What initially interested you about filmmaking over anything else?

Since I was young I have always enjoyed making films, when I was young my friends over the road had a little cinecam and we just used to shoot things on that and I realised that it was what I wanted to do – just as well really, I don’t know how to do anything else. Back then I didn’t really know the differences, I hadn’t really worked out what all the different departments did, it was all just filmmaking to me, we used to do everything – write, shoot, act, because we were just kids and it was only when I went to college that I began to understand all the different areas and we had to specify what we wanted to do. I wrote and directed a few short films and I always edited everything that I did, just because I had to.

It was really after college that I had to try to make a living. But the industry was in a bad way, no films were being made and I didn’t really have the confidence or the drive, and you’ve got to have those things. So it seemed much easier to have a trade and go out there and say that I have this skill that I can use- and that was editing. I had realised that from all of the things that I’d done, editing seemed like the most creative and satisfying aspect out of it all, because when you’re shooting there’s a lot of compromise, a lot of chaos and – I’ve learnt this since, because I tried directing on a big scale – The Descent 2 – and I notice the contrast between that and editing, the control and calm of the editing suite- it’s just me and the material and it’s very, very satisfying.

How much of a collaborative process is it? You have worked with Matthew Vaughn and Danny Boyle numerous times.

It’s very collaborative, the classic question people ask is, ‘How much say do you have?’ If you’re working well with people it gets to a point quite quickly where it doesn’t really matter who said what, you work together, and ultimately the audience gets the final say. We live by test screenings. Regarding directors versus editors, because I’ve been asked this question so many times I have finally come up with an analogy which is – if you were to get an interior designer into your house, you may know exactly what you want, you may know the look that you’re after but you don’t necessarily know how to do it, and that’s where the interior designer comes in.

It should be a relationship of mutual respect. Danny (Boyle) is particularly satisfying to work with because he genuinely wants to be surprised by people. I’ve met directors who don’t really explain what they want because they may not have the skills to know, but Danny has the skill. He knows how to explain it but he would rather just see what I come up with, and if it’s not right then he will tell me. It’s refreshing and it’s a very good approach to directing.

Do you think you will go into another directorial project?

Um…maybe…

Did you enjoy doing The Descent pART 2?

Well…(long pause)…Did I enjoy that? What’s very funny is that I haven’t been asked that for a long time, and when I was asked, I was doing the publicity for the film so you put a certain spin on it, and it’s important to maintain that spin for a while.

People aren’t always satisfied with the work that they do…

No…I learnt a lot, and the main reason, if I’m honest, why I did it was that I was offered it and I’d always thought over the years that I should have a crack at it. The people that are actually out there directing have a drive to do it, I am so fulfilled by editing that I don’t have that yearning.

Am I going to direct more horror sequels or am I going to edit a film for Danny Boyle? I would rather be working on the best possible thing in whatever capacity I’m in. Saying that, it is still very much on my mind and I wonder if I owe it to myself to give it another shot.

Would you do another horror?

No, the sort of films that I like are psychological thrillers and indie dramas, very relationship based. In The Descent Part 2 I tried to get as much of that in there as I could, so like the first one, it was about how the characters fell apart in the environment.

Would you have even directed anything if that offer hadn’t of come along?

I think it would still be very much on my mind. I probably wouldn’t have chosen a horror as my first project, but I went about it thinking that I had this opportunity and I should see if I could do it- bring together all the elements, bring it in on time and on budget and I did all those things. I think we underestimated how much the audience held the first film close to their hearts, it is a cult film and I think it was quite precious to some people.

Do audiences intimidate you then?

Horror audiences do! We had the premiere at the closing night of Fright Fest, which was really nice of them to ask us, and I had to stand up and introduce it to 1300 Fright Fest fans. As I tried to explain on the day, I had spent most of my time in a dark room by myself so I wasn’t used to talking to people about the film afterwards. Strangely enough, apart from the physical endurance of making it, it didn’t feel that massively different from the other films that I had worked on, and then suddenly everybody wanted to talk to me about it and I didn’t know what to say!

Some people are really good at putting a spin on things, but I’m not quite so comfortable on doing that. I am happier having an honest discourse about how I felt about it, but when you’ve got to sell something, you’ve got to go out and put your spin on it. It’s only a bit later on when you can be more honest about it. Yeah it was a little bit intimidating, you’ve got the Internet now and to read all the stuff on there…

So you actually do read things on the internet?

Yeah, our producer, Christian kept berating me asking why I went looking on there – in my view, the point of storytelling is to get a response, to reach people. There’s no point in just doing it in a vacuum and just sending it out. Nobody can say that they’re not curious to know how people are responding, whether it’s healthy or otherwise, you are curious. I wanted to know what people thought, but because of the fact that we have the Internet now and anyone can write on it, it’s unqualified.

You don’t know who the people are, whether they’re trolls, just bitter or what, there is an awful lot of shit that is written and people can be put off by that. Put it this way, when the announcement was made that there was going to be a sequel and I was going to direct it – pretty much the first thing I got was a death threat, well it wasn’t really a death threat but it said something like, ‘Don’t worry about it, the film will obviously be shit and God will kill the director.’ Who wants to go on doing their job and getting that type of abuse? Actors do it and that’s a huge part of their lives, but you don’t expect it as a filmmaker, and you're not used to being in the firing line. You definitely need to develop a thick skin, obviously you can just not look, but there’s the curiosity as I said. It’s part of life, it’s eye opening.

You started working on smaller budget films and are now working on bigger and bigger budgets. Do the bigger films overwhelm you?

No, not really, not in editing. The joke I used to say is, ‘the rushes don’t weigh anymore’ - all I’m interested in is the story, a bigger budget is liberating - you can afford more special effects, that’s the difference between editing and directing – you do editing and you’re free from all that responsibility. One of the most difficult things as a director is the weight of responsibility, the buck stops with you and you’re the one that’s going to look like an arsehole if it doesn’t work, nobody else. As an editor you don’t see the money, you’re just in the backroom, the rushes come in and you’re not really aware of the budget.

What do you find the most technically difficult about the editing process?

I don’t in all honesty, I love it. There are different challenges with every film, some are very performance based, some are very action based, with some you get to show off a bit and do lots of cuts. I’ve just done The Woman In Black, which for me is very different from anything that I’ve done, it’s very understated, very held back. I just love seeing the rushes and making sense of it.

How was it to edit something like The Woman In Black when a lot of it relies on suspense and the timing of the cuts?

Great! It was different because going straight from 127 Hours, which was quite hyper-kinetic, to go into The Woman In Black, which we knew was going to be a slow burner- very understated, classic ghost story, we wanted you to care about the characters and to feel like you’re in the situation with the characters. So the challenge there was being self indulgent to a degree, and every time we tried to speed it up, it lost energy, so we just let the scenes settle, the more silence you hear, the more significant the little noises are. The way to do it was to just keep showing people. With that film in particular, your main aim is to scare people, to make them feel this sustained level of unease.

What was it like to edit 127 Hours?

That was the best thing I’ve ever done, the most creative, interesting and fulfilling…

A lot of it is to do with the editing…

Sure, but a lot of films- most films, the editing is very important. What you tend to find is – the less dialogue you have, the more the audience notice the editing. The kind of films that get editing awards are boxing films, musicals, but really it’s even more difficult when there is a lot of dialogue, you have to connect everything together, essentially script edit, so it’s a different thing.

If you notice the editing in 127 Hours more, it’s because it’s not a film with conventional scenes, it’s kind of like a piece of poetry that moves around and around. There is some trickery with the split screen which was fun, but what was great about that for me was that it didn’t really rely on a classical script structure, he’s stuck in the hole for the majority of the time, drifting in and out of consciousness and Danny was very specific that the memories are just floating along, and you build up the picture by the end and you feel for him. It was more like poetry than prose.

Do you consider it to be one of your best films that you’ve done?

Yeah, in terms of my enjoyment of it. I don’t necessarily know whether I can say that other films that I’ve done are better than other ones, but I can judge it by how much I enjoyed it.

What films do you enjoy watching?

Things I don’t like watching- I don’t like super-hero films, I want real people in real situations. I quite like these new reality paranoia films like Source Code, and Trance is a bit like that, you’re presented with a very real situation but you're going far into someone’s head and start to wonder about what is real.

What advice would you give to aspiring editors?

Edit films. It’s not difficult, people are making films on their phones, you can do it on your computer. There is no excuse to sit around waiting for someone to offer you something.

Who is your IDOL?

Jeff Bridges, he makes a double chin look sexy.

The Woman in Black is out 10th February

We'll have to wait for Trance until after the Olympics, but we are expecting something spectacular!

Interviewed by Emma Hurwitz

Portrait by Nicolette Clara Iles

Stills courtesy of Momentum Pictures; ICON Film; Channel 5 Broadcasting