Apple TV+'s The Studio features Seth Rogen as Matt Remick, the newly-appointed head of Continental Studios. While the position is one that he has pursued his whole life, and it may very well destroy him. Matt and his core team of infighting executives battle their insecurities as they wrangle narcissistic artists and corporate overlords in the ever-elusive pursuit of making great films.
Eric Kissack, ACE, is an editor on the series, which he cuts in DNxHD 1080p using Avid Media Composer.
"I’m very proud of the first episode of The Studio – ‘The Promotion’ - because that’s where we really locked in how we were going to pull off these long takes and still give us the flexibility to create a tight, funny comic edit," he shares. "I was on-set for the entire shoot, and I worked closely with the directors and the DP to design a way of shooting that allowed us to create what felt like a series of oners, but were actually modular pieces that could be swapped or condensed as needed. There was a ton of learning as we went, but ultimately, I believe we created something that has the elegance and fluidity of a oner, but the crispness and pacing of a well-edited episode of television."
The Promotion
Lindsey Alvarez, CAS, is re-recording mixer on the show, along with Fred Howard. The team uses Avid’s Pro Tools for mixing, with Alvarez handling the dialog and music.
"Since the dialog was mainly recorded through lavalier microphones or clip mics, I used a combination of EQ and compression from the FabFilter bundle, and I used other plug-ins to help with isolation, such as Waves Clarity, Hush Pro, and iZotope RX," notes Alvarez. "I’m also a fan of Accentize’s Chameleon to help with ADR matching. For reverb, I’ve been experimenting more with FabFilter Pro-R2 and Cinematic Rooms by Liquid Sonics."
Howard adds that he's using an Avid S6 control surface while working within Pro Tools, and that they are creating a Dolby Atmos mix. Haddad also works within Pro Tools, employing Izotope software for cleaning up rustle and other unwanted sounds tied to production dialog from the set. He also uses Reason Studios samplers and Phase Plant for sound design.
The Golden Globes
"For the mix, we were given three days per episode," explains Alvarez. "Fred and I will mix dialog and all the FX together to start. Once that’s at a good balance, we lay the music on top from start to finish. This helped with pacing and giving a breath to the music since the score had so much energy with the tracks composed by Antonio Sanchez."
Howard adds that once the show started mixing, they continued to mix episode to episode without any schedule pushes.
"This was a pretty big deal, and can be rare in the streaming world for a show not to push or re-deliver a revised 'locked' cut.”
Each of the audio pros has a personal highlight from the series. For Alvarez, it's Episode 108 - “The Golden Globes.”
"It was our first ever crack at the show, so with the movement of the cinematography, I was inspired to pan dialog and loop group," Alvarez notes. "In the past, that has been a cardinal sin, but you’ll notice it happening more and more, plus, it just felt right for the storytelling of the episode. It’s not simply panning dialog, but taking it offscreen by way of level, EQ and reverb, which helps keep the energy up while still focusing on whatever the camera has centered."
The Note
Howard points to Episode 103 – ‘The Note’ - thanks to its plot, which features three long clips from the screening of Ron Howard’s movie.
"We mixed these moments to be as cinematic and engaging as possible," Howard shares, pointing to the gun fights and car chases. "But there are several cool, quieter moments as we transition back into the show from the full screen to being in the theater, watching the movie, which was primarily achieved through Linsdey’s perfect music transitions and moving ambient beds around the room. Throughout the run of the series, we enjoyed building and focusing the transitional moments, where we seamlessly pivoted out of a scene and pushed into the next moment. Plus, Ron Howard is so funny in this episode!"
The Oner
Episode 102 – ‘The Oner ‘- holds significance for Haddad, thanks to the show's one long shot.
"For sound, that was a playground," he states. "The dialog was constant, and with the camera movement, that allowed for some interesting panning across several speakers within the Atmos mixing environment. We got to add and fill up the screen with so many different types of sound effects of the crew prepping the scene for the shoot, then quietly scaling back when they were filming, then back again after each take was abruptly halted - for hilarious reasons from the script. After finding the right balance, it sounded like we were really there."