Harry Miller is no stranger to the sci-fi and horror universe. As a sound editor he added zip to Back to the Future, Masters of the Universe and Waterworld. As a dialogue editor he did his bit to make everything audible in Alien Resurrection. As the editor of Tales from the Darkside: The Movie, he helped director John Harrison put the scares and the punch lines in all the right places. And now Miller both returns to sci-fi and re-teams with Harrison on Frank Herbert's Dune, SCI FIÕs epic miniseries based on the classic novel. SCIFI.COM caught up with friendly and informative Miller in Prague, during production on Frank Herbert's Dune, to discuss the landmark project, its joys and challenges.

Most of your prior jobs as a film editor involved cutting features and telefilms of two hours or so in length. What's it like to cut a six-hour miniseries?
It's terrific. We're getting a lot of great coverage. We're getting some fantastic photography from our [cinematographer], Vittorio Storaro. We're getting terrific performances from the actors. Everything's been just great.

For those who don't know, what exactly does the job of editor entail?
I'm responsible for everything once it leaves the camera. So I am in touch with the film lab that develops the film and transfers it to videotape. The videotapes get sent from Rome to Prague and Andrea, my assistant, will input the videotape into the AVID. The AVID is a computer editing system. And everything is hard drive-based, so it's all done in the computer these days. Andrea will do some processing and clean up the dailies to make sure that everything is in sync and that it's organized appropriately for me. Then I get each day's dailies. I look through them and make decisions about how to cut individual scenes together. I will then take those scenes, cut them together, look to see if there are any appropriate sound effects, any appropriate music and any appropriate visual effects or temporary visual effects that I can add to the viewing. My main goal is to present to the director and the producers the most polished-looking temp cut of the picture as possible, so they can get a really accurate presentation, a really accurate feel of what the final product will look like.

What's the process like for you when you're dealing with someone like John Harrison who, as both writer and director, obviously possesses a very clear vision of what he's after?
This is a very unusual project because there are so many visual effects, as opposed to the other things I've done with John. John is a terrific writer and a very good director. What has complicated this process is we have visual effects that have to be very detailed and story boarded out. We also have a brilliant cinematographer in Vittorio Storaro, and he has very specific ideas about how he can add to the process. So it's been difficult for me because I have to go with a lot of different sources. I have to find storyboards that have been created by our visual effects department, by Ernie Farino. I also have to use my judgment as to my experience with John. They're very religious about staying to the script. There have basically been no changes in the script. But the way they are producing elements of this causes changes in how things get put together. So it's been an unusual project for me. I know from having worked with John many of the things that he likes, many of the things he expects. But there are a lot of other aspects to doing such a big, long-form, complicated project.

So what does John like?
John loves moving the camera. He loves to have a full track. He wants to be able to hear the magic and effect. We both like very moody, interesting sounds as part of the atmosphere of a world that we create. And he's pretty particular about the words. Actors sometimes, if they're not quite prepared, will do some substitutions. All writers like their words coming out of the actors' mouths, so I have to pay attention to that and make sure that the script is being followed.

Just from the trailers it looks as if some intriguing stylistic choices have been made. Can you comment on that?
There have been a lot of interesting stylistic choices made. First of all, this is all being shot on sound stages. That gives the camera department terrific flexibility in the lighting. So there's a lot of interactive lighting going on that I've never worked with before. The sun will go down in the middle of a scene or the moon will come up in the middle of a scene, which is never done in most modern filmmaking. There's a lot of classic filmmaking style take from films such as 2001, big mis-en-scene images. They are also taken from David Lean, in that they want to add a lot to the frame. Most of the time on a televisions production you would expect a lot of close-ups, a lot of quick cutting and a lot more of the editorial process. There are a lot of really odd emotional beats put into this picture because there are a lot of very odd things going on with religious fervor. One of the characters has a lot of dreams. There's a lot of spice, which has a very odd effect on people. So there is a terrific visual style. It's really interesting. And then costumes are just so strange. They're really effective. The costumes are things that you've never seen before.

You talked briefly about the fact that Frank Herbert's Dune will run six hours, but we didn't touch on how that, or the fact that those six hours will be parceled out over three nights, impacts the pacing of those six hours.
I think that one of our problems in finishing this picture is making it clear to an audience that if they get into the middle of the show that they will be able to follow the characters and follow the story. It is a very complex story and in a way that sort of appeals to people who already know the novel, who already know the theatrical version of Dune. So what I think we have to do is we have to delineate the characters very clearly. Who are we following? What sort of transitions are they going through? A lot of the visual style will help tell that story, too. They've chosen colors that a very, very strongly associated with (specific) characters. They've chosen a camera style that's very much related to different characters and different locations. We're hoping that this will be seen in its complete form at some point. It will really play great as a complete story. When you break things up with commercials and break it up over three nights, it will have some problems because, if you didn't see the first night you might get confused.

Let's switch gears a little bit. Were you familiar with Dune before becoming involved with the miniseries?
I think I read the book when it was becoming a big hit. I think I was in college. I'd heard about it and read it and, like most people that I've talked to, I was just enthralled with it. I just loved it. It's a really fantastic piece of imagination. I ended up reading the rest of the books.

From your unique vantage point, just how faithful would you say the mini-series will be to the novel?
The coolest part about this project is that it's a very true adaptation. I've gone back recently and read most of the original novel, and I find that what John has done is retained all of the critical and important elements of the book, which are very unusual for television. People are into spice. This guy's having all of these visions. They're going a whole bunch of people. So it's very unusual material, but John has really retained the essence of the novel, the characters and the feel of it. Yet, for this type of project, for a television film, he has made the story much easier to follow. He has structured it in a way that you know exactly who people are. You know exactly what the spice is. You know the basics of the story. With the novel, with all novels, there's much more time to develop the story and to be more obtuse, and people can get the story as they go along. In television, you don't have that option.

Last question. Do you think that Frank Herbert's Dune will appeal to those viewers who generally arenÕt interested in sci-fi?
I think so, because there are a lot of different elements. I would have a hard time defining this as sci-fi. It is a very compelling story that just happens to be on a different planet. The important part of the story is the human relationships. That is usually where sci-fi falls down. The characters tend to be cardboard characters. They tend to be people you just don't believe. They have no depth. They have not dimension. They way that Dune is being done is completely the opposite of that. We have very strong characters. We have wonderful roles for women. In fact, the women are the strongest characters in this piece. It will also appeal to people who love pageantry and scope. The sets are so fantastic. You've never seen anything like what Kreka, our production designer, has done. It's just fantastic. And we're hoping that the story will be so compelling that it won't make any difference that it's all on another planet, that you'll accept it and enjoy it because it's very entertaining.