contents contents
full screenprintcontentsfull screenprintEDITING MAY 2019
46 VIDEOMAKER >>> MAY 2019
Chris “Ace” Gates is a four time Emmy Award-
winning writer and producer. He is a big fan of
animation and transmedia storytelling.You can comment on this article by going online:
http://www.videomaker.com/?p=72000223plugin A software addition to an
editing or compositing program that
adds features to the software. Typical
plugin functions include audio effects,
encoding, additional visual effects and
expanded tool capabilities.post-production (post) Any video
production activity following initial
recording. Typically involves editing,
the addition of background music,
voice over, sound effects, titles, and/
or various visual effects. Results in
completed production.RAID (Redundant Array of Indepen-
dent Disks) A method of configuring
hard drives to increase data access
speed, reliability or some combina-
tion of both.rate stretch A common video editing
tool that allows the editor to change
the time rate of a clip, thus increas-
ing or decreasing its run time without
changing the content therein.raw footage Pre-edited footage, usu-
ally direct from the camera.real-time Occurring immediately,
without delay for rendering. If a
transition occurs in real-time, there is
no waiting; the computer creates the
effect or transition on-the-fly, showing
the results immediately.render The processing a computer
undertakes when creating an applied
effect, transition or composite.render time The time it takes an
editing computer to composite source
elements and commands into a single
video file so the sequence, including
titles and transition effects, can play
in full motion.ripple edit A common editing tool
that allows the editor to edit a clip the
timeline without changing any edits
that follow.roll Text effect commonly seen in
end credits, where text typicallymoves from the bottom to the top of
the screen.rough cut Preliminary edit of footage
in the approximate sequence, length
and content of a finished program.scene detection The ability of a video
editing program to break capturedvideo into clips automatically. Scene
detection can be based on the time/
date stamp data of the footage or based
on optical changes in the scene itself.scrub The act of moving the cursor or
playhead across the timeline manually.
Once specific to audio tracks, the term
is now also used to refer to video tracks.slide A common editing tool that al-
lows the editor to move a clip to the
left or right in a timeline while simul-
taneously trimming the two clips that
surround it.slip A common editing tool that simul-
taneously changes the in and out points
of a clip in a timeline while keeping the
time span between them constant.sound bite Any short recorded audio
segment isolated for use in an edited
program, usually a highlight taken
from an interview.sound effects Contrived audio, usu-
ally prerecorded, incorporated with a
video soundtrack to resemble a real
occurrence. Blowing on a microphone,
for example, might simulate wind to
accompany hurricane images.soundtrack The audio portion of a
video recording, often multifaceted
with natural sound, voiceovers, back-
ground music, etc.sweetening Post-production process
of adding music and sound effects
or otherwise enhancing the existing
audio with filters and other effects.synchronous sound Audio recorded
with images so the words sync with
the mouth or other on-screen source.time code Discrete addresses given
to each frame of video. Time code
makes frame-accurate editing possible
and allows editors to identify scenes
precisely in a log.timeline An editing interface that lays
out a video project in a linear fashion.titling Process or result of incorporat-
ing on-screen text as titles, credits,
captions or any other form of alpha-
numeric communication.transition Any visual changes be-
tween two discrete scenes. Cuts, dis-
solves, fades and wipes are the most
common types of transitions.voiceover (VO) Audio from an unseen
narrator accompanying video, heard
above background sound or music.wipe Transition from one shot to an-
other, where the edge of the transition
moves across the original image as a line
or a pattern, revealing the new shot.While this list doesn’t cover every
single piece of jargon a seasoned
editor might use, it should give you a
decent handle on the most commonly
used terminology. If you do encounter
any unfamiliar vocabulary in the edit
suite, don’t be afraid to ask for a defi-
nition — or at least make note of the
term so you can learn more about it
later on. It never hurts to learn some-
thing new about your craft.IF YOU ENCOUNTER UN-
FAMILIAR VOCABULARY,
DON’T BE AFRAID TO
ASK FOR A DEFINITION.384 C01 Editing .indd 46 3/19/19 2:27 PMDOCUMENTARY
VIDEOMAKER >>> MAY 2019 47
If you are a beginner documentar-
ian, it’s best to address a more man-
ageable topic. Instead of a documen-
tary called “California,” you would
concentrate on one historical figure
in one location. Or, you’d focus your
efforts on how members of a particu-
lar community solved a single issue.
Have you narrowed down your topic
as much as possible? Remember, it’s
people who make the story.Why do you want
to make this documentary?
Ask yourself, are you doing it for the
money or the applause? You’ll be foot-Have you ever heard of Robert J.
Flaherty? He’s known as the “father”
of documentary filmmaking (“Na-
nook of the North,” 1922). However,
documentaries didn’t truly capture the
attention of mainstream audiences
until Michael Moore’s “Roger and Me”
in 1989. Moore proved that you could
make social change while making a
living. So, now you’d like to give it a
go, right? The management of a docu-
mentary timeline begins when you
answer a few questions for yourself.What is your documentary about?
Clearly, the best documentaries reflect
the creator’s selfless passion. What
is the topic? What do you want the
viewer to learn? Is your topic nar-
rowed down enough for a 30, 45 or
60-minute video? Or, do you need to
create a mini-series, a la Ken Burns
who created series like “The Civil War,”
“Baseball,” “The National Parks” and
“Jazz,” among others?Develop an idea into a doc
If you’ve never made a documen-
tary, the process of getting from
concept to completed work can
be something of a mystery. In
this article, we’ll break the doc
timeline down into simple steps.
by Patty Mooneying a lot of bills just to see your vision
through. In fact, you’ll be competing
with thousands, maybe hundreds of
thousands of aspiring filmmakers, all
vying for eyeballs. There’s no guaran-
tee your movie will ever make a cent.
In our case, we garnered a lot of
press and many international awards
but very little money with our 1994
documentary “Full Cycle: A World
Odyssey.” Do you still want to do it?What impact do you want to make
with your documentary?
Furthermore, it’s important to con-
sider the long hours it takes to bring
a documentary to fruition. Similarly,
think about the time it will take to
market your video, shopping it around
at film festivals, etc. What is it that
you are trying to say? Is it meaning-
ful enough to keep you motivated
throughout the production process?
If after all the soul searching, you
want to move ahead, here are some
things you’ll need to know.Pre-production
Seasoned video pros know pre-pro-
duction sometimes takes up most of
your time. The first item to tackle on
your documentary timeline: Come upA good background
helps put inter-
views in context
and gives your doc
a cohesive look, as
seen here on set for
the History Chan-
nel’s “Dogfights”
with Brigadier Gen-
eral Steve Ritchie
and Sound Tech
Patty Mooney.384 C06 Documentary.indd 47 3/19/19 2:28 PM