Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1538125
HOW THE BURGER IS MADE READ ON FOR THE WORKFLOW SECRETS OF 'BOB'S BURGERS' 34 C I N E M O N T A G E F E A T U R E By Ivan Victor I n live-action editing, each genre de- m a n d s i t s o w n s p e c i a l i z e d s k i l l s . Maybe that's landing a punchline with precision, constructing an action-packed montage, or drawing out emotion in a dramatic scene. But across genres, from dailies to final cut, the workflow is similar — working with multiple takes and cover- age. Animation, on the other hand, plays by an entirely different set of rules. The ma- terials are unique, the process is its own beast, and for editors on a show like "Bob's Burgers," that means mastering a whole different craft. " B o b's B u r ge r s," c re a te d b y L o re n Bouchard, debuted in 2011 and has racked up 285 episodes over 15 seasons on Fox, where it was recently picked up for anoth- er four seasons. It is currently edited by Jeremy Reuben, ACE and Stephanie Earley, ACE and won an Eddie Award for its editing in 2022. Picture editorial is the focal point for all aspects of post. "Everything has to go into picture editorial and then come back out at different post milestones," Earley said. "We're the center hub for everything," Reuben added. "If someone creates a shot, an audio cue, or something like that, it has to come to us to be cut in to send to someone else to do what they need to do. And when what they do comes back to us, we update our cut and send it to the next department, who has to do their thing, whether it's ani- mation, music, whatever." PRE-PRODUCTION Before Earley and Reuben start on an episode, supervising sound editor Adam Woronoff cuts a recorded table read of the script into what is known as a radio play. Animatic editor Kris Fitzgerald col- laborates with the episodic director to transform thumbnail sketches into a full animatic [essentially a moving storyboard that includes timings and audio and models how the final product will look and flow (AI definition)]. This is exported to South Korea to be animated by hand. Roughly twelve weeks later, we get back the first of two color batches of scenes for the show. ROUGH COLOR SCREENING When the color batches arrive, assistant editor Matt Parcone assembles them into sequences. Earley and Reuben's initial task, equivalent to the editor's cut, is to prepare for the rough color screening, which is due two days after the second batch of anima- tion arrives. Typically, they work on small details such as tweaking eye acting, adding key sound effects, and adjusting pacing. Earley explains that "for the rough color screening, we want the showrunners to focus on the narrative. We don't want anything to be distracting or take away from being able to discern if the words are correct." After the screening, Reuben said, "A little group stays — the writer, the showrunners, the direc- tor, and maybe the art director — and we'll focus-group what worked, what didn't, or if there's a narrative problem." COLOR REWRITE The notes from the rough color screen- ing are aggregated and sent to the writers room for the final rewrite, which leads to new dialogue temped by the showrunners. To realize the changes, the rewrite often creates a need for new shots. Earley and Reuben collaborate with retake director Erin Humiston and supervising directors Bernard Derriman and Tony Gennaro to determine potential new shots, particu- larly those that require shipping overseas for retakes. "Between the rewrite and the content lock is when we get to be the most creative as editors," Earley explained. "We can put our director hats on and pitch that maybe this shot should be like this instead. Some- times I think something's better if it all stays in the wide shot instead of the three single shots, so I'll include that in the color rewrite. If people agree, that's awesome. This is the bread and butter of when we can be editorially creative. I like that about this part of the process, and they empower us to do it. They want us to add our creative flair." In animation, there isn't the luxury of multiple takes and shot sizes that exists in live action. "Because there are no handles [extra frames on either end of the shot], if we need to shift something, there's nothing to extend it, so we have to make our own handles," Reuben said. "Also, if a shot comes Stephanie Earley.