Code, Characters, and Cuts: How Editor Kristi Shimek Crafted the Visual Language of 'Wardriver'

In the world of filmmaking, the script is often just the starting point, and the final storytelling comes in the edit bay.

And for Wardriver , the new techno-thriller starring Dane DeHaan, Sasha Calle, and Mamoudou Athie, that rings very true.

Tasked with weaving together a complex web of digital hacking, high-stakes crime, and deep character studies, editor Kristi Shimek found herself in a unique position. Not only was she navigating a "star-studded" cast and a robust visual language of texts and emojis, but she was doing so alongside a director she has known for nearly two decades.

How do you keep the audience engaged and keep the story flowing?

We sat down with Kristi to discuss her "editor’s dream" collaboration, the "screen language" used to give digital characters a pulse, and how her background in horror and musicals prepared her to tackle the dark, rhythmic tension of this modern crime thriller.

Let's dive in.

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No Film School: Hi Kristi! I understand you and Wardriverdirector Rebecca Thomas are longtime friends. What was it like finally working with Rebecca as a creative collaborator?

Kristi Shimek : Rebecca and I have known each other for almost 20 years now. We met in film school and have kept in touch over the years, but it was so lovely to finally work with her as a creative collaborator.

Becca has a really brilliant and creative mind, and she is very open to ideas and**** iterating, which is an editor's dream and was essential for this movie. We ended up reworking and restructuring this movie quite a bit, and I was so grateful to be working with Becca, who was very flexible and also amenable to work through any idea that she or I came up with. I think that relationship to each other and to the film was what helped Wardriver reach new heights.

NFS Wardriverhas a star-studded cast, including Dane DeHaan, Sasha Calle, and Mamoudou Athie. Could you provide some insight into their performances in the film from your unique vantage point in the edit bay?

KS : The cast of Wardriver is absolutely stunning. I feel like I got to know each of them as individuals and separately as characters as I watched the footage each day.

Each actor has such a distinct style, and that really played into how each character is portrayed. They all gave me a lot of options for shaping the performance and characters into what they needed to be on screen, which was a real delight for me to work with and gave the characters a lot of depth.

The characters in a thriller are the crux of the story. They drive the plot, the pace, the revelations, and so having such strong performances from every member of the cast took this movie to the next level.

NFS: The film also features a really fun and dynamic narrative structure. How did you approach piecing the different elements of this story together?

KS : Wardriver is unique in that the structure of the film was really flexible, so Rebecca and I worked through many iterations of where scenes were placed in the movie, how characters were revealed, how information was revealed, and ultimately came to what we have now. If you were to read the original shooting script, you would see how different it is now from where we started.

This flexibility of the structure gave us the mental freedom to keep asking questions about the story and the characters, and allowed us to really hone in on how best to tell the story through trial and error. It ultimately made us realize that we needed to have a different ending to the film than what was originally shot, and we picked that up months after the original unit.

'Wardriver' Credit: The Avenue

NFS: As cell phones and technology figure into modern movies more and more, how do you find yourself navigating the depiction of the cyber elements in Wardriver?

KS : The technological elements in Wardriver are very robust. We have various instances of hacking and programming, card skimming, 3D printing, and we had to find a way to show all of these complex ideas very efficiently.

There is an entire character that is only seen through chat, but the character has personality, motive, intent, and quite a bit of screen time. We wanted to be able to express this through actual text on screen, but we also wanted to be able to get ideas across quickly, and so we formulated this visual language through GIFs, emojis, cell phone videos, and websites that allowed us to not have so much heavy reading and also gave us little moments of humor and personality throughout the movie.

I think it ended up being very effective, but it took us a lot of trial and error to find a good balance with this screen language that we formulated.

NFS: Did you draw from any previous classics of the crime thriller genre while working on Wardriver?

KS : Yes, I would say that some of the inspiration films for me were L.A. Confidential(there is a little easter egg reference to L.A. Confidential from writer Daniel Casey in Wardriver as well), Memento , Copycat , and Mystic River, but also some newer films like Nightcrawler and Drive.

There is nothing more important in a thriller than the dissemination of information, and so these are all great studies of when information is revealed, but in the more modern movies like Nightcrawler and Drive, we also have very in-depth, dark character discoveries, which is something we wanted to do with Wardriver.

Kristi Shimek Credit: Kristi Shimek

NFS: You have worked across a variety of genres in your career, including rom-coms and horror films. How did those previous projects prepare you for Wardriver?

KS : I love working in all types of genres. I feel very fortunate to have been able to do that across my career. I never thought I would have the chance to work on something like a musical, because they are so rare, but then I was able to work on two TV shows that are musicals. I’ve worked on comedies, thrillers, and horror, and they’ve all taught me things that have been essential to how I approach each new project.

All of these projects taught me about the style, tone, and opinions I bring to the table, and how I can use that innate emotional response to shape the film into the director’s vision and the collaborative vision of the team members across the project.

Working across many genres has also helped me really understand how to craft characters and personalities of all types for the screen, but also how to work with various types of structures and storytelling. Ultimately, it’s opened my mind to be more flexible as I approach the needs of each new project.

NFS: With yet another genre under your belt, are there any other genres in which you would like to work?

KS : I have a gothic side of me that loves working with darker material, so I really enjoy working in thrillers, and**** I would love to return to horror. That is a genre for me that has so much experimentation and depth to it. And horror movies often find a way to express ideas in a wholly unique way.

I also would love to do a bit more drama. Though drama is inherent in thrillers and horror and most stories, really, I would like to explore that even more, the rawness of performances and characters in stories that may have simple settings but incredibly deep characters.

NFS: Is there anything else you would like to add about Wardriveror your career at large?

KS : I feel very fortunate to have been able to work on Wardriver. I was attached to the project by a long-time producing friend of mine, David M. Wulf, and when I found out Rebecca would be directing, I was elated. Honestly, it turned out to be one of my favorite collaborations. The freedom I felt when working with Rebecca really made a big difference for me, and I hope that our paths in the film world cross again soon.