Editing begins with organization

I'm currently working on a short piece that is mostly talking heads/interviews and I'm reminded of the importance of logging, transcribing and sub-clipping interview footage. Whether you shot the interviews--or conducted the interviews--or both, if you've got the task of editing the interviews you're going to need to become very familiar with what each person said as you start to weave together a narrative. Whether you've got two or twenty interviewees, knowing what they said, and where those sound bites live, is critical. And the only way to do that is with extensive organization. Editing is essentially organization of raw material into a new form...one that is much more efficient and effective at telling the story that needs to be told.
You start by watching the interviews, perhaps several times over. As you watch, you might begin to take notes...jotting down ideas that come to mind about how a particular bite might fit into the larger story. You might note good in and out points...places where the conversation feels like it starts and stops. You might note technical concerns, e.g. framing, exposure, audio hits, etc., that might prevent a particular bite from being used. You certainly want to note which themes are present in each interview. Will this particular sound bite work in the intro where you're trying to set the scene...or will it work as a counter-point to that other sound bite that you plan to use from another interviewee? These are the kinds of notes that you will turn to over and over again in the edit suite.
No one likes to transcribe interviews, which is why there are companies that you can pay to do the work for you. But if you're on a budget--and seriously, who isn't--you will likely do some transcribing yourself. Write down every word or at lease the gist of every phrase. The parts that you skip over will frequently be the very bites that you need tomorrow or next week...and then you'll need to resort to scanning through many minutes or hours of interview footage trying to find it. Believe me, a little extra time now will save you that time many times over.
And finally, don't underestimate the value of subclipping. All pro NLE software tools allow you subclip a video clip into smaller units. Your interview may be 20-30 minutes long, but you can subclip the interview into 15-30 second bites and name each one accordingly. Now, instead of finding that one bite in the middle of a half-hour interview, you simply look for that subclip that you've named and labeled with keyword descriptors. Also, you can use color coding to group types of soundbites/subclips into themes.
Organization...its the stuff of editing. You can only begin to be creative after you've found a way to locate your shots and sound bites.

Beautiful artistry on both sides of the camera

The title of this blog post is a quote from 33hirtz who commented on Danny Cooke's Vimeo page. I couldn't say it better myself...and I think you'll agree if you take a few minutes to watch several of the fine documentaries by this master cinematographer and story-teller. Cooke has an eye for composition and lighting, and his editing is superb. I'm pretty sure that he's shooting with a DSLR and he makes good use of selective focus. Note also his soundtracks and clever title sequences.

• Take a look at his documentary about glass blowing: OurGlass of Cockington
• Or this one about a artist who works in etched glass and gold leaf: David A Smith - Sign Artist
• Here's one about a salvage diver: Ray: A Life Underwater

Thanks to Tim Sparks for sending the links and for tipping me off to a great talent.

Morgan Spurlock on making documentaries

"I really believe that if you're going to spend two-plus years of your life, that's your reality. If you're going to make a documentary movie, that's your baby. You're married to that movie forever and you‛d better love that kid, you'd better think that's the most beautiful kid you could have ever made, because you are married to that kid for years to come.

"If you're going to spend two-plus years producing, editing, getting the film out into the marketplace, then I think you have a responsibility to that movie to see it through.

"If people want to talk about it, if people want to use it as a conversation piece, if it can somehow help drive a national conversation, an international conversation, if it can lead to some sort of reform or change, whatever it may be -- I don't know why else you would make a film if you didn't want it to be part of a conversation." ~ Morgan Spurlock, director of Supersize Me

More here!

Choosing a documentary topic

The challenge facing you this week is to find two great story ideas that have the potential to become a half-hour documentary project. This is not an easy task, and I would dare say that the success of the final project will be greatly affected by your choice of topic/subject. Choosing a subject is not something to be taken lightly. That said, the initial treatment will undoubtedly go through revision as it is turned into a proposal, then a shooting script and finally into an editing script.
So how does one go about selecting a story/topic/subject? I've blogged about it previously by suggesting some things to avoid. Your textbook author Rabiger has some excellent advice in the first couple of chapters (especially chapter 3). To that I would add just a few thoughts.

1. There are a thousand stories right in front of each of us--the trick is to see them with fresh eyes. Sometimes we're too close to see them clearly...kind of like a smudge on our eyeglasses that everyone else can see even though we can't.
2. Some stories come with built-in controversy (e.g., anything with political or religious overtones) and others will require that you dig a bit deeper to find the drama.
3. Remember your audience and work hard to give them reasons to care about your topic, the characters in your film, and the outcome. Are the main characters likable, or at least interesting?
4. Do the research necessary to write an effective treatment. You'll need to do more research to turn that treatment into a proposal, and still more to generate the shooting script. Research may involve library research, but more likely it will involve interviews with people close to the story/topic. Leave no stone unturned in your quest to uncover the truth. Research may yield evidence that convinces you that there is no story after all, or that the documentary cannot be made (given the available budget/schedule)...but better to find this out now than later.

As always, feel free to ask if you have any questions or if you want to bounce an idea off of me.

Life Changing

Documentaries can be powerful. Sometimes the phrase "life-changing" is used to describe the power of a documentary that packs a punch that lasts just a little longer than a large tub of theater popcorn. But for the West Memphis Three "life-changing" may be precisely the words best used to describe an HBO documentary series by directors Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky. This week's release of the West Memphis Three from prison--and in one case from death-row--is being hailed as a triumph for justice and credit is being given to the HBO documentaries for shedding light on the case. In addition to the documentaries, attention from Hollywood celebrities and rock stars such as Johnny Depp, Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder and Dixie Chick Natalie Maines is also being credited for the sustained media attention that has kept the story front and center.

I have no idea if the West Memphis Three are guilty as charged. Teenagers at the time, Echols, Baldwin and Misskelley were convicted and sentenced to prison for the horrific murders of three Boy Scouts in 1993. But shortly thereafter the 1996 Emmy-winning documentary Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills brought new attention to the trial and questioned the legitimacy of the prosecution's case.  In 2000 the directors followed with Paradise Lost 2: Revelations. The third installment, Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory, will be shown at the Toronto International Film Festival and air on HBO. The final film in the series is being edited and the new ending will reflect the release of the three.

This is not the first time that a documentary has led to a judicial reversal. The Thin Blue Line, a 1988 "non-fiction" film by Errol Morris, had a similar effect on the life of Randall Adams. Adam has been convicted and sentenced to die for the murder of a Dallas police officer in  1976. One year after the film's release the conviction was overturned and Adams was released.

Life-changing documentary stories are not always this dramatic. Some documentaries change many lives in very small ways, but the cumulative effect may be even more impressive though not as visible. But in the end every documentary should act as a change agent on some level. Anything less would be a waste of precious time and resources.
 

50 Documentaries to See Before You Die

Hopefully you've got some time (before you die), but just in case you may want to tune into the remaining three episodes of the 5-part series from Current TV, airing each Tuesday in August. Host Morgan Spurlock (best known for Supersize Me, but also director of the new doc The Greatest Movie Ever Sold) reveals the top 50 documentaries made since 1985 and interviews directors and other key players. The show's website contains numerous clips from the series.

Crowd-Funding your Doc

Recently I responded with a donation to a fundraising project on Kickstarter. The project was an independent film based on the book Blue Like Jazz. It was the first time I'd heard about this relatively new fund raising platform but I was immediately taken with its potential to help budding filmmakers connect with potential donors. If you've got a great idea for a film, documentary or otherwise, and need some startup cash to get you to the next level, Kickstarter may be just the thing you need.
A search for "documentary" returns more than 300 projects currently underway or recently funded by Kickstarter. Go ahead and visit the link above to see some of the projects, and to screen short promotional clips. You'll notice that varying levels of participation earn increasing levels of rewards for "investors" who  commit to contributing funds if the goal is reached by a predetermined deadline. This protects contributors and creators from unnecessary risk.
Independent filmmaker Nathaniel Hansen has a Vimeo channel where you can see his Kickstarter promo clip, and several teasers for his upcoming documentary The Elders.
The DocumentaryTech website has some interesting thoughts about raising funds in this age of social media. Another great article, from a UK perspective, can be found here. Also, Distribution U, "a one-day crash course on the new rules of crowd funding, audience building, and distribution" is being held this month in NY and LA. Tickets and more info is available at their website.
Oh, and in case you're wondering, I got a T-shirt, poster, a call from the director, and a few other items related to the film, including an Associate Producer credit, for my contribution. I think I'll add that AP credit to my résumé now!