Encyclopedia of the Documentary Film

(Note: Sample material is taken from uncorrected proofs. Changes may be made prior to publication.)

EDITING TECHNIQUES

Motion picture editing (whether film or television) is basically the act of shortening and rearranging audio visual material, and can include the addition of music, sound effects, graphics, animation, voice-over narration and other elements as needed for the unfolding of the film story. In documentary, the editor often must review and make decisions about many hours of location footage including observational, interviews and archival material.

The goal when deciding on specific editorial techniques, styles and forms is to effectively communicate to the viewer, and may include various additional goals including producing a specific psychological or emotional response, educating on a specific topic, introducing interesting characters and ideas, examining and exploring history and social trends. The documentary film editor is an artist who helps endow the film with a richness and resonance that did not exist in the raw materials. By using rhythm and pacing, holding back information, allowing pauses, utilizing music, dialogue and other sounds, emphasizing the emotional character of an actor or subject, using a variety of shots, cross-cutting between scenes and actions, the editor prods the documentary toward the psychological and intellectual domain that we have come to expect from great art and effective communication.

Very early in the history of filmmaking, there were several filmmakers who theorized this unique stage of the process, and attempted to explain both the rationales for various techniques and the power inherent in the editorial process. Various fields, including psychology, sociology and media politics have examined editorial forms for their power to persuade and tell stories. There are dozens of commonly understood and effectively utilized techniques used by editors to unfold a documentary story for the film screen, television and web presentation. Following are selected examples:

180 degree rule – states that when on location, one mentally places an imaginary line between two people talking or based on the direction of the action. The camera is placed on one side of this imaginary line, and it can move anywhere within 180 degrees of this line to keep screen direction constant.

30 degree rule – states that if one is planning on editing together two shots of the same person or thing, the camera should be placed 30 degrees away in the second shot from its placement in the first shot to avoid a visual jump cut.

Continuity – the successful and unnoticeable continuation of a scene in terms of placement of objects, weather conditions, and camera placement.

Cross-cutting – interweaving two threads of the storyline, from different locations and often different time periods.

Cut – an instant change from one shot to another.

Cutaway shot – a shot of something within or around the environment where the action or conversation is occurring, used to avoid visual jump cuts or to compress time.

Establishing shot – often an exterior shot of the location in which the action will be occurring, incorporated to help the audience get their bearings and to understand where they are.

L-cut or Split edit – an editing technique that manipulates aural space by letting the audio of one shot continue under the visuals of another shot.

Montage – shots assembled in rapid succession to communicate a particular image, mood or idea.

Reaction shot – a shot that shows the reaction of one person to another person or situation.

Transitions – techniques from segueing from one visual and/or sound to another, including Dissolve, Fade, Graphic Match, and Time Lapse. Used to psychologically move the audience from one point of the story to the next.

C. Melinda Levin

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