The Problem of Pacing
Having gauged the film’s direction with the help of a midpoint, many editors’ biggest challenge in act two is sustaining momentum. A screenwriter can plot progressive complications without being constrained by journalistic ethics, but what can a documentary filmmaker do if the actual chronology of conflict ebbs and flows rather than steadily escalates? How can he ramp up the action while staying true to the facts? Since act two is the longest act (a little more than half the film), it is imperative that the editor ratchets up conflict. Ideally, each barrier the protagonist faces should be more daunting than the last.
One solution is to shuffle the order of events, recognizing, in the words of Jon Else, that “a chronicle does not have to unfold chronologically” to be true. For example, an editor can begin act two with events unfolding in the order they actually took place, and then reveal a crisis that happened years earlier. The back story is revealed when it provides maximum impact, raising the stakes for the protagonist and contributing to an escalating sense of crisis.
The film doubles back to earlier years on several occasions. In one instance late in the second act, archival footage from MTV introduces an important back story. In April 2000, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich sued the music-trading Web company Napster for copyright infringement. Ulrich criticized Napster for selling technology that allowed fans to download the band’s music free of charge. The so-called Napster controversy made headlines worldwide, and turned Metallica into a target for angry fans.
This back story, placed well into the second act, achieves two important structural goals. First, the stormy incident steps up momentum at the required time-as the story approaches the climax of the second act. In addition, the Napster back story raises the stakes for the very next scene, in which band members discuss going on tour and whether their album will be a hit or not. With the recollection of hate mail and irate fans in the viewer’s mind, the stakes of the band’s album tour becomes even more charged.
For more information about how to keep momentum building in a three-act documentary structure, go to http://www.newdocediting.com/land/editingdocumentaryecourse/
