Documentary-Style Workflows
One of the obvious challenges of documentary work is the large amounts of media required. There will be a nice mix of footage from different cameras, archival and found footage, photos and still images. We’ll need transcriptions of interviews and probably for “on-the-fly” moments with subjects.
I’m going to quickly break down the main components of a documentary post-production workflow that has worked well for me. This includes prepping the footage, maintaining an editing archive and managing a finishing project.
Prepping The Footage
I’ve built my footage prepping system to be as friendly as possible for a collaborative environment with an editor and a director or producer. This means that I will usually create different kinds of stringouts based on what the project requires, so that the team has a way to view the footage and communicate.
For example, on “Hilarities” the doc we cut about a local comedy club, I utilized 3 different kinds of stringouts for each day of footage.
The first stringout was b-roll clips laid out chronologically based on how the footage was shot. This makes it easy for a director or producer to scrub through and take notes on what takes they like by referencing the burned-in timecode and clip names.
The second stringout was called “On-The-Fly” which meant it includes any takes where people were potentially mic’d up or interviewed on the fly during filming. This stringout is also transcribed.
The last stringout I used I called “Stand-Up Sets” because we wanted to be able to transcribe all of the stand-up performances we recorded so we could find the best moments.
After prepping each day of footage, I would have these different sequences prepped in the project:
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Date_Comedian Name_B-Roll Day Stringout
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Date_Comedian Name_On-The-Fly
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Date_Comedian Name_Stand-Up Sets
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Date_Comedian Name_Interview
If we were doing a doc about professional hockey players, we might do a stringout of “hot mic locker room” or “press conference” moments. It really depends what the subject is, and the needs of the director and producers.
When I’m prepping footage for my projects, I always keep a “prep” project separate from my edit project so that I can go back and grab the original prep sequences if needed.
Read our Post Production Handbook to learn more about our three stage process.
Maintaining an Editing Archive
At the beginning of every day we make a new copy of the project file and add the date. We archive all of the old projects in 3 places: the local hard drive, a back up and a cloud copy.
When we’re ready to start editing, even if it’s just creating some initial assemblies, we duplicate our prep project and create a new project called “Edit.”
One thing that we’re very careful about is making sure that each export has a corresponding sequence with a matching title. As we work through post production, there will be many “work in progress (WIP)” exports and other iterations. The better we can organize and document these files the less confusing our path will be.
Especially if we have to hand off to another editor. The last thing anybody wants to do is blindly track down the original sequence that was used to create an MP4 the director LOVES called “MyMovie3_v1.67_WIP.”
Being diligent about documenting the progress of the edit can be a tough ask when budgets are limited and the workforce is already stretched. This is why we’ve spent so much time trying to think ahead and build roadmaps before they are needed.
If we’re prepared, we can take away some of the guesswork and deliver more consistent results.
Managing a Finishing Project
Once picture is locked, we want to lock in our final edit by duplicating that final “edit” project and then creating our “finish” project where we will do our work.
I’m not going through every technical detail of a finish, but the golden key to finishing is the timecode-stamped reference video file created from the picture-locked sequence. This reference file will be used by every finishing entity to ensure the integrity of the final cut.
The finishing project will include all conformed sequences with final color, final mix and any additional graphics, subtitles or elements needed for final delivery.
The idea is that if somebody needs to come back later and create new files, the finish project will be there and relink back to all the finishing media without issue.
It happens very often that a production needs to go back and make a slight change or re-output something for new distribution.
I’ve watched producers spend a lot of money tracking down these elements just to try and open up the final sequence and change a simple graphic element.
Final Thoughts and Archive
If we’re handling finishing, we always create an archive document that we leave outside in the root folder of the master drive.
This text document has important information about the finishing sequence, where media lives on the drive, and any special considerations future editors may find helpful.
Documentaries can get messy fast and it’s easy to point fingers and blame shrinking budgets.
Team awareness and duty of care when it comes to media management is one thing that sets us apart from other freelance editing operations.
Check out these articles for more helpful info:
Dailies and Proxy Workflows Explained
Why Your Movie Needs a Post Pipeline