This was a pivotal moment in my career for multiple reasons. It was my first multi-camera sitcom and I was the only editor on the second season of a hit show (except Episode 5, where I share a credit with the talented Russell Griffin). This came with a lot of pressure and growth but also led to my first three Primetime Emmy nominations in 2023: two for The Upshaws and one for History of the World Part II.
The Upshaws: Part 3 | Official Trailer | Netflixyoutu.be
Coming from a background of editing stand-up comedy made my transition to cutting The Upshaws a fluid one. Multi-camera sitcoms are shot on a soundstage with a studio audience and because they have a laugh track, the editorial style is much like stand-up comedy in the sense that the show is cut fat with room for the laughter to play out and time for the characters to take the laughter in. Single Camera comedy, however, is usually edited in a much tighter manner, with jokes layered on top of each other. The editorial style of The Upshaws is a hybrid of the two: we have the element of the studio audience, however, our showrunners prefer that the edits are on the tighter side, which is a different take on this format. I enjoyed the challenge of landing the jokes with the proper takes and reactions while artfully weaving in the laughter.
The other thing that sets the unique format of The Upshaws apart is that the editor is involved in production as well as post. On the pre-shoot day, I will either watch a live feed from my edit bay or go to set and sit with the showrunners, writers, and the director in video village to ensure we get the proper coverage. Then, I have to rush back to edit 7-9 scenes by the next afternoon for playback for the live studio audience, so we can record laughs. This tight turnaround and making sure I’m getting the best content into the cut while landing the jokes are two challenges of editing this show. Just because I have to work fast doesn’t mean I can let the story suffer, as it will be played in front of a live audience which truly tests the effectiveness of the comedy.
History of the World Part 2 | Trailer | Huluyoutu.be
My experience editing The Upshaws led me to my next show, History of the World, Part II. Just as we were wrapping up our season, Wanda asked if I’d be interested in cutting the Mel Brooks sketch comedy series. Of course, I jumped at the chance!
Coming from The Upshaws, where it was generally just me in the edit bay combined with the multi-camera editorial style, was an adjustment as History was quite the opposite. The culture of History of the World was extremely collaborative. We would screen cuts together as an editorial team and debate how to land a joke better, or which scenes would play best in an episode together. Additionally, I had to recalibrate my thinking to the editorial style of single-camera sketch comedy.
On The Upshaws, we almost always stuck to the script and the pace was much slower. However, on History of the World, the actors in the sketches often would deliver a plethora of improv gold, and finding ways to work these moments into the sketches to layer jokes, was not only valued but encouraged.
'History of the Wold, Part II'Credit: Hulu
This mindset also really paved the way for a lot of creative freedom. Oftentimes, we were re-writing jokes in the edit bay which did a lot to elevate the comedy. Also, being that History of the World is sketch comedy, there is a large variety of sketches in each episode about moments in history ranging from The Russian Revolution to Jesus, Sigmund Freud, and Kublai Khan. This created a unique challenge to build episodes that felt well-balanced. We spent many months as a team carefully structuring episodes, trying to position historical subjects, diversity, and types of sketches with longer or shorter sketches.
The most exciting thing for me about working on The Upshaws was that I grew up watching multi-camera sitcoms. They were a household staple for us, and since my family was first-generation Mexican-American on my dad’s side, it was very relatable to see other minority blue-collar families and their struggles told through comedy. Comedy is subjective, so having that relatability really helps me craft the story and punctuate the comedy in the edit bay.
Similarly, I grew up watching everything Mel Brooks and his comedic style has definitely informed my career in the genre. So when Wanda asked me if I was interested in working on History of the World, Part II, it was an extremely humbling moment that I knew would be both incredibly rewarding and challenging. Working on these two projects obviously paid off, as they earned me my first three Primetime Emmy nominations.
My advice to young aspiring filmmakers would be to start creating anything and everything. With the advances in technology, it’s so easy to take your phone or another device and record/edit a story. Once you learn the craft well, enter your work into as many film festivals as possible and network with like-minded individuals.
Get to know others with the same goals and aspirations. Create together and get noticed. Work hard for low pay at first. If you are truly passionate and put the work in, the jobs and money will follow. Most importantly, don’t have an ego! If your supervisor asks you to bring her coffee, ask her how she likes it. She may well bring you on to the next Star Wars movie.
This post was written by Angel Gamboa Bryant.
Angel Gamboa Bryant is a three-time Emmy-nominated television & feature editor with two decades of industry experience. Most recently, she edited the Hulu sketch series History of the World, Part II, starring Mel Brooks, Ike Barinholtz, Wanda Sykes, and Nick Kroll; as well as the Netflix sitcom The Upshaws. In 2023, she was Emmy-nominated for the first time, scoring three Primetime Emmy nominations, including one Emmy nomination for History of the World Part II for Outstanding Picture Editing for Variety Programming, and two Emmy nominations for The Upshaws for Outstanding Picture Editing for Multi-Camera Comedy Series. Angel also has an impressive resume editing stand-up comedy specials for some of today’s most acclaimed comedians, including the Netflix specials: Wanda Sykes: Not Normal; Tiffany Haddish: Black Mitzvah; Ms. Pat: Y’all Wanna Hear Something Crazy, and Stand Out: An LGBTQ+ Celebration, to name just a few.
As a first-generation American, Angel’s multicultural background allows her to bring a unique perspective and skillset to the editing room. Throughout her childhood, Angel spent her summers in Mexico, where she saw people living without the luxuries commonplace throughout America. This experience gave Angel a global mindset and understanding of different cultures and languages. As an expert in editing a subjective genre like comedy, having a diverse perspective has been extremely beneficial to Angel’s work in telling the best story and landing all of the jokes while being culturally mindful.
Angel’s diverse editorial background has shaped her into a uniquely skilled editor who can inject a distinct perspective into the films and TV shows that she works on. Her aspirations for the future are to further establish herself as a trusted editor of scripted TV and feature films and expand into editing different genres such as dark comedy, comedic horror, suspense, and drama.
Your entire shoot day could sink or swim based on qualities of your location that have nothing to do with it being the perfect fit visually.
How do you identify these reasons? How do you truly pick the right filming locations? Well first off, check out these 8 tips from a location manager, and these 5 things that will make location scouting easier.
In this post we’re going to show you how to do a thorough and effective location scout. We're also throwing in some scouting tips and a free downloadable tech scout checklist.
Check out the tech scout checklist here, and then we’ll dig into each section below:
Knowing if the location is the right for the story is the biggest factor, and we won't cover that in this list. That's something you need to determine from project to another.
You might also think a lot of these considerations are only factors on a bigger shoot. But that is not the case.
Even on a small shoot, you’ll have a larger footprint than you think. Even running and gunning can require certain resources. A place to eat. A place to sit down. A place to put the camera.
Our checklist goes down in order of importance, but it’s good to keep in mind that everything on the tech scout checklist is important, and anything you overlook on it can become a critical failure.
So let’s use this list as a way to avoid that. A way to prep for the shoot, identify the right locations and identify why the right location might have certain problems.
No place to put your talent might mean renting an RV. A neighbor who complains might mean needing to permit with the city.
Needing to permit with the city might mean needing more money.
See? All these things are interconnected, and you can’t know what dominoes will begin to fall if you don’t go into the location scout aware!
Filming locations are everywhere, but they are not all created equal!
A tech scout is when you gather the keys, or department heads, for a final walk-through of your location. The tech scout checklist is a great way to make sure that you maximize your effectiveness, leave no major stone unturned, and record any important data.
This will happen pretty close to when you start shooting, with time for minor adjustments but ideally not big changes to the plan. Think of the tech scout like a chance to troubleshoot and game plan with the brain trust of the crew.
How much natural light is there at the filming location in question? One of the first things you want to identify on a movie location scout is where the light sources are, how strong they are and what times of day they will affect your shoot.
Are there are large windows? Will you need to black them out? Is this a night shoot? A day shoot? Both?
Remember that while these are initial questions to ask, the tech scout is when you’ll need to make specific final preparations based on this data with your key crew.
After you’ve determined what kind of natural light your prospective location will be dealing with, it’s time to consider your power sources. On the tech scout, this will be the Gaffer’s primary concern at each stop.
But you still want to keep an eye on it before you get to set.
What kind of outlets are available. How much power can you run before blowing a circuit?
Think about how much power you’ll need. Will this location require a generator?
If your scene takes place in a desert, but it’s a night shoot, how will hair and make-up work? They’ll need portable light sources.
If your scene is being shot in your apartment, but you rented a big lighting kit, how can you run all the lights without blowing a fuse?
And where are you going to charge batteries?
Keep these questions and more in mind when it comes to Tech Scout Checklist item 2!
A stage location is quite simply where you’ll ‘stage gear’ during the shoot. If you’re shooting in an office building hallway, you’ll need to have a place where your crew can put c-stands, lights, and other gear that needs to be on hand. A production brings with it a lot of stuff, even a small one. Where does that stuff “live” while you shoot the scene?
It can live on the truck, but most crews and DP’s will want to have some things off the truck, particularly if truck parking is in a lot, maybe across the street, or down a flight of stairs.
Remember that time is one of your most precious resources. How long does it take to get a flag from the truck up to set?
Your crew will want to know where they can stage the things they’ll need on hand.
Keep this in mind while reviewing any filming locations.
Parking can be one of the trickiest elements to any shoot. If you’re really lucky your location comes with a lot. In most instances, this won’t be the case.
Parking is a multi-faceted issue for a crew at a filming location as well, and it really should be at the fore of your mind as you scout.
Where the cast and crew will park is just one aspect of this. They can park, lock their car, and come to set. They don’t need their car again.
Where will the truck park? How many trucks do you have? Even if you don’t have a truck, maybe you have a van with gear.
Consider trailer parking. Generator parking. The list goes on.
Parking can be extremely expensive, and so can parking tickets. You might want to contact a nearby lot and strike some kind of deal.
You might also need to arrange a shuttle to set from a lot. If parking is unclear, or unmanaged, then you will lose time on set. It’s a rookie mistake to assume your crew can find parking, and not specify/arrange it at your location in advance. If the DP is circling the block looking for a parking space, then ends up running late and parking illegally you have a list of new problems.
First, your DP is late. So that cost you. Secondly, your DP might get a ticket. That will also cost you. Third, your DP is angry. He might not work with you again and you might end up with a bad reputation.
All can be avoided if you make sure to handle parking on your location scout.
This one is easy enough to figure out. Spend a little time at your location listening to what the ambient noise is like. Traffic? Planes? Are kids playing at a playground nearby? A loud air conditioner?
Help your production sound team out in advance by getting a sense of what problems you might have to confront to get crisp and clear production sound. It’ll also help sound prepare for the shoot. Do they need to bring lavs? Is it a windy area? That could affect how they prep.
Also ask a location rep how it sounds at other times of day, particularly when you plan to be shooting.
These are important questions that can go overlooked and alienate an entire cast and crew.
People need somewhere to be, not far from set, but where they can review script pages, get into hair and make-up, or just have a cup of coffee.
On that note, this is often a place where craft services will stage at least some of the food available to the cast and crew, and it could be where you serve your meals.
This could be where you charge batteries of walkies or other devices.
It’s good to keep holding a quick walk from the set, so if you need to ‘fly in first team’ it won’t take too long.
But it’s also nice to have holding and crafty far enough away that it won’t ruin the shot if people are chattering a bit.
At this point in the tech scout checklist, you will want to think about who is within an earshot of the production.
Once I shot a scene at a nice house in a suburban neighborhood. It was a perfect location for us, and we were very lucky to get it.
Our shoot was a weekend day, and it meant we’d have a grip truck unloading before the sun came up.
The sounds of this bothered the neighbors, and they came out to complain. Luckily, we had permitted the location with the city, which had meant in this instance that we contacted all neighbors, and left notes in their mailboxes if we couldn’t get in touch.
We, of course, apologized to the annoyed locals, but had we not gone through the steps required to be at the location legally, we likely would have been shut down that day.
This is why it always makes sense to permit if you think you might draw the ire of the people near your shoot.
Consider carefully if you can really get away with going guerilla style. If you can, great. This can save you a lot of money and a lot of trouble. If you can’t, but you chance it, keep in mind you might not get what you need.
With smartphones, there is no excuse not to check off do this step. It used to be that teams on location scouts and tech scouts had to be reminded to bring cameras with them.
Now almost everyone has a great camera at all times. Just be sure to take pictures of everything, and share those with the people who couldn’t make it to the scout.
As you get to the end of the location scout checklist you have to run down almost a mini-checklist. This is the stuff that you’ll want to research at some point before you lock in the location.
These are critical “call sheet” type questions. The AD department will likely be making the call sheet for you, but you’ll want to consider all of these things as you close in on making a final decision about a location.
How will people find this place, and what might traffic be like getting there? These are critical questions you should always ask before you send out the call sheet.
Last but not least, make some notes! What did you notice that doesn’t already appear on the list? Are you filming in a restaurant that has a giant original piece of artwork that will be in the shot and needs to 1) get cleared with the art department or 2) be removed from frame?
There are countless curveballs in this game. Leave room for them, and bring a pen to write them all down. You will forget otherwise.
Not only that, but bring paperwork with you. You’ll need the location reps, or location owners, to authorize the use of the location. You want location agreements in place. Print them out and carry them around if need be.
If you lock your locations you’re ready to start breaking down the days, finalizing the schedule, and getting your call sheets in order. Download a free call sheet template next and see you on set!
