Editing Conflicts Into Your Documentary’s Open

I’m excited to see that my company’s new collaborator, a New York-based editor named Bret, has come up with a great editing gimmick to create a suspenseful open to a personal documentary we are working on.  Bret has edited a introduction that teases one of the film’s central conflicts between a son (the filmmaker) and his mother.  Starting the documentary with the son confronting his mother about keeping a family secret is a great way to not only reel in viewers, but also acquaint them with what the film is about.

 As a story consultant, I often advise filmmakers to scan their footage for a combative scene that could be used to start the film. Of course, a clash between two people is only one type of conflict.  For a sophisticated pedagogy on narrative conflict, I refer you to Ms. Douglas, my fourth grade English teacher.  She has us memorize the three types of conflict:  1) conflict with nature; 2) conflict with other people; 3) conflict with self.

You’ll find a great use of conflict with self in the first minute of No Impact Man, when protagonist Colin Beavan is battling his nerves in the green room of The Colbert Show.  As viewers, we are amused by Beavan’s shaky rehearsal why he’s on an environmental crusade.  The icing on the cake for the editor is that we viewers also understand within sixty seconds what the film is about.  This is great editing:  hooking and orienting the viewer in a single scene.

Off the top of my head, I can’t think of a documentary that opens with a conflict between humans and nature, but I’m sure there are many out there. I invite you to share some examples.  Meanwhile, for a toolbox of tips for editing your documentary’s opening scene, download my video “Editing a Great Documentary Opening” at https://newdocediting.com/land/editingdocumentaryecourse/.  Warning: it will cost you one dollar, and you’ll have to try out my new e-course, “Editing the Character-Driven Documentary”.