Cutting Fashionable Sequences For Vogue’s ‘Sex and The City’ Film

Sarah Jessica Parker, known for her iconic Carrie Bradshaw role in ‘Sex and the City’ - as well as being featured on countless Vogue covers - recently took centre stage in the latest Vogue digital summer spread and accompanying video. Celebrating the show’s 25th anniversary and the launch of the second season of the spin-off series ‘And Just Like That.’, the actress says “Hello, you” to all the different versions of ‘you’ that can exist in the Big Apple.

Packed full of the fashion, sights and personalities that audiences came to expect from the ‘Sex and the City’ depiction of New York, Modern Post’s William Town edited the film and combined the gloriously nostalgic and stylish visuals with a charming and familiar soundtrack that will take you right back to New York, those beloved characters and all of their antics from the turn of the century. 

A regular collaborator with the director Bardia Zeinali, William tells LBB’s Ben Conway how their unique dynamic helped to craft this rich and inventive spot, as well as sharing other insights into how the “Sex and the City feel” can be captured in the edit suite. Read the full interview below.

LBB> How would you describe the style of edit you went for, and how did the show influence it? What gives it that ‘Sex and the City’ feel? 

William> When I approach a new project I try to be as open-minded as possible about what ‘style’ might convey the narrative in the most cohesive or natural way. With this project, it was Sarah Jessica Parker’s monologue that shaped the edit style, and gave it the ‘Sex and the City feel’.

LBB> The film uses lots of split screens - what opportunities and challenges does this technique pose?

William> They present the opportunity to further the storytelling and deepen the emotional resonance of the images; by putting similar images together you can highlight a shared theme, or by putting contrasting images together you can make a different statement. I think the challenge that they pose is feeling like a stylistic trap or an overused device.

LBB> The footage is also largely a mix of short comedic scenes, scenic New York shots and fashion photography - how did you combine these elements? 

William> The audio provides context for a lot of the transitions, and the typographic treatments also bridge some of the scenes. The spoken word ‘column’ that is voiced by Sarah Jessica Parker weaves the thread between the different elements. 

LBB> Did you work closely with the director and other production teams? How did those dynamics shape the final edit?

William> The working relationship that I have with the director Bardia Zeinali is hugely important to me. Over the past five years or so, we have developed a signature together, and always spend a lot of time together working in the edit suite to try to find inventive details that make each film feel rich and unique.

LBB> What are some of your favourite sequences from the video and why?

William> I really enjoyed crafting the ‘fashion shoot’ sequence, where you see the images of Sarah Jessica Parker in the spreads of a vogue layout. It felt like a playful and aesthetic way to show some of the iconic fashion looks from the series. 

LBB> What was the hardest challenge you faced on this project and how did you overcome it?

William> I think the biggest challenge was finding precisely the right pace for the film that allowed the individual scenes to feel complete in their own right, but kept the attention of an online audience without rushing through the film.