The Art of the Documentary: Fifteen Conversations with Leading Directors, Cinematographers, Editors, and Producers, Second Edition

Editing

Finding the Film

“I’m very particular about the kind of cuts I make,” says veteran documentary editor Geof Bartz, “because good cutting is indistinguishable from good structure.” Indeed, the sign of great film editing, most agree, is when the audience fails to notice the cutting at all. Bartz, like all the editors I spoke with, considers creating absorbing narrative that puts the viewer inside of the story by delivering entertaining scenes and substance to be at the heart of his search to find the film.

The documentary editor is like a sculptor whose materials are restricted to found artifacts of media: photographs, professionally shot footage, archival material, home movies, interviews, music, and transcripts. Today’s editors working ...