Editing Documentaries

As I am doing the post-production module alongside Documentary, I have been researching editing within film for the last few months. I have also took the opportunity to explore how to edit documentaries to the best of your ability.

"Documentaries provide a challenge for the editor, but it no other form does the editor play more of a role in shaping the final outcome." Peters, (http://digitalfilms.wordpress.com/2011/11/24/documentary-editing-tips/)

I think this is because the editor is in a sense the 'writer', they dictate what reality to show to the audience and the amount of it.

• Interviews are key, they help tell the story and move it forward.

• Narration is in some cases key, as it help clarify anything important, or get the documentary back on track. We didn't use narration for our documentary as we wanted to keep the story primarily focused on the Morris dancers. We felt their stories/interviews were strong enough for the story to progress on its own two feet.

The positioning of imagery and "sound bites" (interviews) are key to the way you wish to portray your story. This is why Me and Alice created a structure that we felt would be the best way of getting the points across.

"Sometimes it’s best to have one person start a thought or a statement and then conclude with another, assuming the two segments are complementary." Peters.

We used this technique in our documentary. When Boggarts were explaining why they were blue, I decided to begin with the woman explaining why, and then I cut to another interview shot of a man explaining why they were blue. This way, there isn't only one 'go too' person to explain something, it offers variety to the piece.