Strategy #3 to Accelerate Editing

It took editing five documentaries early in my career before I really understood strategy #3: don’t overcut.

See also: Part 1 on Culling and Part 2 on Prioritizing.

I remember nervously handing my 90-minute Assembly Cut to a story consultant. She watched it and said, “Obviously, you’ve overcut.” I didn’t know what she meant until she started deleting scenes that I had spent weeks perfecting.

My advice today? Don’t perfect scenes until half way through the edit. In our typical 10-week accelerated editing timeline, three weeks are spent gathering the best footage for the Assembly Cut.

Then in two weeks, Rough Cut A gets wrangled into a word-driven structure. (If your budget allows more time, take it.)

Often there are black holes. Don’t take time to edit in B-roll because that effort might be wasted if the scene or soundbite is cut later.

Generally, Rough Cut A has no music, no cutaways, no narration (just text cards to explain critical info). Use placeholders for graphics and animation to come.

Because it looks so ugly, experienced editors don’t show the first Rough Cut to anyone outside the editorial team.

Then, before moving onto Rough Cut B and Fine Cut, make critical evaluations of Rough Cut A. These include:

Where can repetition be cut? Does one character fill another’s role? If so, cut one.

Does one expert make the same point as another? Cut one.

Which scenes aren’t necessary? It’s more efficient to amputate an entire scene early on than shave it down in each progressive cut.

What ideas are tangential to the film’s themes? Cut them now!

Which verite scenes have entrances and exits (a.k.a. ins and outs) that slow the pace. Chop!

Rough Cut B is a joy to build because now the footage starts looking like a pretty film. With the essential story arcs and core ideas in place, add cutaways, temp music, and temp VO narration.

And best of all, for the producer’s budget, getting to Fine Cut took weeks rather than months.