The Secret Spice to Epic Scale in 'Dune: Prophecy' is in The Editing

Dune is one of the most expansive series, with so much meat on the bone when exploring new characters and parts of its history. HBO understood this and greenlit Dune: Prophecy.

The show is as expansive and deep as you'd expect, and for it to make it all on screen in a cohesive story, you need some talented editors.

Enter Amelia Allwarden and Anna Hauger.

Anna, also an associate producer on the show, edited episode two, and Amelia edited episode four. They worked together collaboratively on the finale for episode six.

With the ambitious task of expanding the world of Dune, Anna and Amelia had the challenging task of editing episodes to balance multiple characters and plotlines while having to make extremely tough decisions about which sequences to scrap for the final cuts of episodes.

Additionally, with quite a bit of action taking place in the characters’ heads, Anna and Amelia distinguished the way they edited sequences that were happening in reality versus the ones happening in someone’s head, and then, for some sequences, tricked audiences not to let them know right away the action takes place in a dream sequence.

Finally, they worked closely with VFX to modify the initial VFX previews to the final version audiences will see on the screen, with a lot of VFX changing extensively in the process.

We were excited to chat with them about this and more.

Jump on your sandworm and let's dive into the interview below.

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Editor's note: the following interview is edited for length and clarity.

No Film School: Dune has a rich and complex history. How did you approach familiarizing yourselves with the source material to ensure the editing choices stayed true to its essence?

Amelia Allwarden: Because Dune has such a rich and complex history, I think it was important for us and for Alison Schapker and Jordan Goldberg to make this series its own. I think the best way we can honor the source material of the books, the multiple films, and the past television series is by really making something our own. We wanted to start from the characters that Allison wrote and build from there. I personally kept some of the source material in mind, but I was really trying to create something that was entirely new. It was important for us to stay true to the essence of Dune in our own interpretation but not to emulate something that already exists. We are making a television series that is in its own corner of the Dune universe, and it was made from source material that’s different from the Dune films that have been made. I was a fan of the Dune books and the Dune films before coming onto the project, and that just excited me to be able to make our own little mark in the Dune universe that was separate from those pieces. What’s unique and special about working with Alison on this project is that we always just set out to make something character-driven, epic, and with its own stamp on the franchise.

Anna Hauger: I’m a big sci-fi fan, but for some reason, Dune never entered my sphere of attention. I watched, and was a fan of, the Denis Villeneuve films, but had no real familiarity with the source material beyond that. As an editor, I think it’s important to look at the scripts and the footage we are given a little insularly. I want to make the best version of the show that I can given the material available to me, and not have to shoehorn it into some preconceived template. As Amelia said, it starts with the characters, and the emotions the actors bring to the table. That being said, I know that Alison and her brilliant team of writers have done enormous amounts of research into the Dune universe, so the scripts inherently have a rich sense of the lore fans will be craving.

NFS: With a show like this, there's a balance between catering to existing fans and making it accessible to newcomers. How did you consider this in your editing choices?

Allwarden: When we were editing, we would look at the big picture and see the right balance of giving the audience information versus leaving something up to interpretation, discussion, or dissection. It's an important balance when you’re editing a series. We don’t want to make the audience feel dumb. I want to trust the audience as an editor. That’s my first instinct - I would rather trust that they’re following along and trust that they’re learning our story with us. I think that what’s so beautifully done about Alison‘s writing is the characters are so rich that you don’t need to know everything about the Dune lore to be kind of pulled into their stories. We want to know more about the characters, and they just happen to be set in the Dune universe.

When I was editing the series, I personally advocated for losing exposition rather than adding it. I think as an audience member, I always feel taken care of if I’m not spoon-fed. If I am spoon-fed, I feel a little bit frustrated and like my gears aren’t being allowed to turn as I’m watching. So when that would influence my editing choices, I would always air on the side of trusting the audience. I think that’s important when you’re making something of this scale. And then, people who, like me, understand a lot of the Dune lore will be excited by the amount of easter eggs and the amount of expansion of the Dune universe that can be picked up on if you know a lot about the franchise as a whole.

Hauger:Dune is definitely a dense IP. There is a lot of thought given to how much exposition is necessary to explain things fans will already have knowledge of. I think the heaviest lifting, in that respect, is done in the script stage, but it’s absolutely something we wrestle with in the editing stage as well. With this show, we had the luxury of not only being able to look at each episode individually but also the series as a whole once all the episodes were put together. It’s incredibly helpful to be able to take a holistic look at a series and see if all the pieces are adding up in a satisfying way. As Amelia said, we don’t want the audience to be ahead of the story or our characters, but we also don’t want to confuse people to the point of losing their interest. When we stepped back and looked at the episodes/ series, we could see places where we over-explained and excise dialogue, or conversely, see things that weren’t fleshed out enough and find creative solutions to bring clarity to the plot.

NFS: Is there a particular scene or sequence from the episodes you worked on that you're especially proud of? Why?

Allwarden: In episode four, I am particularly proud of the Landsraad sequence. My initial assembly of just that scene in the throne room was 30 minutes long. It ended up about 10-12 minutes long in the end. It took 4 days to film and over a week for me to review all the footage and assemble it for the first time. It was really a difficult but rewarding sequence to put together because we had so many moving parts. All the different characters were coming together all in one room with many different agendas, so I played around with plenty of different versions of the order of things. For example, when Valya takes out her blade, when she puts the blade away, when she’s looking over at Kieran, when Kieran‘s leaving the room… What time is Desmond Hart introduced into the room? What time is Horace (the rebel companion of Kieran) introduced in the room? All of these things were slipping around as we were honing in the sequence and making it as impactful and epic as it could be.

Just from an editing standpoint, putting together Desmond Hart’s monologue was really rich. Travis Fimmel gave a wide range of performances to choose from in that sequence, and it turned out to be really chilling, and one of my favorite monologues I’ve put together. That then cultivates with him immolating a bunch of characters, so the sequence really had the best of everything. It had conversations, looks, plotting, many of our lead characters, a monologue, some dreamy flashback bits, and some action and some death, so it’s really kind of got the best of everything. I think that the whole episode is leading toward the Landsraad sequence, so it was really rewarding to put together and edit and finesse. It really was an editor‘s playground.

Hauger: I really enjoyed working on the Agony sequence in episode 2. It was a bit of a blank canvas to begin with. We had the bare bones of Lila in a dark space and shots of her interacting with live actors as her ancestors. But it was really a sequence that was open to interpretation and lent itself to a deep dive into the imagination. The scene became a real collaborative discussion between myself, Alison, Jordan, and our incredible visual effects team. I think we all brought something exciting to the table, and our conversations would spark new ideas and iterations of the scene.

Another fun challenge in this sequence was figuring out how to interweave the lab-side elements with what’s going on inside Lila’s head. We went through multiple versions where we would cut to the lab during the initial agony phases to see Lila’s terror in the lab, as well as Tula, Avila, and the acolytes’ reactions to her plight. But ultimately, we found that it was much more frightening to stay in Lila’s head until she encounters Raquella. Cutting to the lab before that point really interrupted the flow and pacing of the sequence. We also had discussions about splitting up the agony sequence and having the scene with Desmond confronting Duke Richese come before Lila meets Raquella. We thought it made logical sense for the end of the Lila/Tula arc in the episode to come as close as possible to the end of the Valya/Desmond arc. But when we watched it down, the pacing and emotional resonance seemed off. It was a great lesson of allowing emotion to dictate the story.

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NFS: You both worked on the finale together. Can you describe your collaborative process?

Allwarden: It was a great experience because Anna and I have a similar sense of storytelling and editing style. We first worked together on Westworld —We’ve never co-edited together before Dune: Prophecy, but we had been used to collaborating as two editors on the same project - so when we were paired together to edit the finale, I was really excited. We worked in four reels for the episode because it was initially very long—over two hours—and we each worked in two reels. I worked on the first two reels, and Anna worked on the second two reels while we assembled the initial episode. When we finished assembling the editor's cut, neither of us really saw each other's scenes because we were so busy editing the other half of the episode. So, we sat down with our assistant editors, McKenna Cook and Adam Neely, and we all watched the entire editors’ assembly together a few days before we were presenting it to our director, Anna Foerster. We watched the episode as a whole, we took notes, and we gave each other feedback in a really creative conversation about how our halves came together.

Once we got into the director’s cut and the producers’ cut, everything sort of blended together. We didn’t stick to our halves anymore. One of the great things about working with Anna is that she’s not proprietary about anything. We didn’t have any egos involved with editing the episode, which made it really nice to collaborate efficiently. Whoever had time to get to whichever scene needed notes addressed first was how we worked on the episode. I don’t think I could’ve done this with just any editor. Sometimes, she addresses a note on a scene differently than how I would do it - and it would open up this whole new way for me to look at the scene. The episode was just a really unique and dynamic experience, and I truly feel that Anna and I co-editing this episode made the finale better than it could’ve been with either of us editing it alone.

Hauger: I love collaborating with other editors. It’s my preferred way to work. We all come to the table with our own unique talents and perspectives: Working with others, and being able to tap into their creative process can be incredibly rewarding and freeing. It certainly won’t work for every editor, but when you find the right people to work with, it’s magical. Amelia and I have known each other for years, and I’ve always admired her editing style, and her facility with critical analysis. I knew we’d be a good fit for collaboration.

After our initial editor’s cut phase, where we were necessarily working to put together our individual halves of the show, we spent a lot of time talking about the episode as a whole, and what was working and what needed some help. If Amelia had an idea for one of my scenes, I’d give it to her to have a pass on, and vice versa. That back and forth between the two of us helped unlock some gems that might not have come to light if there had been only one editor on board.

After the editor’s cut, it was a bit of a free for all. We worked where we felt inspired, or where our time would be best spent. The finale was massive, so it was a relief to have somebody to split the workload with.

NFS: I know a lot of time was spent rearranging sequences and modifying scenes. Can you each give an example of how you restructured a scene or sequence to improve its impact or clarity?

Allwarden:: One interesting thing that was restructured and rearranged in episode four was the introduction to the Ladsraad. I think it comes about 10 minutes into the episode, where the Speaker of the Hall introduces the nobles from different houses and does a roll call while we show many shots of ships coming down to the planet and docking at the spaceport on Salusa Secundus. That footage was initially part of the later Landsraad sequence at the climax of the episode. All of this intro used to come very late in the episode. So, what I manipulated in editing was to make that sequence an introduction of its own. So I took all the roll call pieces at the beginning of all the houses entering the throne room, which gave an introduction to the Landsraad for our viewers visually and audibly.

Then, when we hear characters later talk about the Landsraad plot throughout the rest of the episode, we actually have a visual aid that helps us place exactly what they’re talking about. This helped the arc of the entire episode and made it so that when we do come back to the Landsraad at the climax of the episode, we know where we are and what’s going down. We know it’s in the throne room. We know all these nobles have come from all over the place to attend this meeting. We know that it’s a big deal that Baron Harkonnen is there, because he was never there in the beginning, and neither was Mother Superior Valya. It helps us understand the looks of shock from some of the other guests of the high council. So that was just one fun piece that we came up with in editing to illustrate the Landsraad and have a little introduction to it before we come to it later in the episode.

Hauger: In episode two, Valya Harkonnen leaves Wallach IX and heads to Salusa Secundus to make sure she can secure the princess and ensure that the Sisterhood’s plans don’t fall through. When I screened the director’s cut for Alison, we had the realization that there was too much time between Valya leaving the Sisterhood, and picking her up on Salusa. We started looking for scenes in-between that could be cut, or that were modular and could be moved downstream. Initially, we had the scene with Ynez and Kieran sparring much earlier in the episode: after Kieran scanned the hallway, and before he went to the spice den. We ended up moving it much later in the episode which benefitted us on multiple levels. We got to kick off Valya’s Salusa journey earlier, which gave the episode a boost of energy, which was expected. But it was a nice surprise that the move gave the Kieran/ Ynez scene an added level of emotion. Nez’ grief over Kasha’s death was evident, and now that we have the knowledge that Keiran is a rebel, it adds layers to his interaction with Nez.

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NFS: Now that you've gone through this intense editing process, what key lessons have you learned that you'll carry forward to future projects?

Allwarden:: I learn something new on every show that I edit. I think one of the key things I learned from this series was how incredible it can be to co-edit with another talented editor, and I hope to do it again in future projects.

Hauger: A key lesson I learned on Dune: Prophecy was the importance of collaboration with the visual effects department. I’ve worked on many VFX heavy shows, but this was the first time I’ve had multiple sequences that relied so heavily on VFX to help tell the story. It was a treat to be able to be in long-term creative conversations with VFX and our showrunner to hone in on the best way to bring certain storytelling elements to life.