Documentary Edit: Review and Feedback

Today we presented our documentary rough cuts for assessment, which we have been working on for the past few weeks. At the start of the session we went through how to export our files from AVID as a Quicktime movie; what settings/codecs to use and how to limit the data rate for upload on to Vimeo.

Afterwards, we went through each edit in turn to receive general feedback relevant to all our films and specific criticism for later projects. I noted down both for consideration:

• Don't have 'gold-fishing' (moving mouths without voices) - make them low but not silent
• Disguise the production process in some shots - crop out stage lights if necessary
• Decide whether to let contributors dictate pace with pauses or use music to control it
• Back up any speakers' assertions with evidence - can't do it, don't use it.
• Don't repeat ideas in short documentaries - not enough time
• Front-load films with best content to help with festival submissions.
• Always have a subject talk to the camera first before using alternative angles.
• Including pauses to show thinking creates vulnerability and therefore empathy
• Flip interviews if needed to disguise cut - opposite side cuts are less jarring.
• Watch more short films to get a sense of audience response
• Optimum length of piece of music is ~30s - gets tedious/annoying after that.
• Don't use soft cuts or dissolves - too easy. Challenge is to always use hard cuts but for nobody to notice.

Individual Feedback:

• Use less of the red-shirt speaker
• Don't need to talk about nature - more interested in poetry.
• Don't need to talk about mechanics of poetry ('ABAB rhyme scheme')
• Try and consolidate the two endings into one - audiences need to know when its finished.

As I'm currently in the process of creating a documentary for my other module this feedback will be very useful, and now we're moving on to the drama edit the experience working with AVID so far should make the next project much smoother.