Evaluating documentary editing stages

Evaluating documentary editing stages

Blog Article

Here are the editing stages that all documentary makers experience.


Editing is a vital step of all motion pictures, because it is the stage when raw footage turns into the final item. This phase is particularly essential for documentary films, though. The reason being most narrative movies are going to be edited to fit around the pre-defined script and storyboard. On the other hand, documentary filmmakers typically enter their shoots with merely a rough pre-planned concept of whatever they will make, with the rest of the tale being undiscovered until they actually film it. James Rogan is going to be well aware that this can mean that documentary directors and producers could possibly be sitting on thousands of hours' worth of footage with no established narrative. Step one is always to back-up all of it because any moment could turn out to be used in the final documentary. Following this, all footage needs to be watched with accompanying records being written to pinpoint the best moments. This should take place at exactly the same time as going through archive material, photos, and music to choose what is the most useful fit for the documentary.


Editing has progressed considerably through the length of film history. In fact, the complete reason the medium is named film is due to the material that movies were filmed on. This material is edited by hand, with editors cutting and pasting camera shots together. In the present day most movies are now digital, which means that a lot of the editing is completed on the computer. Morgan Matthews will know that most documentary filmmakers are well-acquainted with editing software. As soon as all potential aspects of the movie are put into their chosen software, it is time to begin experimenting with laying the greatest shots into a timeline. Moments that show key information and can be the emotional core of the documentary would be the best to utilise. Seeing what works and doesn't work at this stage may help establish the building blocks of the documentary.


People are interested in watching documentaries simply because they desire to learn something. Nonetheless, this does not mean that documentaries should really be dry lectures. Individuals are also seeking to have fun while learning the knowledge by way of a narrative structure. Tim Parker will be able to tell you that making a choice on the narrative and finding elements that fit the narrative is one of the most essential phases in the film editing process. Even the most stunning shots blended with the most remarkable archive footage will be meaningless if linked together with no clear narrative. Many filmmakers will generate a long first cut version of their documentary once they have established the narrative. They are going to then go through the process of refining and re-editing it till it becomes a viewable length while accomplishing the objectives that the filmmaker attempted to attain.