PRODUCTION: HOW TO EDIT A DOCUMENTARY (EDITOR RESEARCH)

There isn't a huge amount of research or classes online about editing Short Length Documentaries, there is a fair amount of Feature Length though so I decided to look into this as I'll be able to adapt what I find for my own documentary, regardless of length.

On the BBC Academy, there's a 30 minute podcast between a Factual Film Editor called Sam Billinge and a former BBC Producer/Director called Jacqui Farham. The podcast talks about editing an hour long documentary and the process of it including between the Director and Editor:

How to Edit a Documentary Podcast (BBC Academy)

Sam is first questioned how much he'll know about an edit before be begins cutting it or before he's even been given the footage. Sam explains that often he'll know nothing about the footage and the story and this is a better way as it mean you'll be like the audience seeing the footage for the first time. This is also what I found from my Masterclass with Claire Ferguson. Annoyingly this won't be helpful for me as I've seen all the footage already from being the DOP and I'm fully aware of the story. 

Sam does say though, at the early stages of the edit. Knowing the footage and having it well organised and easy to find is key for an Editor. You need to learn the material anyway and know it well. So even though the first stage I can't achieve because I've been the person shooting the film, from that I have gain a high knowledge of all the footage and already organised it in a way that I can quickly and easily find it for when I begin assembling.

Sam also talks about the first point of the edit being the discussion with the Director and where the story is going. With the Editor watching the rushes and the Director writing out what they want from the transcripts, together they assemble the first edit of the documentary. Once this is done they spend the next few weeks of the edit assembling the film with footage, music, graphics, archives and get a version of the film, not a perfect version, they'll be some rough bits which get fixed at the end. This is helpful to see as much of what I have found has structured the way of editing but when it comes to assembling the actual edit I always see it as the "cutting" stage. This is helping me to see you can go into detail here adding in all the relevant footage, audio, music if it'd beneficial at this stage, etc. 

Jacqui is questioned about how much freedom the Editor is given and she explains that when she's Directing she has a clear vision but she works with the Editor as their opinion is just as important and sometimes they can see something which they haven't seen. But it's the Directors job to go out, find and capture the story and then tell the Editor how that story should be told and then work together to see whether that works with what they have.

Sam explains that once the structure of the documentary has been planned and put together, he prefers to be left to edit alone so he can test and try different bits and pieces with the story and see what works well and what needs improvement or replacing.

Jacqui talks about receiving feedback with viewings of the documentary during the editing stage. Jacqui explains that if her and the Editor are happy with the edit, they'll show the person who's viewing (Producer, Head of Production, etc.) and if they're happy with it then they'll continue with the edit, if the people viewing don't like it then they'll go off the feedback and make changes that are required which will definitely come up during the edit stage for me and my group. We've already got viewings booked in with our tutor so we'll be having these situations and I'll have to act on feedback.

In terms of saying no to feedback, Jacqui explains that if in the feedback we're told to change something which makes the story not true or maybe that misleads the audience you'd say no because a documentary is fact not fiction. However, if you're being told to change something that you feel very passionately needs to be in the film then it might be worth arguing to keep it but we also need to know what battles to fight, sometimes it's best to take the feedback and make the changes. Rarely there can be conflict but this is something which might come along. But the Editor during this would be to defend the Director and justify their choices IF the Editor agrees with them as they also have their own professional opinion.

This podcast really helped me see more of the team work between the Editor and the Director and also aspects I hadn't considered, mostly with the idea of handling feedback for the edit which is something I hadn't considered but this will definitely come up. More and more I'm seeing that the communication and relationship between Jemma and I is going to be crucial in the Post-Production stage.