Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1546034
30 C I N E M O N T A G E C O V E R S T O R Y morass of improvised footage, our scenes varied considerably, even when following the same story premise. Comparing and contrasting our edits enabled us to glean more ideas and concepts from the footage. Q: You mentioned you focus more on audio than picture to find the best combined take? Rasch: My job is to make good sentences. Roger's a writer. He's written several books. I was an English major in college, and one of the other editors, Jon Corn, ACE, who did several seasons of "Curb," was an English major, as well. I think that helps with this massive jumble of words that come from improv actors who, like us talking here, may stumble — there may be unintentional awkward pauses or sentences that aren't well thought out, and the actors are trying to be funny on the set, as well. All of that often interferes with logic, so our job is to make good sentences out of different takes. Q: Speaking of words and sentences, you mentioned there could be a 200-page transcript for a 10-minute sketch. How do you transform that much raw material into something concise and funny? Jones: A 10-minute sketch would have upwards of 200 transcribed pages of dailies. Jeff and Larry often don't know what the sketch will be specifically until they craft it in the edit room. Many of their favorite jokes require the editors to detour from the story thread. Using the transcriptions enables us to identify moments that connect various jokes in the footage. I'd liken the footage to jazz improvisation versus "scripted" notated music. Smedile: Another interesting part of the workflow that's unique to this show is that if you have two or three 20-minute improvised takes, Steve will ask me for a string-out of certain reactions. When you're searching for dialogue, you use scripts, but with expressions, you're watching in real time; you're looking for just the right needle in a haystack. When you see how they're cut in, you realize it's changing the scene. Steve and Roger know how to pull together stuff from random interactions, and those two-second clips and other little moments can be big game-changers. Q: President Obama appears in the show. What can you share about that part of the experience? Smedile: It was surreal to have Pres- ident Obama in a sketch with Larry. He was great as an actor. I was surprised at how natural he was and how funny they were together. Jones: President Obama is accustomed to leading. Obama's on-set suggestions spurred Larry to adjust his improvising. Obama did have some ideas and jokes of his own that made it into the final cut. He has comedic instincts. Larry and Obama have an earnest friendship. I enjoyed observing their banter between the takes. Q: Any advice for other up-and-coming comedy editors? Schaffer: You should like comedy. And ideally have a good sense of humor. Also, have a nicely shaped back of the head — peo- ple will be looking at it a lot. I have watched Roger and Steve press buttons for about 20 years now, yet if I walked up to their key- board, I don't think I could do a damn thing. Nygard: When people ask me what classes they should take to become an edi- tor, my answer is always an English class or a literature class. Learn story. Anyone can learn to press buttons, but very few have a grasp of storytelling. Good writing is concise writing. Good editing is concise editing. It's the same thing, so study the language and then learn the buttons. ■ This interview was edited for length and clarity. P H OT O : J AY C L E N D E N I N "Learn story," Nygard (right, with Rasch) counsels young editors.