Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/855478
50 CINEMONTAGE / Q3 2017 way we cut the show." In other words, unlike tightly scripted and conventionally shot shows, Transparent is more free-flowing. There's a looseness to the camera, which has to do with the way DP Jim Frohna shoots Transparent. "It's very documentary-esque," Rasula explains. "The cameras are free to move around the actors. If the camera operators want to flip around in the middle of a shot, they can — which means we get these shots with a lot more motion. This gives the shots a tactical, lived-in quality and it puts the viewer in the scene, which is part of the magic of that authentic feeling one gets from Transparent." Rasula acknowledges that the show's shooting style, marked by a lack of conventional coverage, does cause problems on a technical level, so the editors have to be more adaptable and open-minded in how they choose to cut a scene. There is a lot of footage to sort through and continuity issues to solve. "It's not always a cookie-cutter thing," she says. "It forces us to think on our feet." The editor considers her experience cutting documentaries to be an advantage in the Transparent cutting room. "What you do have are 'magic moments' — accidental gold mines that you stumble across watching the footage. You have to pan for it, dig it out and find that gold," Rasula elaborates. "Once you see a wild camera movement, or one crazy moment with a character that you weren't expecting because it wasn't in the script, you're like, 'Oh my god, the whole scene needs to lead to this!'" Hodge adds, "I personally try to just find the gold, and mark all of the best moments within each take. I try to figure out a way to make sure that all those moments are in the scene." Expounding upon her process, she says, "There are times when I'm watching dailies and I might laugh, cry or feel moved in one way or another. If I put the scene together and I don't feel that in the cut scene, then I know I've done something wrong." Hodge's musical background aids her in solving editorial problems and influences her cutting style. "If I have a thing as an editor, I suppose it would be music," she reveals, explaining that possessing a natural ear for rhythm comes in handy for cutting music and building a temp score, of which there is quite a bit on Transparent. But she finds it's helpful in the actual process of building a scene as well: "I think having a strong musical sense makes it easier to feel and figure out where things are off, and also to lock into a rhythmic pocket of a scene." RISK-TAKING IN THE CUTTING ROOM When Khatib joined the Transparent editorial team for Season Four, on the first day of work she went into a meeting, and recalls, "The first thing Jill said to me is, 'No one's in trouble,'" which for Khatib was a godsend. "It's the greatest gift to be able to express myself creatively without worrying that I'm doing something wrong." Soloway's ethos is to try everything and not worry about being wrong. She and the show's other producers encourage everyone working on Transparent to take risks, "to explore the weird and bizarre," and, above all, to trust your instincts, according to Rasula. People from every department, but especially picture editorial, are encouraged to explore even the strangest, deepest, most unusual parts of themselves. Sunny Hodge. Transparent. Amazon Studios