Horror is one of the most malleable genres out there. It feels like those chills blend so well with other kinds of stories.
That being said, you can write and shoot something and not have it work right way. That’s where you need adept editors to help this story come alive.
Enter Daysha Broadway and Jon Higgins, both ACE editors who helped the movie Your Monster find its way into something really special. We had the pleasure of sitting down with these two to discuss the process.
Let’s dive in.
Editor’s note: the following interview is edited for length and clarity.
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No Film School: Hey Daysha and Jon! Your Monster offers a clever blend of horror, romance, and comedy. How did you balance these elements in the editing room to maintain the film’s playful tone?
Daysha Broadway, ACE: In my mind, there was always a rule to be as truthful as possible in each scene, regardless of the tone we were leaning towards. For example, in scenes featuring Laura and Jacob, like the audition scene, I would frame it as a romcom. I want to see the hurt and embarrassment on Laura’s face, but there’s also room for levity with the producers judging her performance. She’s taking a significant leap in the scene, so it’s important to share in her nervousness—or embarrassment—but we can still find moments to laugh.
With comedy, timing is everything, so when to bring the producers into the fold is just as crucial as Laura’s performance during the audition. This balance is important from character to character; I didn’t want Laura to be too funny or the monster to be too scary. I always aimed to include elements, like sound effects, that remind the audience that the monster is, indeed, a monster—even if we’re falling for him and he’s hilarious.
NFS: Were there specific scenes that were particularly challenging to edit due to their tonal shifts? How did you handle those moments?
Broadway: There’s a scene after Laura first meets Monster in the closet where she wakes up and he’s still there and they discuss their new living arrangement. There was a lot to navigate in that scene, but Caroline and I found a fun way to introduce the backstory there and keep you laughing. Melissa’s scream when she sees Monster is the best thing ever and Tommy plays that scene perfectly. It’s a great scene but putting it together took some reworking because of all of the work that scene does for the film.
Jon Higgins, ACE: At dress rehearsal, when Laura erupts on Jacob in front of the cast in the play. It’s a tense scene where she loses her cool for the first time and it’s a turning point for her character. But it was also funny so we had to make sure the humor didn’t undercut the emotion. We had to kill a couple bits and open up others so you could see the emotion bubbling up in Laura before she delivered a zinger.
It helps that you come away wanting to clap for Laura.
Daysha Broadway
NFS: Daysha, you have an impressive background in both dramatic and comedic editing. How did your previous experiences shape your approach to editing Your Monster?
Broadway: When I first met Caroline and we talked about the film I thought, “Oh this is great!” I have a lot of comedy background and I had just finished I Wanna Dance with Somebody which had a lot of musical performances in it. Plus, Caroline has also added the spooky layer to the film. It’s everything I’m into! It very much helped that Caroline and I had the same sense of humor and I could tell that right away.
And then we started working on the film and I was like, oh…this is hard. Pulling this off is going to be hard. I do think cutting comedy and drama, like Insecure was both of those things, it helped because that part comes second nature and I was able to use that experience to pitch ideas to Caroline on what I thought we could do to elevate scenes. Whether that’s making a moment funnier or giving the audience a gut punch.
NFS: Jon, you have a strong portfolio in TV comedies. What elements from your past work did you bring into the editing room for this film?
Higgins: The word comedy is really an umbrella term for a genre made up of so many subgenres, many of which have techniques and principles that I applied when working on this film. There are a lot of parallels between our protagonist Laura Franco and Alia Shawkat’s character Dory Seif from the dark comedy Search Party. They both start off as these meek, pushover characters who, one day, find their inner monsters, if you will. And while I wouldn’t quite characterize Emily In Paris as a musical comedy, nearly every episode has a musical number in it.
Another show I worked on was Neon Joe: Werewolf Hunter, an absurd horror comedy series where a man who’s always wearing a neon yellow leather outfit sets out on a quest to find and kill his werewolf father in order to avenge his human mother. Go ahead and read that again. You can’t get away with that kind of absurdism without grounding each scene within some kind of truth. It has to serve as the anchor. Same rules apply to Your Monster.
Jon Higgins
NFS: What were some of the biggest challenges you faced while editing this film, and how did you navigate those as a creative team?
Broadway: It was definitely a challenge making sure we are always striking the right balance when it came to the genres and I think Caroline and I would gut-check each other on that a lot. I kept coming back to the first 10 minutes of the film. There was a lot that we had to accomplish in those first 10 and I thought it was important that we got it right and that the audience wasn’t confused about the ride they were about to go down.
Intrigued, but never confused.
Higgins: Getting the tone just right was the biggest challenge because of that genre blending, but it’s also what drew me to the film.
Caroline is a huge fan of Nora Ephron, and rom-coms, so that served as our backbone. But there is a version of this movie that is a rom-com, another that’s a straight comedy, a horror film, and even a musical, so adjusting that dial was a continuous process. Screenings really helped with that.
NFS: Can you each discuss a specific scene that you are particularly proud of, and what went into the editing choices for that moment?
Broadway: Not a specific scene, but I spent a lot of time on the final moments of the film. The play, the turn, the climax. And I’m really happy with how it turned out. The ending was a big musical number that was a big part of Laura’s transformation. So finding the right moments in the song to intercut with the moments backstage was crucial. Those cut points were used to punctuate each step of her transformation. Beginning with the match cut that brings us into her solo performance and ending with the silence and hold of her close up for reasons I won’t spoil.
I also wrote a line of ADR that stayed in the beginning of the film that makes me laugh whenever I hear it. It’s ridiculous, but it works.
Higgins: I also love what Daysha did with that last scene. For me personally, I was proud of a scene that we call “Monster’s closet.” Everyone was worried about the tight space of the location. So as soon as dailies came in, I was asked to cut it right away and see if it was usable. Not only was it usable but the tight space worked to our advantage because the scene was so intimate. The main character, Laura, had a lot that she was holding in, trying not to make eye contact, so sitting in closeups was effective. Monster was filmed in a single as well, but not as close, so the dynamic played a little more like he was on the outside trying to figure out what she was keeping in.
Throw some Billie Holiday on top of that and you really get drawn in emotionally and you’re not thinking about anything else.
NFS: Did you draw inspiration from any particular films or filmmakers when working on Your Monster?
Broadway: Initially, in trying to grasp the concept of blending genres, I watched Warm Bodies which kind of helped me lean into the monster-comedy aspect of it. But Practical Magic was what I leaned into the most whenever I needed to make sure I was not leaning too far in one direction. The tonal juxtaposition of the opening was great. There’s a witch standing in judgment with a noose around her neck and there’s this beautiful sweeping adventure score that’s playing with voice over from the main characters and it all sets the tone for the film. It was oddly similar to Your Monster. It’s funny, it’s romantic, there’s magical elements, and I remember watching it as a kid—there were moments I was really scared. And then I realized Melissa and Kayla were a brunette and a redhead and I wouldn’t shut up about it.
Higgins: Now I wish I would have seen Practical Magic. But Nora Ephron and Rob Reiner were inspirations, for sure. Caroline made clear very early on her love of Nora and how much she inspired her. There are definitely moments between Laura and Monster that are reminiscent of those odd couple pairings that you see in When Harry Met Sally and You’ve Got Mail. The darker elements were harder to find a 1-to-1 comparison, but I remember watching Shaun of the Dead, Edward Scissorhands, and Only Lovers Left Alive.
NFS: What role did sound and music play in your editing process, and how did it enhance the storytelling?
Broadway: Sound and music always play a huge part in my process. I often listen to music to get me into a scene so I’m in that zone, tonally. With a film that has horror elements, you know sound or lack thereof is going to play a huge role in how a specific moment is going to affect the audience.
With Your Monster, some of the biggest sequences I worked on, the beginning and the ending of the film, were framed by the music. I pitched the idea of a fun quirky song to contrast Laura’s physical and mental state in an effort to set the tone of the film right up top. It’s not taking itself too seriously, you can laugh and you should.
Higgins: Sound design is one of my favorite things to do in editing. But sound designing horror specifically, to me, is like going to an amusement park. It’s so fun. When Laura heard Monster stomping on the floor above her and slowly walked up the stairs to investigate, that was a golden opportunity to really lean into the horror aspect, building suspense through sound design and Tim Williams’ incredible score.
NFS: What are you both looking to explore in future projects after Your Monster? Are there specific themes or styles you are eager to tackle?
Broadway: I’d love to do more films like Your Monster, films with elements of sci-fi and fantasy, and more comedies. Especially female-led comedies. Those were the types of films I really clung to growing up and they are the most fun to cut.
Higgins: This might come as a shock because I’ve done so much comedy, but I want to tackle something bleak. I’m interested in challenging myself that way. I really want to cut a Julia Ducournau or Lynne Ramsay-style film.
NFS: Given that Your Monster arrives just in time for spooky season, do you have any personal favorite Halloween traditions or films?
Broadway: I love Halloween. There are definitely things I try to do to get into the spirit of it every year. I try to get to Disneyland because I like that they showcase the villains during that season. I dress up. I think last year I was Beverly from Serial Mom. And then I love to grab a big blanket and watch my fav spooky movies: Psycho, The Addams Family, Hocus Pocus, The Shining, Sweeney Todd, Death Becomes Her, Scream, The Craft. Nope and Us have also been added to that list. I don’t choose. I watch them all every year throughout the month. I can’t do anything too scary. One of my AEs, her favorite movie ever is The Exorcist and I can’t really deal with that as a concept!
Higgins: Maybe I’m biased because it’s my birthday month, but I love October in general. The leaves are turning. The apples are getting picked. Costco sells that amazing pumpkin pie. And I always end October by watching a Friday the 13th movie on Halloween. They’re so campy and fun, the score is iconic, and you can go over a decade without repeating one.
It has ruined hockey for me, though.
Author: Jason Hellerman
This article comes from No Film School and can be read on the original site.
