Out of Many, One: Three Editors, Avid and the Voice of ‘Pluribus’
Products
Chris McCaleb, ACE
How Avid Media Composer helps Apple TV show’s editors set a consistent tone
Follow us
BURBANK, Calif.—In the Apple TV series “Pluribus,” nearly everyone on Earth becomes a part of a single consciousness, leaving a world without friction. The “joined” are good at everything because they are everyone, thus, they have the knowledge of every human being. They never disagree. The title of the show nods to the Latin “e pluribus unum”—out of many, one.
For “Pluribus” we had three editors—Skip Macdonald, ACE; Joey Liew; and me—each with our own episodes and unique styles and rhythms. Yet we somehow needed to make every episode feel like a part of the same show. Out of many, one—the Avid version.
Collaborative Minds
Collaboration in post isn’t always as easy as the hive mind might make it look. Our Emmy-nominated composer, Dave Porter, says every editor cuts to their own internal beats per minute, and the first thing he does with a scene is find that editor’s metronome. That’s three different metronomes that somehow need to find a singular tempo. And reconciling those tempos is an important part of...