Suspenseful Documentaries Keep the Lasso Tight

Last week I had the pleasure of receiving a stellar review of my own documentary American Visionary. Film scholar Roger Leslie praised the film’s “solid, suspenseful storytelling <that> evolves with the very momentum and climactic excitement of a well-crafted novel.”

The point here is not to plug my own film–but our story consulting values! New Doc Editing’s tagline is “keeping your viewer glued to the screen”.

One way we make the “glue” stick is ruthlessly removing distractions. The three top distractions are 1) repetitive sound bites; 2) tangential material; and 3) pockets of confusion.

Filmmaker Marcus Lindeen, whose documentary The Raft recently won top prize at Copenhagen’s CPH: DOX Fest, uses a different metaphor to gauge suspense.

“The Lasso is tight when the attention’s there, people are listening, following it all with intense interest and reacting fully to it,” Lindeen told Filmmaker Magazine. “When there’s a bit of distraction or confusion, the lasso slackens. As a director, my vision is to keep the lasso tight all the way through.”

Directors need editors and story consultants because they lose perspective and thus a grip on their vision. (When I’m wearing my director hat, I also lose sight, and employ outside eyes.)

For example, directors no longer notice repetitive soundbites. Certain scenes seem on point but are actually tangential. And what may seem crystal clear to the director is confusing to the viewer.

This month I’m currently offering five free 20-minute phone consultations to directors interested in keeping the lasso tight–or the viewer glued. Pick your metaphor and email for a spot!