Documentary editing: principles and practice

"Documentary Editing offers clear and detailed strategies for tackling every stage of the documentary editing process, from organizing raw footage and building select reels to fine cutting and final export. Written by a Sundance award- winning documentary editor with a dozen features to his credit and containing examples from over 100 films, this book presents a step-by-step guide for how to turn seemingly shapeless footage into focused scenes, and how to craft a structure for a documentary of any length. The book contains insights and examples from seven of America's top documentary editors, including Geoffrey Richman (The Cove, Sicko), Kate Amend (The Keepers, Into the Arms of Strangers), and Mary Lampson (Harlan County U.S.A.), and a companion website contains easy-to-follow video tutorials. Written for both practitioners and enthusiasts, Documentary Editing offers unique and invaluable insights into the documentary editing process."--

"A Focal Press book"--Cover.

Introduction : The construction of meaning in documentaries : Principles of documentary editing ; Your documentary editing panel -- Part I. Setting the stage for a successful edit : Planning your schedule : Documentary schedules: how many weeks? -- Organizing your footage : Organizing the files on the hard drive ; Bringing the files into the NLE ; Run a test ; Backing up ; Organizing footage ; Organizing archival material ; Alternate "binning" strategies ; Documents you will need -- Everyday work practices : Work in stages ; Focus ; The vital importance of taking breaks ; Duplicate and archive: leaving a trail of breadcrumbs behind you ; Scraps sequences and alternate shots ; The director-editor relationship: working together and working alone -- Part II. Finding patterns : Viewing and digesting -- Making select reels : Creating source-based select reels ; Creating topic-based select reels -- Refining select reels : Drawing initial conclusions about your narrative from your select reels ; A fork in the road -- Part IIIA. Constructing and refining scenes : Evidentiary editing: building interview-based scenes : Constructing the framework: anchor with audio ; Finding "hinge clips" ; …