How the Opening Scene from Hacks Season 3 Was Pulled Off

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Get a peek behind the curtain as we delve into the making of the opening scene from Season 3, Episode 1 of the hit Max comedy series, Hacks. Join creators Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, and Jen Statsky as they unravel the creative process behind the laughter.  Hacks Cast:  Jean Smart, Hannah Einbinder, Carl Clemons-Hopkins, Kaitlin Olson, Christopher McDonald and Laurie Metcalf  Stream Hacks Season 3 now on Max.

Transcript

00:00 Hi, I'm Christopher McDonald, and we are here in Las Vegas

00:03 shooting the opening shot of Hacks, Season 3, at Caesars.

00:07 The opening drone shot was actually the very last shot

00:13 that we shot of our whole season.

00:15 From concept to execution, I would say that this has been about 18 months.

00:19 I think the most gratifying thing about something like this

00:22 is that there's no CGI.

00:23 We are flying a drone into the front door of Caesar's Palace.

00:26 Well, the challenge with any drone shot, I think,

00:28 is coordinating multiple different people.

00:30 Someone who's operating the actual drone flying it,

00:33 me who's operating the pan and the tilt,

00:35 and the guy who's catching it.

00:37 The toughest thing is having a smooth transition

00:39 from flight to hand-carried, hopefully very seamlessly.

00:43 Background and action!

00:46 It comes from on the strip, and then it gets caught

00:49 and walked through the entire casino.

00:51 Some of the people you see in the casino noticing Debra Vance

00:55 are not extras, they're actually patrons of the casino.

00:58 We did have a couple patrons.

00:59 Literally almost hit the camera, but it seems like...

01:01 It seems really real.

01:03 Yeah, there's like a chaos and a frenzy.

01:05 It is real, yeah.

01:06 We reveal that it's not actually Debra.

01:09 It is a drag queen amongst a sea of Gorgina drag queens.

01:13 It is, of course, supposed to mimic the first shot of the pilot

01:16 where we're behind Debra on stage,

01:18 and then you eventually reveal who it is.

01:20 It was really celebratory for our cast and crew to get it.

01:24 People were ready to party. I think some people did.

01:26 I think people stayed on the gambling floor.

01:28 [MUSIC]

01:31 (whooshing)

01:34 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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