Editing the Documentary

Following our structure of juxtaposing the colour outdoor dancing footage with the indoor, more 'bleak' footage, I attempted to find and input shots that added something more. For example the shot on the left, one in which shows expression, humour, interest and energy.

I am particularly proud of this transition. The first shot shows Boggarts performing in their practice session, as the shot continues the bodies from the dancers fill up the screen turning it black. On the black, I implemented a small transition and found a different shot than begins naturally 'black' to enable an effective, subtle and effective transition between two different shots/scenes.

An example of juxtaposing the bright, energetic, colourful and rich shots of the outdoor dancing to the practice sessions. Transitioning between footwork and upper body shots, adding variety and depth.

This final section being climactic and upbeat, I matched the cuts of the images with the beats in the soundtrack (the drumbeats), indicated by the red markers in the picture to the left. To make it climactic, I chose the most striking images, for example the most visually pleasing/strong dancing shots, to the drums that add strength and emphasis on the poetic piece.

With this shot, I wanted to briefly show the footwork involved with the dance. On top of this, the shot is both quirky, different and fun. I cut the shot as the foot contacted the floor.

I think with the brief stating it must be a 'poetic documentary' documentary, I asked myself what is a poetic documentary, what key ingredients are needed for it to be classed as poetic, or more so, what is poetry?

I think a poetic piece should create a mood, a feeling, an emotion, it should express something and convey it to the audience. Complexity is not needed in my opinion, less is more, especially for a poetic piece. Fast editing in this piece would have taken its edge and purpose away, it would have distracted the audience away from its main purpose, its purpose being to portray a deep, raw piece that the audience get 'sucked' in too that displays the side of traditional morris dancing people may have never seen or thought of before.