Learn the art and craft of documentary editing, from creating visual narratives to working with sound, music, and graphics.

Course Description

Documentary editing can be a bit like carpentry - shaping a mound of footage into something that tells a story.

This course is aimed at new and emerging directors and editors, with no or little experience of documentary editing. Working on Adobe Premiere Pro, we’ll explore the art and craft of documentary editing, from creating visual narratives to working with sound, music, and graphics.

Session 1

In session 1, we’ll begin by learning the nuts and bolts of Premiere Pro using Open City Docs’ editing suite. After learning about hard drive management, students will look at starting a new project in Premiere, logging footage, and the basics of editing footage together. We’ll explore editing interviews, alongside editing observational footage. Using documentary footage, students will have a go editing a scene.

 

Learning outcomes:

 

• Hard drive management
• Starting a new Premiere Project
• Getting to know the interface
• Importing the material
• Logging footage
• Building the timeline
• Editing a sequence

 

Session 2

In the next session, we’ll continue where we left off. Students will learn to create atmospheres using sound, and where and how to use music in film. In this session we’ll also cover basic sound correction, colour grading,  graphics, and subtitling. We’ll  then discuss scripting and structuring, watching some short films and understanding different narrative techniques. Students will then have a go editing a short film.

• Sound editing: basic concepts
• Sound design
• Colour grading
• Working with text and subtitles
• Narrative techniques and storytelling
• Paper editing and building a structure
• Practical exercise

 

This course takes place over a weekend (22^nd and 23^rd April) from 10:30am to 4:30pm, with a lunch break from 1pm to 2pm.

 

If you have any enquiries regarding this course, please contact [email protected] or call +442031084774.

 

Course location: Open City Docs, 4th Floor, 40 Bernard Street, London, WC1N 1LE