Editing a documentary is similar to being a Italian sculptor, The sculptor starts by going out to the Rock Quarry and getting a Big Piece of stone that he or she will later chip away, sand and refine. That is what editing is, digitizing large clips of footage and refining them in the edit process.

The Process of Video editing begins with organizing your material. The concepts I will be sharing with you deal with creating documentary DV films based on the footage you shot, not a pre-written script. I like to refer to this as "Organic filmmaking". In addition to "Organic documentary" filmmaking, there is "Script based" documentary filmmaking. This is when the script and narration are written first, then crews are hired to shoot images to match the narration, and producers go out with crews to get interviews.

During my time as a cameraman in Los Angeles, I would see producers "Coaching" subjects to rephrase their words, or include elements that the script says they will talk about. These are easier to shoot and edit because you have a script to follow. Organic Filmmaking is much harder to create, and I feel is an Art form in and of itself. I will discuss how to organize the Organic Documentary filmmaking process during this newsletter.

Since the begining of time filmmakers have sat down, and watched all their footage. While viewing it, they write down the best stuff, then later edit these pieces together. I believe in watching all the footage, writing notes, then entering these selected clips into my Log and Capture part of Final Cut Pro. Today, many people use an Excel spread sheet, or other computer spread sheets to organize their footage prior to entering the Log information into your computer.

Some people prefer to log and capture directly into the computer as they are viewing their material. This can seem to save time, but in the end you may end up with two much footage in the computer. By viewing your material first, then captuing it later, you develop a better sense of what footage you have, and the major themes in your raw material.

When I'm watching a DV tape, I use the tape's Time Code to determine where I want to begin capturing a clip, and ending a clip (A clip is a chunk of video that you want to extract and digitize into your computer). Every frame of video has Time code, a secret number etched on the tape which computers, DV cameras and decks can read. With out time code your job of finding footage would be nearly impossible. On most DV cameras the time code is located on the upper right side of your LCD screen.

Time code has spaces for the following time elements:

00:00:00:00 Hours, seconds, minutes, frames ( thirty f rames a second)

 

Your first step in gaining control of your stack of tapes is....1) Label each tape with a reel number. For instance if you have ten tapes, number them each 1- 10.

Click here to Watch DVworkshops Instructor - Academy award Nominated Adrian Belic discuss how to "Log your footage"

Above is a DV camera's Viewfinder, the numbers on the top right are TimeCode numbers. Start viewing your first tape, as you are watching it, write down the starting TimeCode of the first good stuff you see, then write the TimeCode number on the screen when it ends.

When recording these TimeCode numbers, remember to think like an Italian Sculptor and bring in a big clips....you will refine it later...This is NOT the time to make exact edit decisions. When writing down the start TimeCode Numbers, make the in point a little earlier then where the good stuff begins. Same with the end point, let it roll a little longer. This is what is refered to as "Handles".

I also "Classify" each clip according to the "Five Elements of Documentary". This helps me find things later on in the editing process. I base these classifications on my concept of The Five Elements of Documentary. The five elements are : Interviews (Int), Cutaways (Cut), Chill Footage(CF) -often called "Live Action" or "Cinema Verite", , Process Footage ( Proc), and Archive (arch). Click here for more info about the FIVE ELEMENTS of DOCUMENTARY in our newsletter.

After writing down the "in" and "out" TimeCode numbers for the clip you like, record the type of documentary element it is (Interview -INT, Cutaway -CUT..etc.), then write a brief description of the shot or interview. A series of logged clips would end up looking like this: After logging your tapes, you begin to see what material stands out, and get an idea how to arrange the footage around the themes of your documentary. I circle and star my best footage, and try and make the film from this strong material. You can now begin to sketch out a rough order of your material. Always try and open with your best stuff, then set up your documentary's story or premises, follow the themes of the film's story line.

• Int (in) 00:23:30:00 (out) 00:24:00:00 Teacher talks about books
• Cut (in) 00:14:00:00 (out) 00:14:30:00 Exterior School Building
• Process (in) 00:37:00:00 (out) 00:38:00:00 I walk into school and meet teacher in lobby

 

Learn more in our DV Documentary Camera Bootcamp November 20 & 21, Click here for detials

Once I have finished logging my footage, I review it and rough out an outline or "Flow chart" of the order of themeses and scenes, If I have a great deal of tapes ( more than 5) I create summary sheets for each type of the Five elements of documentary. For Instance I have a summary sheet for all my best interviews. For each "Summary Sheet", I start with Reel 1 and lists all the good interviews on that tape (including time code numbers and brief descrition). Then list all the good interviews from Reel 2 and all the rest of my tapes.

Why create summary sheets? (which are really easy to do if you are using Excel or other spread sheets). Imagine you have ten tapes and fifty pages of logs, just trying to locate an interview will be time consuming, you will have to search all fifty pages. With Summary Sheets, it is easy to quickly locate an Interview or cutaway. Some folks like to use color coded 3X5 Index Cards, (yellow for interview, green for Live Action etc.) instead of summary sheets. You can pin them up on a board in the order you want them edited in. "Post it's" also work well for this.

I look at my summary sheets, and draw a rough "Flow Chart" of my documentary. I switch between interviews, live action, music montages, narration, archive , process footage and text. Narration is not necessary in documentary films, if you do use it, this rough scripting will give you a good idea what narration you need to glue together your "Organic" Documentary. For example, you may use narration to introducie interview subjects,or explain the Historical context behind your story. Narration or Text can be used to tie together story elements.

Once you have your rough outline, capture the footage into your computer and start editing. You can do this by typing in the time code numbers into your edit system's log and capture window

If you are using Final Cut Pro, you can enter your logging information directly into your project's Browser. You do this by selecting FILE-NEW-OFFLINE CLIP and entering your Time code (media start and End), and shot descriptions right into your browser, then capture it later! There are some software programs that allow you to log and organize, then imoprt your final clip list into Final Cut Pro. One of these products is DV Log-X (link at bottom of page). When entering in your clip information, be sure you include the following information:

• 1)Type in the type of documentary element and description
• 2) Type in the Reel number and the clip's Time Code Start and Stop....See the example to the left. CLICK on the photo to ENLARGE it.

   

  Organic Filmmaking takes many edits before you get it right. Don't worry about getting the first edit perfect, just get it down then watch it with friends. The good stuff will "Pop" out at you, and you will immediately see what needs to be rearranged or clarified.

Our DV Documentary Camera Bootcamp on November 20 &21 also covers this logging and scripting, plus hands-on professional lighting and shooting. Click here to view workshop detials. Class Cost is $195 for two full days.

In Summary, there is a method to organizing your documentary footage. -

• Label your tapes with Reel Numbers
• Watch and write down the best stuff
• Label each clip with the type of Documentary Element it is. ( Five elements of documentary - Interviews, Cutaways, Live Action/Chill Footage, Process footage, Archive)
• Enter the Time Code Start and stop for each Clip and a brief description
• Break down your logs into summary sheets for each element of documentary ( Interview-Cutaways- Chill Footage etc)..
• Sketch out a rough outline of your documentary's "Flow"
• Get the first edit on the time-line
• Show it to friends and then keep fixing it

 

Please click here for a link to our Calender of Classes at DVworkshops