Watch the ‘Beef’ Editors Get Technical About the Show’s Distinct Visual Language

Share Share on Facebook Post google Google Preferred Share on LinkedIn Show more sharing options Share to Flipboard Submit to Reddit Pin it Post to Tumblr Email Print This Page Share on WhatsApp The craft of editing exists at the intersection of technical filmmaking and storytelling. And during an appearance on the editing episode of IndieWire’s Craft Roundtables, “Beef” Season 2 editors Laura Zempel & Lauren Connelly got granular about the technical choices they made that shaped larger character arcs. “With Austin, played by Charles Melton, he’s probably the most comedic of all of our characters,” Zempel said.

“So he was the biggest conversation of ‘Is he too broad? Do we bring him down, or do we push him up even more?’ I think we are similar, where we’re like ‘Let’s rein it in and keep everyone in this bullseye.’”

Related Stories Watch ‘Shrinking’ Editor James Renfroe Break Down His Dramatic Floors and Comedic Ceilings Watch ‘Company Retreat’ Editor Christian Hoffman Explain Why the Wild Show Is Ultimately Still a Hero’s Journey Connelly went into even more detail about the show’s approach, explaining how they would sometimes shift perspective mid-scene based on which character they wanted the audience to empathize with at a given moment. “Whose scene it is can help tell us if it’s going to be a more comedic scene or a more dramatic scene and helps us make a lot of those choices,” Connelly said. “There’s a scene in one episode that’s in a Chinese restaurant.

And the scene starts, it’s Austin having lunch with Ashley and Eunice. And it stars on him, and we pull out this wide shot and see that he’s between these two women. And this is the scene where we all are starting to realize that he’s kind of into Eunice.

And so the scene starts out as his scene, but what we did that’s a little unique to the language of ‘Beef’ is that we kept his coverage dirty. So every shot of him, even though we’re focused on him, you’re seeing a woman on either side of him. And then once his girlfriend Ashley starts to realize ‘Whoa whoa whoa, wait a minute’ it actually turns into her scene, and then we go clean on her and focus on her reactions now.”

This conversation is presented in partnership with Netflix. IndieWire’s TV Craft Roundtables is now streaming on @PBSSoCal and the PBS App as well as IndieWire.com and our social channels.

Related Stories Watch ‘Shrinking’ Editor James Renfroe Break Down His Dramatic Floors and Comedic Ceilings Watch ‘Company Retreat’ Editor Christian Hoffman Explain Why the Wild Show Is Ultimately Still a Hero’s Journey