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Publicity poster for Kubo and the Two Strings

Film Edited by Knox Grad Nominated for Two Oscars

Chris Murrie

Exposure to diverse points of view makes us better artists, and better audiences.—Chris Murrie '95

Character poster from Kubo and the Two Strings

Kubo features high flying martial arts; we had to keep real emotional grounding under the spectacle.—Chris Murrie '95

Character poster from Kubo and the Two Strings

Monkey presented the biggest tonal challenge. She had to be tough without being unpleasant.—Chris Murrie '95

Creativity and teamwork, and a wide-ranging liberal arts background, are more important for successful film-making than having the latest computer technology, according to Chris Murrie '95, who majored in studio art and is now an award-winning film editor. Murrie's most recent work, Kubo and the Two Strings, has been nominated for two Academy Awards this year—one for Best Animated Feature Film and the other for Visual Effects. It was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Motion Picture.

Murrie, senior film editor at LAIKA, a film studio in Portland, Oregon, was also nominated for a 2017 "Eddie Award" from American Cinema Editors and for a 2017 "Annie Award" from the International Animated Film Society.

In addition to Kubo and the Two Strings, Murrie also helped edit LAIKA's animated feature Coraline, released in 2009, and edited ParaNorman, which came out in 2012—each of which won more than ten film awards.

Working at LAIKA, Murrie says, draws on every element of his experience and education.

"I honestly don't know if I could do what I do if I hadn't had a broad liberal arts education," Murrie says. "I routinely call on principles I learned across many discipline—art, literature, philosophy, history. In my opinion, the best preparation for working in film is a broad exposure to the humanities.

"The technologies will always be changing, but the reason we love film remains unchanged. Art makes us reflect on ourselves and the world around us. A broad exposure to diverse disciplines and points of view makes us better artists—and better audiences for art."

Unlike films made exclusively with computer-generated images—CGI—where everything is digitally drawn and computer animated, LAIKA's films are distinguished by stop-motion animation with real puppets, along with imaginative and sensitive story-telling. A review by The AV Club noted that "the animation of Kubo is truly dazzling, mixing sophistication and handmade charm with inspired flow." LAIKA's three most recent feature films deal with challenges faced by children, from bullying by peers to the deaths of one's parents.

Technology has made some steps in the process easier and faster, Murrie says, but he feels that LAIKA's bigger advancements have been in its collaborative community and personal vision.

"When we made Coraline, many of us were working together for the first time and at scales we had never worked before," Murrie says. "Now many of us have been working together for a decade. I've known Travis Knight, LAIKA CEO who directed Kubo, for almost 20 years. I worked with Chris Butler, head of story on Kubo, on both Coraline and ParaNorman.

"There is a real joy in collaborating well with other artists, especially when you can also count those artists as close friends. Ultimately, this is the part of the job I love the most. The process is far more personally rewarding than the product."

Below, three production stills from Kubo and the Two Strings. All images copyright LAIKA, used with permission.

  • Production still from Kubo and the Two Strings
  • Production still from Kubo and the Two Strings
  • Production still from Kubo and the Two Strings

Behind the scenes with Chris Murrie and Kubo and the Two Strings:

One of my biggest challenges was finding the correct balance of tone, both in terms of narrative and character. Like our other films, we tried to find a sweet spot between humor, honest emotion, and real peril.

Considering that Kubo features talking animals, high flying martial arts, and giant monsters; it was paramount for us to keep real, earnest emotional grounding underneath all of the bombast and spectacle.

Kubo is asking children to confront the mortality of their parents, which is a topic that needs very careful treatment. As a result, we had to always be very deliberate about keeping the tonal elements balanced and complimentary. Action beats can be exciting and thrilling, but we can't overstep into horror. Comedy beats can be fun and useful to release tension, but they can't undercut what we consider very real and serious emotional truths.

It was very important to me that each of the action set pieces also be tonally unique in and of themselves, and that they should reflect the inner emotional states of the characters.

Character wise, Monkey presented the biggest tonal challenge. She had to be tough, no nonsense, loyal, and fiercely protective; all without being off-putting or unpleasant. It was very easy to lean too far one way or the other with her voice performances.

The line between Monkey as loving but stern protector, and just being a jerk was razor thin. Luckily, we had a great arc to take her on and, despite her tough exterior, we got to peel the layers back and reveal a deeply loving and complex character underneath. It took a lot of experimenting to get her tone just right. Charlize Theron gave us a wealth of incredible material to choose from. She and our whole cast presented us with the huge challenge of picking perfect takes out of a giant pool of perfect takes.

Published on January 25, 2017