The Practical Guide to Documentary Editing

Sam Billinge, GBFTE is a documentary editor with more than a decade's worth of experience editing prime-time documentaries for British and international television.

Acknowledgments

Introduction






Preface
The Power of Documentary
Who are Film Editors and What Do They Do?

Part 1: The Fundamentals






Storytelling 1.0
Editing 1.0
Setting Up the Edit
Preparing to View Rushes
Track Laying the Edit
Viewing Interviews
Viewing Actuality
Viewing B-roll

Part 2: Starting to Edit






Understanding the Task Ahead
Deciding What to Cut First
Appraising a New Scene
Structuring a New Scene
Ordering Interview Clips
Trimming Interviews
Working with Actuality
Working with Voiceover
Deciding Where Voiceover is Needed
Voiceover Writing Basics
Managing a Voiceover Record

Part 3: Picture Editing






Visual Storytelling
The Kuleshov Effect
Types of Picture Sequence
Types of Shot
Structuring a Picture Sequence
Sequencing Shots
A Practical Method for Building a Sequence
The Art of the Cut
What Makes a Good Cut?
What Shots Cut Well Together?
Judging Pacing and the Rhythm of Sequences
Enhancing the Visual Style of a Sequence
Working with Cutaways
Working with Stock Footage
Working with Still Images

Part 4: Using Sound






Working with Sound Design and Music
Understanding Sound
Working with Music
Why We Use Music in Filmmaking
Some Good Ways to Use Music
A Practical Method for Working with Music
Auditioning Music
Composed, Library or Commercial Music?
Working with a Composer
Working with Library Music
Working with Commercial Music

Part 5: Story Structure






Ordering and Connecting Scenes
Common Documentary Story Structures
The Three-Act Structure
The Episodic
The Parallel Narrative
Working with Shooting Scripts & Paper Edits
Choosing a Running Order
Scene Cards
Working to a Deadline
Making Improvements
Viewing a Film for the First Time
Working to a Final Duration
Reaching Picture Lock

The Cutting Room Relationship

Workflow Summary

Conclusion

Glossary

Index