You enter the world of "Archer" through an unmarked door; the first floor entrance also serves as a photo studio for the show's many random needs for reference images; there are racks of costumes and shelves of props on hand for use.
Wednesday, April 08, 2015
Visiting the 'Archer' Offices: How the Sausage is Made
You enter the world of "Archer" through an unmarked door; the first floor entrance also serves as a photo studio for the show's many random needs for reference images; there are racks of costumes and shelves of props on hand for use.
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As a fan of Archer from the get-go, this is a really interesting article. Even though I am more or less immersed in the entertainment world, hearing about some parts of the creative process is still a little bit like pulling back the curtain to reveal the magic that’s going on behind the scenes. I would not have guessed that the voice recordings for Archer are done remotely and individually. The chemistry of the cast seems so cohesive and spontaneous that I would not image that it could all be scripted and communicated prior to the moment when it is spoken. It just seems like the kind of process that works best, and produces the best results, when everyone sits around a table and says “hey what about this?” and then humor is created in the moment.
Archer is one of the most well executed shows on television today. Sure, it has it's moments that leave my jaw on the floor, but for the most part, it's quick, witty, and has kept me invested in the storylines for six seasons. Like Chris said, I was very surprised to read that all of the actors as recorded separately. If you've seen the show, you know that the humor in it is so natural and the banter seems like it was recorded in one go. Maybe that's me not being familiar with the process, but nevertheless the teams of writers and editors do an incredible job of weaving each individual performance into something that seems as real as Archer can. My favorite part of this article was learning that they actually do stock all the liquor bottles in studio for foley recordings. With the amount of booze consumed on the show, I would have thought they use maybe a handful of recordings, but apparently they don't.
Archer is one of my favourite shows on TV, despite what happened with season five, so I found it really interesting to read this article to see how it was made. I really like how the article begins, describing that the studio is in a mall. It seems almost like the Laundromat that the company previously called ISIS uses as its cover. I wish that there had been more pictures taken of the space, or that the pictures had been better, but it seems like a fairly run of the mill art department. I’m a big fan of the backgrounds in Archer, and the detail with which they’re animated, so I found it really interesting to read about the process behind making each scene’s background. I wouldn’t have guessed that they used real images and digital drawing, and I actually would have guessed that they were painted by hand and then scanned it. The most interesting thing to me, and it stood out to previous commenters as well, is that the voices are recorded off site and the only connection between the director/design team and the actor is a conference call during the recording session. The dialogue in the show works so well, so it was surprising to see that it wasn’t recorded with multiple actors at the same time. I’m glad I got to learn a bit more about this weird and incredible show, and I’m looking forward to season seven next year.
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