by Nancy Jundi as originally published by CinemaEditor Magazine
Over the years network television had become a lost art on me. Reality ascended to king and scripted series’ didn’t seem to know how to find audiences unless they were some off shoot of an already successful crime drama. Anything winning prime time felt geared toward exploring the darker side of what humanity was capable of. Honestly, I found it all kind of depressing.
And then… Oh, and then… GLEE.
The name alone prompts a change in tone (pun intended). Glee Club students in Lima, Ohio who show COP ROCK how it should have been done and wear more clothes than kids in the 90210 are turning heads – big ones. Madonna and Lady Gaga granted permission for the show to pull from their catalogs. Joss Whedon sat in the director’s chair to showcase Neil Patrick Harris’ guest appearance. Olivia Newton John revived “Let’s Get Physical” in an episode while Broadway’s Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth signed on for story arcs.
How has this colorful and musical whirlwind managed to capture so much attention? Is it renditions of pop songs, show tunes, rap hits and classic rock ballads or is it side splitting comedy that makes you hit the rewind button on your DVR a dozen times per episode because you were laughing so hard? Sure, that’s a start. A few weeks back I made the mistake of attending the GLEE premiere with a few thousand other fans and that outing helped me to understand the phenomenon a bit better. My mistake was thinking these aging bones could keep up with the far more feverish and passionately committed teenagers who were waiting in line to storm the viewing area.
Mob scene aside, the wide range of kids who showed up was inspiring. Life was imitating art – art that was imitating life. These (mostly) teenagers were there because they’ve all been represented on the show. Black, White, Hispanic, Asian, gay, straight, skinny, fat, emo, goth, jock, geek, punk, they’re all in the show and they were all in that line. A main character is wheel chair bound, and another suffered from a stutter. Two show regulars have Down’s Syndrome and a former football player is a paraplegic. If this isn’t diversity, I’m not sure what is.
The show tackles weighty issues with a candor and political incorrectness that only gives way to irresistible charm and a surprising ease to such depth. You find yourself cheering when the “bad guy”, Sue Sylvester (played by Jane Lynch), comes on screen to deliver another racially/sexually/emotionally insensitive, yet hilarious, diatribe. An OCD guidance counselor, a pregnant cheerleading squad captain, and a gay punt kicker all seek understanding by turning to song, dance and their Glee Club director Will Schuester (played by Broadway’s star of “Hairspray” and “Footloose”, Matthew Morrison) who’s dealing with his own mid-life crisis and divorce. Not a one of these characters is short changed or over shadowed by another in the phenomenal cast. With all of these huge voices and heavy issues you have to wonder how such a show can make all of the elements work so well. Generally that’s when it all comes down to editing. That’s the make or break element for a show like this. GLEE’s tone – its pace and weaving of comedy and drama – is without a doubt the shows strongest character. Those elements are literally the ties that bind.
Editor and producer Brad Buecker, editor Joe Leonard and editor Nathan Allen humored my Gleek (an affectionate term for “geeky” GLEE enthusiasts) tendencies long enough to explain how they manage to make the magic happen. During the interview I found out more than I had bargained for. This show is very reflective of the team tasked with making it come to life. It’s collaboration in every sense of the word and that team mentality comes across in every episode.
How did you get your start in editing?
Joe Leonard: I started cutting my own short films in film school, and then assisted on a few independent features. I fell into it because I wanted to be involved in interesting projects. I started working with Brad Buecker on Ryan Murphy’s pilot, “Pretty Handsome.” I was the assistant on that, as well as the pilot for “Glee.” When it was picked up, they bumped me up! It was a surprise. It’s been a huge thrill to get the opportunity to work on this material.
Nathan Allen: I got my masters in film production from Boston University with a focus on editing under Steve Audette (editor for “Frontline”). After bouncing back and forth from Boston to South Carolina for a few years, I came to LA and landed an asst. editor job on a documentary series on the history of TV. Over the next few years I worked my way up to editor in the reality TV world. I then was able to break in to scripted TV, but only by starting as an asst. and again working my way up.
Brad Buecker: I joined Nip/Tuck at the start of season 2 as an assistant editor. One of the editors left to cut Ryan Murphy’s feature, ‘Running with Scissors,’ and Ryan offered me the open editor’s chair at the start of N/T’s season 3. I felt extremely lucky that the timing worked out the way it did.
Is there one lead editor on each episode or do all three of you collaborate on them?
JL: There is a lot of collaboration, even before the episode begins getting notes. My favorite episodes I’ve cut have been the few where everyone including the assistant editors, have cut a scene. That said, there is someone assigned to each episode as it comes up on the schedule – the dailies gather on their computer first, and they are the one who will lose sleep thinking about a particular scene or number.
BB: We try to take a team approach at GLEE. Each editor gets their own episode, but we often cut acts for one another, and we like to get the assistants involved cutting material as well. After a show is on its feet, we will workshop it- screen it as a group and discuss its immediate strengths and weaknesses and then attack it together. We do everything we can to get the shows in best possible condition before the director or Ryan Murphy comes in to see it.
NA: As you can imagine, the cuts get pretty complicated, so we often have to rely heavily on one another to make it all the way to the locked cut of an episode.
I understand GLEE is a multi-layered process. What is a typical schedule like for you?
NA: All the music for the dance numbers is pre-recorded by the cast for playback during shooting, so by the time we start getting material our schedule seems pretty standard. We get the 8 or 9 days during dailies, four days after dailies to prep for the director, and four days with the director. Following that, we work with the producers until we get a finished product.
JL: It usually takes an assistant editor an entire day to organize and prep a music number. What we do is build a dedicated sequence, with dozens of layers of video synced to the song. Within those layers are multi-clips. Just acquainting yourself with the material can take hours. In some cases you have time to take it all in. Other times, it’s imperative that you just dive in and find your way out. I would say it usually takes one or two days to cut a big number and get it to the point where you can start checking sync, and making tweaks. The mini-screenings we do together are definitely vital to this part of the process. After listening to a number 500 times, you aren’t really hearing it or seeing it anymore.
BB: It’s fairly intense and things happen very quickly. The music has to be recorded before the dance numbers can be choreographed or performed. Then they have to be shot and all of the dialogue scenes have to be shot in a traditional 8 day schedule. When dance numbers come in to us, they have to be organized and synced to the music. We multi-clip all of the takes together by shot size and often have 30-50 shots to choose from at any given time for each dance number.
GLEE has its own distinct and bright look – how has that been accomplished?
BB: Glee is shot on 35mm film and cut on Final Cut Pros. Production design, costume design, camera and Encore, our post house all do an amazing job achieving the look.
JL: I love the production design and costume design on Glee, because it gives such life to the characters and this world – we’ve seen high schools on TV before, but there’s something really heightened about the design and the way they shoot it that I love.
How many cameras are used on a large dance number…or even a small one for that matter?
NA: Typical dance numbers use two cameras, but the larger ones will sometimes use three especially if there are any speed ramps or variable speed shots.
JL: In a few cases there have been five cameras. In the choir room, they usually run just two cameras.
BB: Sometimes there are multiple takes and multiple set ups. 30-50 shots per number are not uncommon.
Does the cast lip sync while filming or are they singing along?
JL: It seems like they are usually singing along, but typically there is playback on set, so their voices aren’t actually being recorded. There are two or three songs we’ve done that had live vocals recorded in production, like “Piano Man” with Neil Patrick Harris and Matthew Morrison. And “Ride Wit Me.”
American Idol is Glee’s lead in and often runs long. Do you ever have to submit different cuts of the show for overage or does the network simply compensate?
JL: The network runs us later if it goes over.
BB: They compensate, which is why the episodes keep getting cut off on everyone’s DVRs!
Glee has no theme song or opening – where did that idea come from?
JL: I think the smash to Glee title was a placeholder in the pilot that ended up sticking.
BB: We intended to use a title sequence, but kept needing the time we would use to play a title sequence for story time- by the time we got through the first 6 episodes, Ryan decided to hold off on using a title sequence. I think you may see a title sequence eventually.
Many of your transitions end on an abrupt beat for both the comical and dramatic moments – where did this come from?
NA: The musical ringouts are a device that Ryan used with great success on “Nip/Tuck,” so we came into GLEE wondering if it might work in this format as well. So far it’s been a great fit.
JL: During the pilot and “Showmance” episode Ryan Murphy and Brad Buecker really dialed in a specific tone for the show. Part of it was the music, the Swingle Singers sound. Part of it was figuring out how to shift from drama to comedy, and back. Lately it’s seemed like the scenes are so sharp and well written that you can see the cut on the page before you’ve gotten the dailies.
BB: I think that idea came out of working with Ryan on the pilot. Glee has a very specific tone. At its best, the show moves quickly between comedy and drama, and we found that it works best when you just smash from one to the other.
Brad, you’re a producer on the episodes as well – how did that dual hat come about?
BB: When you only have 3 writers, Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan who together write every episode and then Ryan and Brad are also often directing- it leaves them in a place where they need to be able to depend on others to pick up responsibilities. So I help out by making sure our episode cuts reflect the tone of the show, I work with our great composer, Jimmy Levine on the score and the get the episode running time to a manageable place for them to come in watch and lock the show in an efficient timeframe.
What challenges and opportunities do you feel are unique to editing a show like this?
BB: Tone. Tone. Tone. It’s a very hard tone to get right.
NA: The tone of this show is extremely specific and can be difficult at times. It’s very easy to push too far in any given direction. When you’re able to find the right balance of emotion and comedy it’s very satisfying.
JL: You wake up and you cut music numbers for a few days. You wake up and you cut Jane Lynch for a few days. You wake up and you’re cutting Kurt and his father, struggling with their love for each other. What could be more fun? The challenges are creative, but they also have to do with endurance. Being in the middle of the season is like being in the middle of a marathon.
How much, if any, of what we see is improv? Does Jane Lynch (a Christopher Guest mockumentary regular) add a line here and there?
NA: Actually, very little of what you see is improv. I suppose if it comes across that way, it’s because our writers and cast have done such a great job. However, of all the cast, Jane definitely gets the most improv lines into the show. She just continually comes up with great material.
BB: Sue Sylvester can and will do whatever she wants! Kidding, but not really. Most of Jane’s improv ends up in the show.
JL: Jane Lynch is amazing. During her scenes, there is some improv, but in general, most of the fantastic lines are on the page. Man is it fun getting to put her tangents in, though.
How do you get the BIG feel of Broadway onto the small screen and make the huge dance numbers work for television?
BB: Hours and hours and hours of time in the dark, by yourself with a Final Cut Pro system.
NA: It’s constantly a fine-line in the big numbers between the theatricality and choreography of a number and the emotion and character development of the individuals performing. So you just have to step back at any given moment and ask if either of these aspects of the number are lacking.
JL: It’s really the work that the dancers, choreographers, camera crew, musicians and singers put in. Cutting it is the fun part. Often you just want all of their hard work to end up on the screen. And I agree with Brad, hours and hours of watching it over and over in a dark room.
Where do you find creativity with static songs – ballads that remain focused on the one singer? Is the editing considered during filming and choreography?
NA: All of the musical numbers come down to storytelling, so even if there is only one singer you still need to find a way to tell the story of what that character’s feeling, whether it’s just through footage of them or in combination with reactions of other characters. Of course, our directors and choreographer always find ways to get the most out of the musical numbers.
JL: I think those can be the most challenging. You end up cutting by feel and performance. You just try to find the stuff that resonates, and remove everything else that might get in the way. Often you do have a great crane shot, and a swirling steadicam, with just the right touches of choreography, to help you tell the story.
Do you ever go to set to ask for a shot that may be missing?
JL: Yep, if it’s important. Generally speaking, we want to catch things that may need picked up as soon as we possibly can. Really haven’t done this much though.
NA: If we think a shot would be vital to the story, we’ll talk it over with the director and/or producers. It’s such a fast-moving show that sometimes pick-ups are difficult to get, so they have to be really important.
Madonna and Lady Gaga gave blessings to their catalogs, but a Beatles song! What kind of Herculean budget must some of these require?
BB: Getting songs to be affordable and getting permission just to use them is a crazy negotiation that takes up lots and lots of time. Again, it’s a team effort- Ryan, Dante Diloreto, PJ Bloom, and our studio 20th Century Fox do crazy things to make that happen.
Vogue was a shot by shot remake of Madonna’s video, but how did you approach Rachel’s version of Run, Joey, Run? Do “student videos” get any kind of different treatment?
JL: Those were both fun to see come together. I like the idea that when the kids do an A/V project it has a different feel.
BB: We put ‘Run, Joey, Run’ through iMovie, and went into their canned effects to make it feel more like a high school student cut it.
NA: With “Run Joey Run” we definitely tried to stylize the number, as if it were a school project made by Rachel. So, we ended up using a bunch of cheesy effects that we would never consider using on a regular “Glee” number.
Were there any different approaches utilized by Joss Whedon in the editing room?
BB: Doc Crotzer, one of our assistants, got bumped up to edit this episode. He and Joss had an amazing collaboration. I’m not sure what was going on in there, but there were sparks coming out of that room.
How many lost scenes and songs are out there waiting to be on Special Edition DVDs?
NA: There are actually several lost scenes and songs. I’m hoping they’ll end up being released at some point.
BB: Probably not as many as you might think. Most of them end up in the show.
Were any of you blown away by the massive response to Glee?
JL: Absolutely! I went to Glee Live show last weekend and was completely blown away. These kids are rock stars, literally! I knew going in that it was a unique show and I felt like it really had the potential to reach people. It’s funny, it has heart – it has fantastic music. But there is no way to prepare yourself for seeing Glee at the grocery, on billboards, and when you turn on the TV. It is a total thrill, and I feel truly fortunate to be a part of it.
NA: I’m constantly surprised by how popular the show has become. I thought it had all the elements of a successful series, but every time I mention it to someone, the response is, “there’s a girl in my office that has ‘Glee’ posters all over her walls” or “my daughter is totally crazy about that show.” I guess I just wasn’t prepared for how obsessed some fans would become.
BB: Thrilled, shocked and humbled. We’ve always thought it was special, but we had no idea that others would feel the same way. We were so pleased when Fox decided to pick it up and give us a chance- and their support has been unbelievable from the very beginning. It’s a true testament to the talent of our creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan and our amazing cast.
GLEE really has swept the nation and it isn’t a phenom without merit. This show IS phenomenal – it is sensational. This show addresses the new American teenager that faces challenges and pressures many of us may never have had to deal with during our high school years. It regularly delivers positivity and hope that we as parents, teachers, aunts, uncles, neighbors and the like can’t. We’re not cool; we’re not on TV. Adults aren’t forgotten either. If anything, their tumultuous arcs give us a compelling reason to watch and the younger generation a sense of respect for what many of their “elders” are going through. This show appreciates and respects the responsibility it carries. It’s one of those rarities that let’s you cry and encourages laughter through the tears.
That responsibility comes with a tremendous degree of calculation, timing and insight. The music serves not as a gimmick, but as a genuine means to emote what the characters are going through. It’s brilliant. I don’t know of one teenager who doesn’t turn to music when they’re confused about life. I don’t think I could point out an adult who doesn’t for that matter. I’ll avoid a spoiler here, but GLEE’s season one finale and it’s use of “Bohemian Rhapsody” is the most accolade worthy sequence I’ve seen on television in years. The talent, creativity, collaboration and sheer raw emotion that goes into this show is astounding. If you’re not watching GLEE, it’s a crime. An absolute crime.
