Edit A Midpoint To Give Your Documentary Direction

Screenwriters frequently argue about what exactly a midpoint is.  Placed in the middle of Act Two, the midpoint is often a life and death crisis, either literally to the physical body, or in the life of a relationship.  But screenwriters also use the midpoint to chart character transformation.

It’s this use of the midpoint that I’m employing in a documentary that we at New Doc Editing are currently editing.  As senior editor and story consultant, I am directing our brilliant editor Bret to craft a scene in the middle of Act Two when our protagonist, Steve, begins to change from an angry young man to a mature adult who has reconciled his painful family history.

The midpoint scene is a conversation Steve has with his former high school English teacher, a wise white-haired man, about decisions made by Steve’s parents.  “You know, I never considered that,” says our protagonist. This crack in Steve’s consciousness achieves two important structural goals for the film.  First, we can place all the scenes of “angry” Steve prior to the midpoint.  Second, we can now edit the second half of the documentary to show Steve bit by bit coming to terms with and ultimately forgiving his parents.  It’s important to note that especially in documentaries-films about real life-character transformation is usually a gradual unfolding, not a lightning bolt.  The key to cleverly editing this transformation is to reveals the first small shift at the midpoint.  For more information about structuring the midpoint and other plot devises, I invite you to check out my new online course, Editing the Character-Driven Documentary at https://newdocediting.com/land/editingdocumentaryecourse/.