How Mac Played A Major Role in the Making of Hit Apple Original Thriller ‘Severance’

A behind-the-scenes look at how the hit Apple TV+ show ‘Severance’ was put together with the power of Mac.

If you haven’t heard of Severance, you’re probably living under a rock. The hit Apple Original thriller follows workers in the fictional world of Lumon Industries, where separating one’s work and personal selves through surgery is possible. In the season two episode “Woe’s Hollow”, viewers watched as Milchick edited a video that welcomed the Macrodata Refinement Department to the Outdoor Retreat and Team Building Occurrence (ORTBO) on the Lumon Terminal Pro. 

Since then, the fictitious computer has become somewhat of an icon, even appearing on Apple’s website as a product briefly. This little Easter egg is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Mac’s role in Severance. Below, we break down the vital role of Mac in the making of this hit Apple TV+ show with input from supervising editor Geoffrey Richman.

WHAT’S IN HIS SETUP?

Acting and plot aside, Severance is without a doubt one of the most visually and aurally striking shows to have graced our screens in recent memory. Not only did it take air-tight planning and laser-sharp editing skills, but it also required a powerful setup that could handle the trials that the editing process called for. In Richman’s setup are an iMac, Mac mini, Studio Displays, and MacBook Pro, all of which provided the sheer power that he needed to operate, especially during the Severance season two finale, “Cold Harbor.” 

“For the finale, there was a lot of experimenting with structure and testing out different ideas about how to play out different scenes,” says Richman. “It was a constant flow of ideas and my Mac setup allowed for such a smooth experience.” 

“In cutting the marching band, there were about 70 angles and takes to choose from, so we synced them all up in one multi-cam clip with banks of nine [3×3 arrays],” he continues. “Being able to play nine angles simultaneously in real time — and switch quickly between all the different options — made it a whole lot easier to find what we wanted at any given moment.”

Richman’s heavy reliance on the Mac ecosystem is not one that blossomed overnight. He grew to depend on Mac’s performance and power over the course of his long career, so much so that it is now all he knows. “I like the interface on Mac a lot better than on a PC,” he says. “I find the way the operating system is laid out to be much more comfortable. I’m able to move between different applications very quickly on Mac.”

FOR THE DESK AND ON THE GO

With his job, Richman needs to ensure his editing ecosystem is accessible both at home and while on set. In his apartment, Richman has perfected his workflower with an iMac that remotes into a Mac mini that runs Avid, the industry-standard video editing software, within a post-production facility in the West Village of Manhattan. 

Richman, like the rest of the editors on the show, mainly work remotely but during the times where he is needed on set, his trusty MacBook Pro provides him with all he needs. “I can work on my laptop and I can work on my iMac, and I can work at the post facility or I can work at Ben’s office, and as long as I’m logged into my account, everything I do shows up everywhere,” shares Richman.

Not to mention, the MacBook Pro’s stellar battery life came in handy all the time, but especially when Richman made a trip to the area surrounding Minnewaska  State Park Preserve in upstate New York, where the episode “Woe’s Hollow” was filmed. He was there to visit executive producer and director Ben Stiller and hosted a live editing session right off his laptop. Thanks to the multiple ports on the MacBook Pro, Richman was also able to connect his laptop to a bigger screen, a vital move during a collaborative edit.

A DEMANDING WORKLOAD

Being in charge of the editing process for the entirety of Severance, Richman required his Mac setup to keep up with his entire workflow beyond the actual work on Avid. From note-taking to communications with his team, multitasking was a constant in his working day. “I like running all the things that I use throughout the day all the time,” he says. “So I have Avid running, as well as the Notes app, Slack, Mail, Messages, Calendar, and Safari. All these things are open and running all the time, but then I love that I can use a shortcut to access Mission Control to switch over to a different app.”

As he edits, he is also sending Stiller individual scenes for feedback, assembling episodes, and even building the episode’s music score with Theodore Shapiro, the show’s composer. “Music is such a big part of enhancing the show,” says Richman. “You can actually shift a scene into a darker tone based purely on the music. Even though everything about the scene would otherwise look pretty light, the music can bring you into the way a character is feeling as opposed to what you’re seeing onscreen.”

Richman’s job with Severance is just one of the many demanding workflows that Mac has been developed to support. From portability to performance, the Mac ecosystem has proven once again to be the ultimate companion when it comes to handling communication, editing, multitasking, and so much more. 

Watch how Richman, Stiller, and the team behind Severance work in this installation of ‘Behind the Mac’. (Warning: this video contains spoilers!)

Season two of ‘Severance’ is now streaming on Apple TV+.

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