Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1277477
39 F A L L Q 3 I S S U E F E A T U R E SEE PAGE 53 ing on the situation and the point of the scene. I love the style of the show; it's mostly shot handheld with one or two cameras, and the camera is almost never in the same place from take to take. It's a fun and challenging show to work on. Our composer Nick [Nicholas] Britell is amazing, I love his music – it really helps sustain the tension and pacing of the stories. Q What's the process to put together the first cut from the dailies with temp music and sound? Eluto: I start out working scene by scene with the dailies while keeping the full story in mind. I also look at the script supervisor notes for any director's notes. For my first pass, I'm looking for the best way to get in and out of a scene, the best performances and what I think is the best angle for each section of a scene. I'll also temp in music where appropriate. Sometimes I do alternate versions of a scene to see what works best. Then I like to put them aside for a few days – it's better to watch later with fresh eyes. I usually don't put the full cut together un- til I've done a few passes on every scene. We try to use Nick's music whenever possible. He has scored all the episodes across both seasons, so his music really sets the mood and tone. Q How big is your team on a show like this? Eluto: We have a fantastic team. The immediate post department had 11-12 people from the Post Producer to the PA, including three editors, each with their own assistant. The first season had Anne McCabe and Jane Rizzo. Anne came back for the second season and Bill Henry joined us. Ellen Tam was my assistant and we've worked together since "30 Rock ." She co - edited one episode of "Succession" with me and an episode of "Unbreakable Kimmy Schimdt." Q The world of the Roys is one of unparalleled opulence, whether they're in Manhattan or having a pow wow on a yacht. How does this impact the color palette and sty- listic themes when you're working with the DI team? Eluto: I don't usually have anything to do with the DI process. In most TV shows, I'm too busy keeping up with ed- iting. Dara Schnapper, our post producer, works with the DPs and post house on that. Features are different. I'll usually sit in on color correction when working on a film. Q What about working with different directors for each episode? How was cutting the "DC" episode [directed by Mark Mylod] different from working on the "Argetes" epi- sode [directed by Matt Shakman]? Eluto: I edited eight episodes over two seasons and Mark directed five of them. We worked on the second and third epi- sodes of Season 1 and were both mindful of the style that had been set in the pilot. Mark is also an EP on the show and a won- derful director. We get along really well. All the directors have the style of the show in mind. Matt Shakman did a great job on the "Argestes" episode. We worked on that remotely since I'm in New York and he's in L.A. It turned out really well. I also worked with Miguel Arteta who directed "Austerlitz" in Season 1, an- other great episode. Often things in this business come full circle; I had worked with Miguel many years ago when I was editing episodes of the Tom Fontana and Barry Levinson series "Homicide: Life on the Street." Q For Season 2, you cut 4 of the 10 ep- isodes. Is the series shot and cut in sequence so that by the time you get to your episode, you already have a rough cut of the previous episodes to know where things were headed? Eluto: We start editing as soon as we get the dailies. Otherwise, we'd never make our schedule. "Succession" is shot on film, so the turnaround is usually two days before we get dailies. I'll keep cur- rent by reading all the scripts so I know how the stories and characters develop. If other episodes are in progress, I'll check with the other editors. Quite often, Ken Eluto. P H O T O : C O U R T E S Y K E N E L U T O