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The editor sits in a dark room on a Sunday night, staring for hours at a computer screen, reviewing footage. An actor slams his fist on the table again, and again, and again. The editor keys back frame by frame to cut the clip at exactly the right moment.

Through this process, every actor’s performance becomes flawless. Lighting is improved. Special effects and music are added. Battle Trains becomes Battle Trains.

The editing process can be time-consuming and frustrating, as editors work to meet impending deadlines and producers’ expectations. Editor Justen Hundley asks, “How is the audience going to react to this specific shot? It’s difficult to know because you don’t know how the audience is going to react to it until they actually see it.” Hundley edits for Inside Story, which has aired twice. He hopes to become a professional editor someday and own his own production company.

Cyd Dutcher, who edits news segments, explains how her job differs from other editing positions. “Editing the Duck TV news pieces is interesting because we’re getting pieces that were turned in throughout the week to add to the studio work, so often there’s a lot of time discrepancy, unlike a real newscast.”

During editing, the editors utilize skills in Final Cut Pro. They learn how to cut clips, move them around, add transitions, special effects, graphics, and edit sound. Done right, the job can be quite meticulous.

However, the final product is rewarding. Editors ultimately determine how the audience views the show, combining the actors’ performance, plot line, and camerawork to present a show to the audience in the most pleasing way.

“The most exciting part is the finished product,” Hundley smiles, “because sometimes it can be really stressful…and it’s just that moment when it’s done and you see it in its finished product, and it just feels great.”

While viewers are focused on actors to convey a story, they often forget that music helps tremendously in creating the mood of any show. Two Sundays ago, musicians teamed up to compose and record much of the music used by Duck TV. It’s quite a tall order, considering each show wants its own unique pieces, drawing from a variety of genres.

Watch the video below, featuring Thomas Peters speaking on what it takes to be a Duck TV composer.

After last week’s screening of the first Duck TV episodes, the remaining shows anticipated their debut that took place last night. This past week, I followed the cast and crew of Inside Story as they pushed to meet their deadline.

Last Wednesday, I watched the crew as they shot a house party scene. Extras crowded into the kitchen to stay out of the way as the cameramen shot take after take of Rase hitting on a girl at the party.

Although shooting was stressful for producers and cameramen, the crew finished the scene that night, continuing on with their film schedule for the rest of the week.

Head producers Steve Zegalia and Sam Connell expected setbacks in the production of their first show, but they remained calm and flexible throughout their shoots.

The hard work paid off last night as Inside Story sparked applause and laughter from the audience. “When you’re editing it, you have your own ideas about what’s funny, and when you see it on the big screen, it gives you an idea of how it works with an audience – what parts hit and what parts don’t,” said Zegalia after the screening.

Furthermore, two of the show’s actors, Clifton Rase and Ryan Hoefle, won acting awards. “I was hoping that Clif was going to win an award, and I know Ryan won the overall Force Award last term, so he’s got a lot of potential this term as well,” said Connell.

Rase, a journalism student at UO, starred in Inside Story as their Person of the Week, portraying the hilarious character of Hot Roddy. This character left him a lot of room to improv. “It was a ton of fun,” Rase smiled. “While lot of it was off the cuff, the reason it worked was because of the people I was with. I did the improv, but all of it was structured around these ideas that they had.”

The show originally started out with a real script, but after technical issues and the reworking of ideas, much of the content changed. “The script became an outline for scenes,” Rase explained. “The producers would actually tell me what they wanted to hear basically, then I would kind of frame [my character] around that.”

After the first screening of Inside Story, Zegalia and Connell realize there are still many improvements to be made. “We can’t do anymore jump cuts, so we have to figure out how to totally rework our shooting,” said Zegalia.

However, as the crew heads back to the drawing board to start the production of the next show, they know they are off to a strong start. “Finding that right amount of continuity and flow with the show is what we’re going to be focusing on,” explained Connell.

Last night, over 100 excited viewers gathered in Fenton 110. At 8:00, the lights dimmed and the chattering of the viewers hushed. All eyes focused on the large screens in the front of the room. The first episode of the winter season of Duck TV was unveiled.

Each episode drew laughter and applause, with witty plot lines, creative camera angles, and committed actors. From the originality of Ten Second Show to the intensity of Battle Trains, the audience thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

Duck TV cast and crew are excited to continue with the season. The producers of next week’s shows are working hard to finish their first episodes, while the producers of the shows that aired last night are excited about their initial success and hope to have even more in the future.

You can catch our next episode Wednesday at 10pm on channel 23 or on our website.

A look back on Duck TV’s 2011 Fall term.

Duck TV Fall Montage from Duck TV on Vimeo.