an enormous visual effects complexity. It was really important for the station wagon sequence that we weren’t constrained by the effects costs. So one of the choices that Andy made in collaboration with the visual effects team was to shoot it on a volume wall. So in winter, they had shot driving plates past snow, past Port Hope, which is our surrogate Derry, creating the environment for what would exist outside the car. And then all of that was stitched and projected behind the station wagon on this big LED panel. By virtue of doing that, it meant that the performers could run the whole scene with Andy from top to bottom as if the car were driving through this environment. It meant that in editing, Andy and I didn’t have to think about the fact that we have a blue screen that we have to key out. It just really allowed us to focus on the performance and find the most authentic version as opposed to being constrained by unnecessary logistics. So really, really proud of that.
You can now stream the first two episodes of It: Welcome to Derry on HBO Max. Subsequent episodes of the eight-episode season will continue to air Sundays on HBO and HBO Max. All leading up to the season finale on Sunday, December 14. The series stars Jovan Adepo, Taylour Paige, Chris Chalk, James Remar, Stephen Rider, Blake Cameron James, Arian S. Cartaya, Amanda Christine, Matilda Lawler, Clara Stack, Madeleine Stowe, Rudy Mancuso, and Bill Skarsgård.
