The Pitt is a Max Original drama series set in a modern-day hospital in Pittsburgh, PA. The 15-episode show provides a realistic examination of the challenges facing healthcare workers, with each episode following one hour of Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch’s 15-hour shift as the chief attendant.
The show was created by R. Scott Gemmill and stars Noah Wyle as Dr. Robby. John Wells Productions and Warner Bros. Television produce the program, which debuted back in January and wrapped up in April.
In addition to Wyle, the show also stars Tracey Ifeachor, Patrick Ball, Supriya Ganesh, Fiona Dourif, Taylor Dearden, Isa Briones, Gerran Howell, Shabana Azeez and Katherine LaNasa. Bryan Parker serves as supervising sound editor on The Pitt, and says the show got his attention last summer when producer Terri Murphy mentioned that she was going to be working on a hospital show with almost no score, and that he would be a good fit for it.
"It’s an interesting opportunity," says Parker. "The dialog side is more challenging without music to hide any problems, and it’s more space to fill up on the sound effects side of things. But it also a lot of room to work, to build small off-cam sequences and fit them into the gaps in dialog, to maximize these limited locations and help steer the mood in the room in hundreds of tiny ways."
The turnaround for some of the episodes was rather tight, so the team included two dialog editors and two effects editors, as well as a larger-than-average Foley team.
"That makes my role as a supervisor and communicator very important," Parker shares. "I make a set of spotting notes directly in Pro Tools, with a track per editor, and put all my notes - and our showrunner and producers’ notes - on those tracks. I make a scene-change track with location descriptions using EdiLoad. I make a picture-cut track using Kraken so that the editors have a reference right in their Pro Tools sessions where each shot begins and ends, and I think that helps speed up all their editing a bit."
All the work of the editors and Foley team ultimately comes back to Parker to integrate and review, before it hits the mix stage, making sure the creative brief is realized. One scene that demonstrates the numerous elements all coming together successfully takes place in Episode 1.
“First, a woman is rolled in on a gurney, screaming because of a gory leg injury,” he notes. “Then, a second gurney rolls in with an unconscious man. The camera weaves with Dr. Robby, our main character, from the hall between the two trauma rooms, which sound slightly different, with different equipment running. Our Foley team at Aura Sound & Color handled all the precision of the medical instruments, and the packaging and bandages and so forth. Sound effects editor Josh Adeniji handled backgrounds and gurneys, choosing great off-cam action sounds in the dialog gaps, and flowing between locations and perspectives with the camera moves. Sound effects editor Roland Thai handled all medical tech devices, like heart rate monitors, blood-pressure cuffs, ambu bags. And dialog editor Kristen Hirlinger pulled clarity out of some very fast and challenging dialog, working in alternate takes for a word or a syllable here and there as necessary. ADR editor Vince Tennant cut both principals and loop group for the finishing touches and I think this sequence just sings in the final mix."