Assisting Protocols for Documentaries
With the advent of cable television in the 1980s and 1990s, the world of documentaries and reality shows exploded in popularity. Today they are still boasting an ever-increasing market share in the world of television viewing. They have become the hot new genres.
To work as an assistant on either a documentary or a reality show, you will need the same basic skills and knowledge of the editing room required by other venues. What will differ, however, is what you digitize or import, the organization of the B roll, and how you organize your material and set bins to suit the needs of your editor.
Documentaries and reality shows shoot great amounts of footage and require exceptional organizational skills as you bring order to what seems like chaos. There are different production techniques and shooting styles employed by both of these genres. Documentary coverage usually reflects a controlled shooting style on a single camera where every shot is planned and carefully composed. Reality is shot in real time, capturing events as they happen, and there are often multiple cameras shooting the action from different angles, usually handheld and generally much more proactive in coverage. Working in these different styles will affect your work flow as an assistant.
Within the genre of documentary there are various approaches to capturing the subject matter. One of the standard methods of making a documentary is to settle on the subject or theme. A research team will find the following:
• The best locations
• Relevant interviews and interviewees
• Stock footage (to be licensed from a stock house)
• Stills (obtained from the subject of the show or licensed from a stills library)
• Music that might be used for the show or that might form part of the story
DEFINITION
B roll is footage that is used to illustrate the story and will be used as cutaways for an interview.
Re-creation is a dramatic reenactment of a situation (historic or contemporary) that portrays an event or action that highlights or dramatizes a story point in the show.
A producer, cameraman, sound mixer, and small production crew will then go on location to record the interviews, shoot the B roll, and capture any sound or music that is relevant to the story.
Another popular and important device used to tell the documentary story is the re-creation. These dramatizations can sometimes be major production events utilizing actors, extras, sets, and complicated lighting setups. They can be quite costly. Sometimes these re-creations can be shot rather simply and will rely on postproduction techniques to heighten their drama.
Re-creations are, for me, the most exciting part of editing and creating a documentary. This is where the dramatic world of theatrical production meets the nonfiction world of harsh reality. I have edited many nonfiction works that have relied heavily on re-creations to dramatize events. These re-creations form an integral part of the mood and the visual look of the show. A simple cart being pushed slowly along a road by a man against a stunning sunset became the key symbolic element in a story called “Black Death” for the series History’s Mysteries. African men walking past the camera with bare feet in front of a slave fort in Ghana symbolized the slaves being herded onto the dreaded ships for the New World in “World on a String.”
Many times these re-creations need to be treated in some way to take them beyond the immediate reality and to create another time and place. Many popular methods include speeding up the shot (ramping) or doing a slow motion effect (slow-mo) to create more tension or make the scene more surreal. Editors are always looking for fresh and effective ways of treating shots when they are used as re-creations or flashbacks in a story. This becomes a perfect moment for an assistant to suggest new concepts using the latest available programs or technology that might be available for the editing programs. Offer up suggestions and contribute whenever the opportunity arises.
–df
When the shoot is complete (there are always pickups of some sort needed to help flesh out a story), all the material (on whatever format it was shot on) is brought back to postproduction and prepped for inputting or ingesting. Again, every production house has its own specific setup, and you will familiarize yourself with all the technology particular to that editing system. All the interviews will need to be transferred by the assistant onto a tape format (specified by the transcriber) with visible time code (Viz TC) and sent to be transcribed. These transcriptions will have a shooting timecode (TC) denoted in the margins on every paragraph for visual reference for the writer. The writer–producer will select relevant statements made in the interview (bites) and will write a script based on these selected bites. He will denote the TC on his script for the assistant. This enables the assistant to scroll through the interviews and use both the timecodes and the corresponding typed transcripts to find the selected material required for digitizing. The writer–producer will write a guide narration in and out of each bite, which will become the story outline for the show. Many creative writers–producers will also suggest visuals and B roll material that could be used over the narration and interviews (the cutaways). This is a paper cut of the film and is the first script the editor has to work with.
There are many different documentary formats and styles, and most people will approach their subject matter in a method that is best suited to that subject matter. Many shows are not scripted at all. Some documentaries could be compilation films, using clips from old movies, for example. These films might incorporate an onscreen host to start and end the show. The onscreen presenter is the actor who will be shot on a stage or on location and will be setting up the narrative and talking directly to the camera. Often he is the voice-over (VO) narrator for the entire film. Often the editor has to craft the show with the on-screen host already shot. Sometimes this narration will be written only after the show is cut. The host will be tagged to the head and tail of the show, and his off-screen narration will be written after the show has a final cut.
Sometimes a producer–cameraman will go on location and shoot as much material as he can with a story in mind. The footage will be brought back, and the final film will be created in the cutting room from mounds of footage. There is no script, and guidelines for the story outline will be in rough note form from the director. Often the amount of coverage is enormous, and finding shots can become a nightmare unless there is meticulous organization of the material. Discuss a method of breaking down the material with your editor, and take careful note of how he wants the footage digitized and bins set up for fast and easy reference. Endless styles of shooting will dictate the work flow and organization of dailies and B roll. Your contribution in managing the material will be essential for the success of the show.
The assistant has the job of breaking down all the tapes (media) shot on location, which includes the B roll and interviews. Usually the interviews will be interspersed with the B roll on the same tape. You will log and digitize or import all the material into the editing system.
To begin trying to organize all the material, it is a good idea to make a brief log of what is on each tape you receive. Often there will be no time for slates or any real kind of identification of the material shot. Go through all the tapes and make a log for each one. Make sure that all tapes and/or tapeless folders have unique names to be referenced during digitizing. Break down the material into B roll and interviews, and note the date shot. Add timecodes where possible for easy reference when searching for bites, special shots, or scenes on the tape. Put all these sheets with the lists of information in the editor’s binder so he has a tangible record of all the material that was shot. This process is the same whether you are working with tape or material from a tapeless media—P2 or EX (media on tapeless formats is stored in a folder).
Here is an example of a breakdown of the contents of a tape. Note the italicized commentary that the assistant has added.
SHINE NOTE
When sorting material, if you see some really pertinent or great beauty shots, make comments on the logs. This is a great way to shine and help your editor go to the great moments quickly.
Tape 1
12/16/09
1. Interior B roll–Village Green restaurant
2. Street scenes–Jerusalem (*3rd shot is most active!)
3. B roll–Alleys, etc. near falafel shop (quiet)
4. Ext. Vegetarian Society
5. Signs–“Event”
6. Interview Mr. Jack Cohen (chief electrician)–T/C: 00:05:17
Tape 2
12/17/09
1. Interview Joseph Jacobs–T/C: 0:00:00
2. B roll–Joseph in his office (talks to someone, goes to the computer, etc.)
3. Interview Barry Jones, owner Village Green rest–T/C: 00:17:57
4. Jerusalem from top of Tower Building (late afternoon) (various)
5. Sunset over Jerusalem from top of Tower Building (*great–4th shot has best focus!)
6. Interview Dr. John Black (dentist)–T/C 00:26:48
7. B roll–Dr. John Black and patient
Tape 3
12/18/09
1. Interview Eran Ben Shack (Green Course. Instructor seen in B roll)–TC: 00:00:17
2. B roll–Driving shots. Traffic, congested roads (Tel Aviv), many high-rises and tall, modern buildings can be seen. Freeways. (All shot through the windscreen.)
3. 0:10:04–Freeway. Buses, train zooms past, busy. (*nice and colorful!)
4. Freeway to Jerusalem (through windscreen) (0:19:50 new bridge construction)
5. 0:21:47–Entering Jerusalem (through windscreen)
6. 0:22:20–Old City, Dome of the Rock. Shot from vantage point. Various. Zooms etc. (Modern settlements in B/G.) Dome shines brightly. Pans. Reveals.
7. Old City Shouk
8. 0:40:20–Nice shot of Dome of the Rock
9. 0:45:50–Lutheran church bells
10. Jerusalem street scenes and pedestrians (*great car-bys and kids!)
11. 0:56:00–High angle, Old City from vantage point
After you have made a rough list of all the material on the tapes, start logging material on each tape. Give them appropriate labels and arrange them in a B roll bin. Make sure that you label them in a way that will enable your editor to find shots quickly. It is not necessary to log a shot at every camera stop where there is continuous timecode.
If you are using tapeless media, which separates each individual shot before ingesting it, use your judgment on how you want to organize the material. Group the shots together in a logical order. It is best to log a segment of material shot in one location; for example, the farmyard and the animals as one clip instead of separating the chicken, duck, and horse shots. It is easier for the editor to scroll through all the farmyard material (if the clip is a reasonable length; maximum of 8–10 minutes) and make his own selects or subclips in a separate bin. Use your discretion when logging all the material, and come up with a simple way to name and identify shots in the bins. The editor usually has a wide choice of shots to work with, and you need to set up an efficient and organized system that helps make the work flow seamless. This is key to your assisting skills. If you have any queries, discuss them in detail with your editor and get his feedback on what works best for him and, again, his preferences for organization.
In documentaries, the cameraman will be tempted to capture many things that oftentimes might not be integral to the story. However, it is wise to digitize all the B roll material for the editor so he has the best possible selection. It is often that unscripted sunset that the cameraman captured while everyone was on coffee break that could be the perfect transition shot that the editor needed to bridge day and night. Digitize all B roll and only scripted bites for the interviews.
Set up your project and make bins for Re-creations, Stock, Stills, Music, Sound Effects, B roll, Banners, Lower Thirds, and Interviews. Then create your Cuts bins and label them as you would for narrative programming.
Prepare binders and keep all paperwork you receive (e.g., camera report sheets) and all the logs you have created neatly filed and labeled. Place the current working script into the editor’s binder and label it in much the same way as you would for a television show. When you receive the typed transcriptions of the interviews, place them all in a huge binder and put tabs on the side with each interviewee’s name so you can find the interviews easily. This binder is gold and will often be consulted by the director–editor during editing when he looks for some other relevant bite he would like to add to the cut to help the story. Keep all the paperwork that you receive from the stock houses or still libraries in the assistant’s binder, as well as copies of scripts as they are worked on. Scripts in documentaries are rewritten many times and will change with each cut as narration is refined and polished. Keep your editor’s binder up to date with each and every rewrite.
If your show is being created for a network, the first script written will generally be sent to network producers for approval. The assistant will use this first script (paper cut) as a guide to start pulling the interview sound bites to create a spine for the show.
Create a bin in the project labeled Interviews. Go through all the interview material that was shot, find the scripted bites on the tapes or hard drive (using timecode and transcriptions as a guide), and digitize or import them into the project and into the Interviews bin. Then label them with the interviewee’s name, and for ease of reference write the first and last three words of the interview bite next to the clip that corresponds to the script (e.g., Stern, Max: “I wish he had … and then he left”). Go through the whole script and digitize all the bites. It is a good idea to keep all the interview bites of one person together and keep all your characters listed alphabetically in the bin for easy reference.
Often the assistant will do a rough read of the narration in the script and record it into the computer to be used as a guide track or temp narration track. The pace needs to be steady and not too fast. If you are unable to deliver a reasonable read, we suggest you find someone else in post who will be happy to read for you. Record his voice as the temp track. The final narration, with the designated professional voice, will generally be recorded when the show is locked. Create a VO bin (or Temp Narration bin), and digitize the reading into the bin.
Create a Cuts bin and make a new sequence called the radio cut. By following the script, you will assemble the radio cut, intercutting the guide narration (on track 3) with the interview bites (production sound on tracks 1 and 2), usually leaving 1 second of black between the bite and the narration. The radio cut is the first cut that the editor will receive in his Cuts bin, and he will begin working on the show with this spine or assembly. As in episodic television, the assistant will be responsible for formatting the acts with commercial breaks, cutting in main titles, end credit cards, and following many of the standard procedures that were previously described for television programming. Make sure you create all the banners for shot missing, re-creation to come, end titles, etc. and place them in the Banners bin for your editor.
Here is an example of a first draft script that the assistant will follow to pull the bites, record the guide narration, and create a radio cut. Note that sometimes the writer will pull a long bite but will only use parts of the statement and will denote that there have been cuts by using the markings //0//.
Act Two
Here is an example of a final script of a locked show ready for recording the final narration:
Raising Baby Jenny
Domestic Version–Final draft
June 19, 2010
Cold open
End cold open
Stock footage is often an integral part of a documentary. It could be historic footage of World War II, or it could be home footage shot by the family about whom the film is being made. Whatever the origin, it needs to be carefully logged and sources noted. The post supervisor or the producer–writer will usually do the research and view tapes they have ordered from various stock houses. When they have deemed what might be of potential use to the editor in telling the story, they will give you the viewing tapes from the source library to digitize into the project. Keep all the paperwork from the different libraries carefully filed in the binder. The lists contain their library tape numbers, timecodes, and shot descriptions of all the footage they have sent for viewing and selection. Ultimately, you will have to reference back to these logs when the final cut is made, and you have to order the final clean versions of the viewing material to be inserted into the final show.
Digitize the selected library shots into a bin named Stock Footage for your editor. Label each segment you receive with the library source name on it and with a brief description. In this way, it is easy to identify the source by just looking at the time line or clicking back from the time line into the bin.
This footage is only a working copy and will have visible timecode on every frame. When the final cut is locked, you will order up the shots from the library and give exact timecodes, including exact frame counts at the head and at the tail of the timecode numbers. This footage is usually very expensive to purchase, and it is priced by the second, so it is vital that you be infinitely precise when ordering up the final stock.
I edited part of the documentary series Ancient Mysteries, hosted by Leonard Nimoy, for the A&E channel. One of the shows, “The Neanderthals,” was written and produced by my husband, Lionel Friedberg. The film told the story of the lifestyle of a Neanderthal man who lived more than 100,000 years ago. What footage do you use to illustrate this tale and cover the fascinating narration and interview bites? Exactly, there is no footage! Hence, stock became my greatest friend.
The assistant had done a great job digitizing endless stock footage that had been collected from stock houses around the world, such as museum exhibitions and robotic Neanderthal figures, archaeological digs in France, worldwide locations where Neanderthals had roamed, etc. In the end, the show looked great, but the cost of all the footage was prohibitive. Each supplier puts their own value on their footage and sets up their own pricing per second or per shot. I approached our production office about shooting some suggestive re-creations, but they were loath to spend money on shooting any footage. Eventually, the assistant editor went through tapes of other stock, finding cheaper footage to match what I had used. His resourceful persistence helped me cut the stock cost by a third. The compromise between cost and aesthetic choices is an eternal battle fought in the documentarian’s editing room. The show was extremely well-received. The lessons to be learned here are when given the opportunity, shine as a creative partner for your editor, contribute creative suggestions when called upon, and strive for aesthetic excellence. If you can assist your editor in this way, it will help promote you to the cherished seat with lightning speed.
–df
When the show is locked and the final replacement footage from the library is received, you must match and replace the working print that is in the cut with the new, clean version from the stock house. The new shots must match up perfectly—to the frame—to the working copy. Because the editor has probably gone to great pains to select exactly the right shots and has more than likely added SFX and MX to sync with the footage, you must cut in the footage correctly. If there is a problem and the new footage you receive does not match the editor’s cut, you have to inform him immediately. Cut in the replacement footage on the track above the old footage, and double-check that it is accurate and matches perfectly frame by frame. Triple-check your work by running the new footage with the soundtrack. You do not want to begin the online with a mismatch of stock footage!
Another very important element often used in creating a documentary story is the use of stills and old photographs. These are often bought from various libraries that specialize in licensing images. Today, many of these are emailed as JPEGs, TIFs, or PNGs and can be imported directly into the project. Often the editor will create moves on these stills using his program tools. These can be used as final images, but on higher-budget shows, the post producer will probably order hard copies of the stills and shoot various moves on a rostrum camera for more accuracy and polish. This is a motion control camera that is positioned over a tabletop that enables the operator to perfectly control his camera moves over images that are placed on this tabletop. The motion control enables smooth and carefully paced pans, tilts, zooms, and even multiple moves over the smallest of pictures. This offers the editor a greater choice of how to play his still image for the best emotional or storytelling effect.
Often the temp stills that the editor has used for cutting and viewing purposes will have to be replaced with the newly shot stills of better quality created with the rostrum camera. Match the new camera moves exactly to replace the temp shots. If there is a problem, always inform your editor.
While editing a documentary series, A History of Sex, produced for the History Channel, stills became a major element in the visual illustration of historic stories. I had to be resourceful in manipulating these photographs so that R-rated activity was never shown in the film; it was only suggested.
How to make painted sex imagery on a Grecian urn appear tasteful was a challenge! Finally, when all these barriers were overcome and great shows were locked, the producers bemoaned the fact that we were over budget. We were instructed to minimize the number of stills used. Nothing can be more frustrating for an editor than having to start the reverse engineering process of your finely honed work due to budgetary constraints. The assistant jumped into the reconstructing process, and with paper and pencil in hand, together we reviewed the film. We planned where we could lose shots and how we could use images more than once in a different configuration. There is usually no cost if you use the same image more than once in the same show. We devised new moves on previously used stills, and my assistant sent the lists to the rostrum operator for further shooting. We were able to disguise the fact that these images were already in the show, and with layering of B roll, I was able to give a whole new feel to the same image. Thanks to the help of the assistant, we were able to remedy the budgetary problems and still keep the inherent integrity of the visuals. This series has been one of the most successful offerings on the History Channel, with many spin-offs following since its initial airing in the late 1990s.
–df
Stills, like stock footage, come with fairly high prices if they are obtained from outside libraries. Keep all the paperwork with reference to the used stills and their source for the postproduction supervisor. All of this information is vital for licensing the material.
One feature that is important in documentaries is the use of titles or lower thirds. These are the names and titles of the interviewees. When the show is locked, an important job is to make sure that there is a complete list of all the people in the show who require lower-third identifications. Check with your post producer to be sure you have the correct spellings of their names and the final identification that is to be used. Using the timecode of the formatted show, create a list of all the lower thirds and the precise minute, second, and frame count where they should fade up and fade down as denoted on the cut. This list will be used if the titles are to be re-created in a postproduction titling facility. Time is money, and anything you can do to help speed up the process and time spent in the titling facility will make you shine.
In the documentary world, the use of SFX and MX is utilized in much the same way as with all other genres. However, because of the normally lower budgets of documentaries, producers will often negotiate great licensing deals with music libraries and will rely more on needle drops for the dramatic underscoring of their show. Sometimes needle drops are used only as a guide for the composer, who will come aboard and spot and score the film when it is locked.
If a library is to be used for either permanent scoring or temping, you must set up different bins and group the music into categories; for example, dramatic, tension, classical, stings, lyrical, ethnic or world, etc. This facilitates the search for the editor when he is hunting for a specific style or mood of music to enhance the scene.
A good SFX library is also necessary. Create bins in the project and organize the sound effects alphabetically so the editor can scroll through the lists and find what he needs quickly. Offer to help lay in SFX when needed.
The routine of assembling the film, formatting, outputting, and finishing the show follows many of the same rules as dramatic shows. The final narration will be recorded to time to make sure the narration readings are as close as possible to the temp VO. The new narration is laid in to replace the temp exactly to the frame. Sometimes, because of variants in reads, slight visual adjustments will have to be made by the editor to accommodate the new narrator. Often on documentaries, the sound is mixed on ProTools or a similar system. One of the assistant’s jobs, besides preparing for the online, is to convert all the final cleaned soundtracks to OMF files to give to the sound mixer. As in other genres, a QuickTime on a DVD or a chase cassette of the locked show is generated, which will be used for visual reference during the online.
The documentary world is very often the low-budget end of the editing venues, but on a personal level, it can certainly offer rewarding experiences. The subject matter embraces the world as your canvas—from history to science, culture to religion, and natural history to space exploration. Documentaries enrich your personal perspective and understanding of life on this planet and beyond.