Transcript of Edit Like a Documentary Filmmaker, Not a Videographer
Mark Johansson
0:00If you're feeling overwhelmed by trying0:02to edit your first documentary, you're0:04not alone. Over 7 years ago, when I0:07started editing documentaries, there was0:10this huge gap between how to edit little0:13videos for local businesses and0:15understanding how to put together a0:17documentary. Well, today I want to0:20hopefully help close that gap a little0:23bit by showing you the difference in0:25philosophy, the difference in approach0:28that a video editor takes comes to0:30editing versus someone who edits0:33documentaries. Number one, don't jump0:36into a timeline. When you're editing0:38shorter videos, usually what you do when0:41you get back from the shoot is you throw0:43all your footage into a timeline, find a0:46piece of music that you like, and start0:49cutting your video. When you're working0:51on your first documentary, you might0:53have many days of shooting over many0:56months with many different interviews0:59with different characters. So, to throw1:01everything into a timeline and expect to1:04know what story you're trying to tell1:07and edit it together in one go is1:10unrealistic and is causing you a lot of1:13harm and frustration. So, what does a1:15documentary editor do? They understand1:18that they might not know the story yet.1:21So, before they ever hop into an editing1:23timeline, they figure out their story1:26first. Now, the most common way to do1:28this is to transcribe all of your1:31interviews. You create a big text1:34document full of all the quotes from all1:36of your characters in the different1:38interviews, and you start going through1:40all of these quotes and highlighting1:42things, figuring out different themes1:45that people talk about, coming up with1:47different ideas that or topics that1:50people cover, and figuring out your1:52story in what's known as a paper edit,1:55which is essentially an edit of your1:58film that exists solely with these2:01transcripts. When you have this story2:04laid out on paper, when you finally2:06decide to hop into an editing timeline,2:09you're reducing a lot of that friction2:12that it takes to get started with2:14editing. You already loosely know the2:17story you're trying to tell, and now2:19it's more a matter of implementing that2:21story rather than trying to find it2:24within your editing software, which2:26brings me to number two, which is to2:28build your audio first and worry about2:31your B-roll later. When you get used to2:33editing shorter videos, you rely heavily2:37on B-roll because in the world we live2:40in today, most of the buzzy content that2:44we see online is trying to grab your2:47attention visually. So, as editors, we2:49get used to leaning on different little2:52tricks, cutting to cool music, coming up2:54with creative transitions, maybe there's2:57cool graphics, but none of these2:59techniques apply to documentary.3:02Documentary relies on different3:04techniques to grab and keep your3:07attention, and the biggest technique we3:09lean on is storytelling. In documentary,3:12storytelling occurs not through B-roll,3:15but largely through our interviews. So,3:18the documentary editor, compared to the3:20video editor, actually flips the process3:24and starts their edit with only audio.3:26This is a technique called the assembly3:29cut, and what an assembly cut is is3:31essentially an audio version, almost3:34like a podcast version, of your film.3:37You take all of your interviews, you3:39figure out your story in your paper3:41edit, and then you string out all these3:43interviews onto a timeline with no3:46music, no visuals, no B-roll. It's just3:49purely your interviews. And the goal of3:52this process of making an assembly cut3:55is to make sure that your story3:57structure is figured out before you3:59start getting distracted by adding music4:02and B-roll and all these other elements.4:05You want to make sure that the4:06foundation to your story is interesting4:08enough on its own. If your story isn't4:11interesting when you're listening to4:13this version of it with audio only,4:15there's not really any amount of polish4:17you can add through visuals that's going4:20to make your documentary compelling. So,4:23start with your audio first, and then4:26once you have this dialed, once you4:27figured out your story structure, then4:29you can start layering on B-roll and4:32graphics and music, which leads me to4:34point three, which is to make cuts4:36invisible, not flashy. When you're4:39making shorter, buzzier, social4:41media-based content, it's all about4:44being flashy, it's all about grabbing4:46attention. In the documentary world,4:49when you use fancy transitions, when you4:52use, you know, visual trickery, it4:55actually takes the audience4:57out of the story because all of a sudden5:00the audience now realizes that they're5:03watching an edit, that they're watching5:05something that someone sat down and5:07crafted, and they're thinking about that5:10cool thing that you did or that5:12interesting video technique or that5:15weird thing that caught their eye rather5:17than just being immersed in the story.5:19So, the video editor tries to create5:22flashy things, tries to draw people's5:24eyes to the edits, whereas the5:26documentary editor wants to actually5:28make those edits disappear. And one of5:31the more common ways to smooth out your5:34edits, to make them disappear to the5:36audience, is to learn the techniques of5:38L-cuts and J-cuts. Now, there's plenty5:41of videos online about these two types5:43of cuts, but just to quickly summarize5:45them, L-cuts and J-cuts overlap audio5:49from one clip as we cut to the next5:52clip. So, for example, with a J-cut,5:54you'll hear the audio from an interview5:57come in before we actually cut to the5:59interview.6:00>> And I had this love of climbing. I6:01dropped out of high school, and it was6:03really just to chase after mountain6:05climbing. And this is mimicking the fact6:07that when we hear someone talk next to6:09us, we hear them talk first and then we6:12look over. We don't look over right as6:14they're beginning to talk. And so, if6:16you cut right at the moment the person's6:19talking, it feels unnatural. When we add6:21the slight overlap, it actually makes6:23most of these cuts disappear. Our6:26audience forgets that they're watching a6:28film and they can let themselves be6:30immersed in the story. So, get rid of6:32all the flashy transitions unless you6:35have a very specific reason to use them,6:37and instead focus your time on how to6:40make all of your cuts disappear. Number6:42four is to break it up into scenes.6:45Editing a 3-minute film is totally6:48feasible in one timeline. Making 36:51minutes entertaining is usually not much6:55of a problem. But when you start to get6:57into 10-minute timelines, 20-minute6:59timelines, even the 90-minute timeline7:02for a feature film, waking up in the7:04morning and looking at a 90-minute7:07timeline and figuring out how to keep it7:10entertaining for the audience, how to7:12keep them engaged, how to hold that7:15entire 90-minute story in your head7:18while you're scrubbing through a7:19timeline becomes a total nightmare and7:22basically impossible. So, the solution7:24to this, what the documentary editor7:26does, is they break up their film into7:29scenes. And scenes actually have a very7:33practical and pragmatic benefit, but7:36they also have a very important7:38storytelling benefit as well. The7:40practical benefit of scenes is similar7:42to when you break down an overwhelming7:45to-do list task into simpler, more7:49bite-size pieces. When you're only7:51editing 2 minutes versus 40 minutes, and7:54you wake up in the morning and that's7:56your task for the day, your motivation7:58to complete it is a lot higher because8:00it seems well within your reach. It8:02seems like something that you can8:04actually reasonably accomplish. If you8:07edit one scene one day and then another8:09scene the next day and another scene the8:11next day after that, before you know it,8:13you'll have a full-length 40-minute8:16film. It's just only a matter of time.8:18So, breaking things down this way just8:21keeps your motivation up. It keeps you8:23going. It keeps everything within reach.8:25But not only that, scenes also help you8:28keep your film entertaining. And this is8:31the storytelling benefit down your film8:34into scenes because when you're focused8:36on just a 3-minute chunk, it's easy to8:39keep that 3-minute chunk entertaining.8:42And if you have a bunch of a series of8:44these individual entertaining scenes, it8:48means that you're keeping your micro8:50story, your moment-to-moment story8:52entertaining over the course of telling8:55your macro story, your big story. So, if8:58you can keep the audience engaged in9:00these little micro bursts of engagement9:03of entertainment, then all of those9:05scenes will add up to a film that on the9:08whole is interesting and engaging. So,9:11break your film up into scenes, it'll9:13keep you motivated, and it will honestly9:15make you a better storyteller. And last9:17but not least, number five, focus on why9:20and not the what. One of the biggest9:22mistakes I see new documentary editors9:25make when they're trying to bridge that9:27gap between editing corporate videos to9:30documentaries is that they focus way too9:32much on the what of the story and9:35completely ignore the why of it all.9:38When you come from making event videos,9:41when you're capturing a day and trying9:44to create a highlight reel from it,9:46you're focused so much on what actually9:49occurred, what you captured through your9:51lens, and you basically want to try and9:54tell the best version of those events9:56that unfolded. But, the difference9:58between a video and a documentary is10:01that a documentary editor will dig a10:04layer deeper. Instead of just asking,10:07"What happened that day?" they're asking10:09themselves, "Why those events occurred?"10:12In documentaries, we have more time to10:15explore, to dig deeper into the human10:18condition. And that's ultimately what10:21makes people hooked to documentaries.10:24It's why we're so fascinated by10:25documentaries is because we get to learn10:28more about people, places, cultures that10:32we don't experience in our day-to-day10:35lives. And the only way you get to those10:37emotions that resonate with people10:40through a camera is by asking why. So, a10:44videographer, for example, might focus10:46on a marathon that happened in their10:48hometown and a runner that broke the10:51local record. And that is their overall10:55peak of their story. Whereas, a10:57documentary editor, on the other hand,10:59is filled with all these questions about11:02what motivates him. What is he11:04sacrificing by trying to spend all this11:07time training to become better and11:09better and better. Who was he as a kid11:11and why did that shape him into this11:13competitive athlete that he is today.11:16What is he running from? Is he scared of11:19something? Is he not facing something in11:22his personal life? All of these11:23questions are questions about the human11:25condition. These are the types of11:27questions that get your audience hooked,11:31get your audience interested in11:32characters, and make them want to learn11:35more. This is the fuel for turning a11:37small story about a local runner at a11:41local race into a bigger, longer story11:45that digs into a more human issue that11:48we all face that's universal. When we11:51only focus on what happened in the11:53story, it's boring. We don't care. We11:56don't relate to it. But, when we dig11:58deeper and ask why, that's where we get12:01to all the juicy stuff that people care12:03about. So, there you have it. Those are12:05the five main differences that I see12:07between being a video editor versus12:10being a documentary editor. And if12:13you're curious about where to start with12:15editing your own documentary, check out12:17this video here where I break down the12:19process of turning raw footage into a12:22documentary. That's it for me today,12:24guys, and I will see you in the next12:26one.12:27Later.
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