Having been the editor on a few project before, but only one being the editor for a group, I felt like I could have a decent edit for this project. However, after my first edit review, I found out that there was a lot that I could change, so I went and researched some editing techniques, and found that there are several differences between editing a documentary from other genres of film. One of these is the fact that as a documentary will often include several interviews, it is a good idea to transcribe all of the interviews so that finding the right question and answer is a lot easier.
Another good technique for documentary editing is to cut a clip on an action or some dialogue, which add to the flow of the story. For example, if the person in the shot is using their hands a lot while talking, use that movement as a marker to make your cut. Additionally, you could also use the words that the interviewee says as markers to make your cuts. If they pronounce a certain word strongly, then that would be a good mark to cut at, as often there will also be a movement that accompanies this emphasis, so making a cut there will make the film run more smoothly.
There were a few times that I was struggling to find the right clip to include in some interviews, and this was important as I had to cut some of the interviews down to take out some of the pauses and stutters, so I needed another clip over these on order to hide them. One documentary maker that I found does this quite a lot was Ken Burns, as this technique was practically created by him. He uses photos instead of film over the top of some shots to hide edits and to break away from static shots, and couples this with adding some subtle movement to the overlaying image, which keeps the viewer more engaged, as having a stationary picture would bore the audience quickly
As I was also the Director on this project, I had decided to use a multi camera setup on the interviews conducted in an enclosed environment, as I knew that having these different shots to cut back and forth between during the edit would be a lot better for the overall feel of the film, and if I decided that I didn't like a certain part of one angle, such as something else comes into the frame when it shouldn't, then I have got the other angles to compensate for it.
Another good technique for documentary editing is to cut a clip on an action or some dialogue, which add to the flow of the story. For example, if the person in the shot is using their hands a lot while talking, use that movement as a marker to make your cut. Additionally, you could also use the words that the interviewee says as markers to make your cuts. If they pronounce a certain word strongly, then that would be a good mark to cut at, as often there will also be a movement that accompanies this emphasis, so making a cut there will make the film run more smoothly.
There were a few times that I was struggling to find the right clip to include in some interviews, and this was important as I had to cut some of the interviews down to take out some of the pauses and stutters, so I needed another clip over these on order to hide them. One documentary maker that I found does this quite a lot was Ken Burns, as this technique was practically created by him. He uses photos instead of film over the top of some shots to hide edits and to break away from static shots, and couples this with adding some subtle movement to the overlaying image, which keeps the viewer more engaged, as having a stationary picture would bore the audience quickly
As I was also the Director on this project, I had decided to use a multi camera setup on the interviews conducted in an enclosed environment, as I knew that having these different shots to cut back and forth between during the edit would be a lot better for the overall feel of the film, and if I decided that I didn't like a certain part of one angle, such as something else comes into the frame when it shouldn't, then I have got the other angles to compensate for it.
Usually for my projects, I make two or three copies of each edit that I do to make sure that I don't lose any of my work, and do three or four edits. However, for this project I have done 7 edits, each an improvement over the last. The differences between each of these edits may seem small, but it is because I have majorly changed something in the film, such as maybe taking out an entire interview with someone.
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