Using Sounbites for Your Documentary’s Inciting Incident

Once my students understand the necessity of an inciting incident to launch their story, their next question is this:  “If a documentary filmmaker does not have footage of the actual inciting incident, how does she bring it to life on screen?”

The most common solution in the documentary world is to comb through interviews for a soundbite that reconstructs the inciting incident.  Sometimes even a periphery character can recall a particular moment that will change the lives of the characters forever.  In Capturing the Friedmans, an 88-minute film, the inciting incident occurs seven minutes into the story, when a postal inspector appears on screen for the first time.  He recounts that in 1984, U.S. Customs had seized some child pornography addressed to Arnold Friedman.

Keep in mind that if an interviewee is going to relate the catalyst event, an editor should choose an exceptionally charismatic storyteller.  Remember, this is the moment the story is supposed to take off.  If a lackluster soundbite can’t fuel the launch, an editor may need booster material:  narration, location footage, reenactments, animation, etc. Whereas a screenwriter can start the story with a single inciting scene, the non-fiction storyteller must often construct an inciting sequence.  As long as the sequence gets the story off the ground, it’s fine to employ a slow burn rather than pyrotechnics.

For more strategies about how to shape an inciting incident, check out my 6-part e-course, “Editing the Character-Driven Documentary.” 

Go to https://newdocediting.com/land/editingdocumentaryecourse/.