Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1543164
44 C I N E M O N T A G E T E C H scripts synced — all done very meticulously. So when I start my edit, I can click on a word and jump right to it in all the takes. I can see how the camera moves and the fluidity, and decide whether to use this take or that one. I find that essential," said Strand. "The Pitt" aesthetic is all about flow. Continuous takes keep the action moving, and dialogue happening off-camera moti- vates a pan or a switch to a new character. This creates a very fluid feel within the episode, and there's a fluid feel between episodes as one hour rolls into the next during the ER shift. Luciano said, "Much of that fluidity comes from us thinking beyond our individual episodes. We all watch each other's cuts since the last scene of one epi- sode is literally the start of the next. Also, as we go through the notes process, a line lift or shift in performance in one episode could affect the tone of something in the next, so staying in close communication is import- ant in maintaining that fluidity — not just stylistically, but for our characters, as well." Strand noted that the editors spend most of their days talking to each other about how to get that continuous feel. "How can my episode feel like Joey's episode that feels like Tammie's episode? I'll watch Joey's episode, and he's doing something differently than I would. I get excited about it, and I might borrow that in my next epi- sode," he said. Th e s h ow 's co n s i s te n c y a c ro ss t h e seasons stems from sticking to the style es- tablished in the pilot. But the show evolves just as the characters do. Strand said, "It becomes this amoeba of three editors work- ing in conjunction with each other to create one storytelling style, which ends up being 'The Pitt.' It's not that we're all following one rule, but rather we're trying to create rules in the same world." The show is set up on a shared Avid Unity system, so the editors can easily jump into each other's episodes. They use a hybrid-work approach, giving them the freedom to work from home or in the editing suites at Warner Bros. Post Production fa- cilities in Burbank. When editing remotely, they use Jump Desktop to connect to their Avid system on site. Luciano, who mainly edits at home in Long Beach, said, "Using Jump for working remotely is key for me because it saves me commute time, and I find that I'm more productive working from home." Conversely, Reinisch tends to work more often in the editing facility. "I can get second opinions from other people in the hallway, like Mark. The show moves so fast, we're cutting so fast, that it's nice to have someone else to bounce scenes off of or help me decide what to do for a scene," he said. Strand also finds that on-site editing has irreplaceable benefits. He said, "Fundamen- tally, being able to just open Joey's door, or walk by, or go get a coffee and then pop in helps the camaraderie, the companionship and team building of it all — even just hav- ing our assistants in the same room. Plus, you can get your questions answered right away and collaborate on the show. We can go into each other's rooms and actually look at the cut." For remote review sessions or spotting sessions, the team uses Evercast to collab- orate with the directors and producers. S t r a n d s a i d , " I h a v e e v e n s o m e t i m e s worked from Maine. Using Jump Desktop, I can drive my Avid system at Warner Bros. with everyone in the room there. I can use Evercast to talk to the producers while I'm running the Avid. It's just as seamless for them." Producer Wells typically prefers to hold review/editing sessions in his office rather than in the edit bays. "John [Wells] likes to edit in person, so we bring drives to his office that run locally. We make sure we always have an updated drive for every single episode, so that when it's time to do notes, we can just plug in. So while we can work anywhere via Jump Desktop, we also have to get really local when we work with John," Strand said. Reinisch added that they had a few work/review sessions while Wells was in New York — all without any technical issues, such as lag or dropout, thanks to Evercast's NDI (network device interface) support. NDI functions as a camera source, so users can "Stream NDI" directly from Avid into the Evercast environment for high-quality, low-latency remote collabo- ration. Luciano attested, "The NDI support for streaming to Evercast has been useful." Shots for "The Pitt" are so complicated, the show has two script supervisors, Susan Youngman Hoen and Kelly Akers. One supervisor details what's happening in the shots and how they evolve, while the other checks continuity and discusses coverage P H OT O : H B O WORKPLACE DRAMA: A scene from "The Pitt."