Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/607566
PRIMETIME www.postmagazine.com 19 POST NOVEMBER 2015 how the devil moves and gets around is a challenge. So our directors are great to cover a lot, and give us options, but we get so much footage to [work with in or- der to get the pacing right] for a 43-and- a-half-minute show, I think trying to get the timing of that with all the tonal shifts can be really challenging. Usually once it gets into the refined place, then it's all about, where are the scares? Where's the tension? And how can we build it more? I think that's probably the thing we're most foucsed on — are we as precise as we can be?" How are you managing all of the footage? Are you using Avid ISIS? "Yes, we shoot Crime Story and Scream Queens on the Alexa and Horror Story still on 35. DNx175 raw is what we go back to when we do our final online, but we cut [on Avid Media Composer] in DNx36 because the systems just can't hang with the 175 for daily cutting, so we have footage brought in both ways. Our dailies come in on 36 immediately so everyone can start cutting and then we usually get a big batch every couple of days of the 175 media just to have in- house, and then we do our own online. "One of the best things about having the 175 in-house is that we do so much with our visual effects house [roughly between 80 and 100 visual effects per episode] — which is FuseFX in Burbank — and we can upload our 175 to them on an FTP and they can get shots back. So we're constantly churning through visual effects as well." How early is post integrated into the process? "Pretty early on. Ryan really enjoys being in editorial, in post. Generally speaking, what happens when we're starting a new show, he's always thinking about what's upfront because he always directs the pi- lot. But he and Adam and I spend a lot of time talking about what it should sound like. Usually we start with music — what does the world sound like? We'll get together and come up with ideas about what the vibe is. Tone is everything. So we start there and we just start rolling with the footage. Once the footage is in, it starts to make more sense. But we talk about the color, we talk about the music, and then everything else just kinda gets figured out as we figure out the story." What are some of the more technically-difficult sequences or shots to complete? "In Scream Queens specifically, I think a big challenge is that we have a very large cast. When we have scenes with tension, but also have a lot of action, that can be really difficult because you want to make sure you're focusing on the right spot. And I think that sometimes there's a tendency to want to cut and show everybody in the room, but I think that's hard because some of it can let the air out of the scene really quickly. So there's a challenge of, how do we represent our characters while directionally moving toward the climax, and so I think that actually is a challenge. We have a great camera team, so it's about balancing the number of bodies in a room." Is it difficult to balance the show's lighter sides to the darker sides? "You know, it is and isn't. The scripts are so much fun — I use the word 'delicious' so much to describe the world we're in, whether it's Horror Story or Scream Queens because they're tasty. You laugh and you want more and they can be so gruesome and you're like, 'Why is this the funniest thing I've ever read?' And then you get excited to cut it. I remember when Adam was cutting the spray tan scene in the pilot, we laughed. [The character] would get sprayed with acid and Adam and I would sit there laughing — because it was so delightful. So, there are some tonal shifts and you get in there and think, 'How are we going to appropriately move from one scene to the next scene? It's on us to think, how are we going to transition? How can we use sound to bridge that tonal shift? How can we use sound to implement the comedy and then immediately go into the darkness? We're sort of always thinking about blending the two. But it is one of the things we think about the most — tone is everything." Editor's note: The extended Scream Queens team includes colorist Kevin Kirwan, Encore post for editorial, and Technicolor Sound (supervisor Gary Megregian). Scream Queens' footage, shot on Arri Alexa (including the Red Devil, left, and star Emma Roberts, right), is manged on Avid ISIS and cut on Media Composer.