Tell me what you find most enjoyable about being an editor. It’s hard to convey the impact
How often does Grey’s Anatomy shoot scenes on location in Seattle? Many of the Seattle shots
that an editor can have to a person unfamiliar with
used on Grey’s are from stock footage that the show
filmmaking. We almost always start by following
either owns or rents from facilities like Seattle-based
a script. I like to use a road trip as an analogy for
Getty Images. The show occasionally travels to Seattle
a film or TV show, with the script as a map that
for exteriors but it is becoming increasingly popular
outlines your journey. As the process unfolds, the
to film with green screen and drop in VFX plates as
editor, together with the director and producers,
backgrounds. Our VFX company will occasionally travel
searches for subtle nuances in performance and
to Seattle to obtain these specific elements.
rhythm. We may restructure the order of scenes and omit material that gives certain story lines an entirely different meaning. These are like slight deviations from your road map that help texture the show and hopefully provide a unique and fully realized experience. This exploration is, to me, the most satisfying aspect to the job. I also appreciate the immediate response that you get from a show
Are any Grey’s characters graduates of Seattle Prep? To my knowledge, we have never revealed the high schools that any of the characters have attended. My guess is that they don’t want the Prep admissions department overrun with applicants. But there has to be at least one! I’ll have to ask the creator of Grey’s, Shonda Rhimes.
airing on a major network. The turnaround from filming to air is especially fast in television and you get immediate feedback – good and bad.
What is a typical work week like for you? On Grey’s Anatomy I work approximately 50 hours a week. Depending upon our schedule, I may work a bit less or at times considerably more. It’s all based around our air schedule and how much time we have to turn the episode around. It can take anywhere from 17 to 45 days from the start of filming to the air date. That includes a 9 day shoot – where we are editing continuously – through all of post, which consists of color timing sound design, composing and mixing. Despite our busy periods, the set crew works consistently longer days all season long, so I can never complain. That, and we typically have two weeks off over the holidays and a couple months off in the summer. At the end of the day, everyone works hard, everyone complains and everyone has fun. As far as I can tell, it’s like any other job. That said, the romantic notions of Hollywood (real or not) are the reason most of us are here. And yes, everyone is writing a script.
8
Joe Mitacek ‘95 at work editing a scene from Grey’s Anatomy.
Spring 2012