This post was written by Craig Scorgie.
In Flames is a new horror film premiering this month at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight. The movie takes place in Karachi, Pakistan, and follows a mother and daughter who are fighting malevolent forces, both real and imagined, that emerge following the death of the family’s patriarch.
My name is Craig Scorgie, and I co-edited this film with its director Zarrar Kahn. I’m here to share my experience working on In Flames, the unique process that brought this story to life in the cutting room, and a sense of what it can be like co-editing with a director.
'In Flames'Credit: Courtesy of
I was part of the editors’ program at the center, and Zarrar was in the directors’ program. We quickly discovered our mutual admiration for each other’s work, and Zarrar mentioned he was hoping to find an editor for his upcoming feature film, In Flames. Zarrar had edited all of his short films before this but saw value in bringing an editor on board for his first feature film. He was curious about how an editor would fit into his process, being a director who also likes to edit.
I may be stating the obvious, but I believe that there is no one-size-fits-all process for editing a film.
There is conventional wisdom and best practices, but at the end of the day, each director and each story has its own needs.
In the early days of a new project, I always put a lot of my energy into assessing how the director is showing up to collaborate, and what the challenges of the film are – and adjust my approach to the editing process accordingly. This instinct comes from my background in improv comedy, where everything in a scene stems from how your scene partner shows up on stage. It’s not about what I think works best, it’s about what works best for us and what we are creating.
Because Zarrar and I had the opportunity to work together at the CFC before working on In Flames, we spent a lot of time discussing the editing process.
Editor Craig ScorgieCredit: Dahlia Katz
Zarrar is a director that shoots with extreme intention, and in production, he knows exactly what he wants his in and out frames to be, and what he wants the shot order of every scene to be.
Out of respect for these intentions, we agreed that for our process – Zarrar should edit the first pass of his film so that he can communicate his ideas in a way that he is most comfortable with.
After Zarrar has done his first pass, he is open to any and all ideas that I might have and wants to see them all at once. So for my pass on the film, I have complete freedom to do any experiments I want with the footage. This part is so much fun because I can really go wild with it – removing/reordering/splitting scenes, changing dialogue, experimenting with structure, whatever my creative instincts tell me to do. Then once my version is complete, we start working together on a “third version” – one that combines the best of both our ideas. This is the process that we developed at the CFC program and replicated for our work together on In Flames.
After arriving at our “third version” of In Flames, we scheduled a few rounds of test screenings and feedback to work towards a fine cut. I am a firm believer in test screenings. It’s always a fascinating opportunity in the edit to discover all of your blind spots, and they exist at some point in every film!
An interesting blind spot that we discovered in early screenings for In Flames was how different audiences were reading the tone of our film than how we intended it to be. From a script stage, our film was always intended to be classic horror with some elements of drama. We discovered from test screenings that audiences thought our film skewed much more toward drama than we intended.
Somewhere along the line of making this film – whether it was in the performances, how it was shot, or how these moments played on screen – something in the tone of the film had shifted from how it read in the script. Being aware of this audience reaction was crucial for us because we were able to go back to the edit with it in mind, this time making much more deliberate choices on tone and consistency – When are we horror? When are we drama? Can we ride the line between the two?
Editor Craig Scorgie at his editing bayCredit: Dahlia Katz
After this process, I couldn’t be more pleased with the final cut we put together of In Flames. The way it brings such complex themes of grief, misogyny, love, and mental illness into the psychological horror genre I feel is innovative and exciting. To me, this film is also a shining example that there are no blueprints for how you should make your art.
The way we edited this film may have been unconventional – but it was right for us, and that’s all that matters!
This post was written by Craig Scorgie.
Craig Scorgie is a film editor and visual effects artist based in Toronto, Canada. He received his BA in Radio & Television Arts from Toronto Metropolitan University and participated as an editor in the Canadian Film Centre's Norman Jewison Film Program in 2021.
Over the years, Craig has worked on a range of film and television projects, including feature films, web series, award-winning shorts, and documentaries. His first feature film, In Flames, is set to premiere at Directors' Fortnight at Cannes in 2023. Craig is currently putting the finishing touches on a second feature film, which is expected to be released later this year.
Prior to his work as an editor, Craig honed his skills as an assistant editor and visual effects editor on several notable productions, such as Women Talking, Big Little Lies Season 2, The Morning Show Season 1, and The Expanse Season 4. As a visual effects artist, he contributed to popular shows like Netflix's Workin' Moms Seasons 1-7 and Vice's The Devil You Know Season 2.
Beyond his professional work, Craig is also an award-winning sketch comedian and improviser. He trained at Second City and Upright Citizens Brigade, and created live shows that have toured in major cities across North America.
Craig draws from his diverse experience to bring a unique perspective to his work as a film editor. His passion is to craft experiences for audiences that captivate and move them, no matter the genre.
For updates on public releases of the film, you can follow us @inflamesmovie. You can also find me on Instagram, Twitter, and Letterboxd as @craigsbenny.
