Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1081203
49 Q1 2019 / CINEMONTAGE with inconsistencies. Retakes also include techniques "to improve the look or the flow," such as color pops and frames that may be needed to "hook up" one scene to the next. When the animation returns to the editors, "Sometimes it's vastly different interpretations of what I knew the director wanted," Duffy points out. "It's both a creative and a mathematical formula that can get reinterpreted every time it gets into new hands, so the chances of getting lost in translation is entirely possible," she says. Some retakes involve creative issues — "such as something we wanted originally but changed our minds about — or it can be a joke missing or continuity errors." Consecutive scenes might be assigned to different animators, so when Scene A joins to Scene B, there can be stylistic issues. In that case, "We will sometimes call multiple retakes for the same scene, resulting in a process that goes on for several months," Duffy says. "Sometimes we get retakes past the point we lock. The show is very concerned about quality for very good reasons. It's thoughtfully produced and it looks beautiful." Once the editors match all their color "take ones" to the scenes that make up the animatic and do a creative pass, they sit with the executive producer to cut their episodes down to time. "From there on out, it's multiple retake meetings," maintains Duffy. "We look at the retakes and decide if it needs to go back overseas or done in-house. Once we have it as close as we can to final picture, we have a playback session for final notes from everybody — from the art director to executives." During the retake back-and-forth, says Williamson, the composer is working on the score against the editor's cut and the sound designer is also at work. Those editors who dedicate themselves to animation enjoy the workflow that offers creativity and the satisfaction of seeing the project from the very beginning until the very end. As Bocz noted earlier, she feels most creative when building the boards from scratch. "Post-production [after the animation returns from the studios] is also nice, because I get to make sure it's paced out the way I feel is right and have the ability to enhance individual shots so they look their best," she explains. For Williamson, "It's creatively satisfying to see the episodes through, from animatic to color to delivery. There's an almost limitless ability to tell the story knowing we're not tied to our footage yet. That's the great plus of working on DuckTales." On the television screen, the troublous trio of Huey, Dewey and Louie might be distressing Donald, but in their show's cutting room at Disney TVA, the workload, challenges and demands on the editorial team are like… well, water off a duck's back. f Huey, Dewey and Louie made their screen debut in the Disney animated short Donald's Nephews (1938). Walt Disney Pictures/Photofest