Something that was very important for my documentary we getting enough cutaways to use when it came to the edit. This became ever more apparent after the first two days of shooting in which the plans had to be significantly changed as what I have intended to plan did not go ahead.
Along with a big script rewrite, it meant that I asked whoever was helping me to get as much footage as they could because it would be helpful when it comes to the edit. Alex and George did a great job with this and the edit process was simplified thanks to the abundance of clips.
The last university unit actually really helped me in this regard, even though I was not the main editor on the project I did help and i think that as we had so many great clips that we could cut away to it meant that the editor did not struggle in terms of footage. Taking this knowledge forward will be very important and I am happy I have grasped that understanding this early on.
I also studied a few documentaries on what they do for cutaway shots and they are all similar in one way. Louis Theroux is a pioneer in the documentary world and nearly everything he creates is perfect. I learned through watching hsi documentary that the cutaways are vitally important to keep the story moving. An example in his “Dark States” (BBC, 2017) series shows that they use a clip of drug needles being deposited and then new needles being handed out to show that this is a never-ending cycle for some addicts. While what is being said is not directly corresponding to what is being shown, the use of a cutaway lets the viewer know or see something that may have not known earlier.
The use of driving shots is also interesting in a lot of Louis’ documentaries. It’s a sense that they are always going somewhere to find something, discover what the truth is. Without these shots it would not feel right, it would lack that intimacy that a lot of his documentaries thrive on. I have thought both ways about these shots for my documentary. They were in some of my plans to have something similar, but the more I thought about it the less I wanted them. This is because while in Louis’ or Alan’s documentaries for example, I am not the person going on a journey. I am more relaying information to the viewer than being an active role in the documentary.
Of course, I am voicing it over but there is a subtle difference. I am not actively partaking in what is happening more helping the viewer understand what is happening. In Alan’s and Louis’ documentaries that are the ones going on a journey and probing for answers, in my documentary I am in a way just relaying information.
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