Sundance Doc Lab pt.5 - Notes From The Lab

I was invited to attend this years Sundance Documentary Edit and Story Lab as an assistant editor. Each assistant is assigned to one of the five feature-length documentaries that have been invited to participate in the lab. Each project consists of its director(s) and editor. This is Part Five in my Sundance Labs re-cap. Part One. Part Two. Part Three. Part Four.

I've been vague about exactly what I learned at the Doc Lab this summer. That is due, in part, to the fact that during their presentations, the advisors have to speak candidly about their work or about themselves and I feel I should protect that.

But I think I can provide a list of helpful, general anecdotes that stuck with me this summer. I know this will help me on the documentary I'm editing now and it may also help you on yours.

I won't attribute any one tip or anecdote to any one advisor. Instead this will be one list so it is from one voice. That said, allow me to tell you a little bit about our advisors this year:


Johnathan Oppenheim is an editing monk. Whenever he spoke I think everyone felt like he had experienced enlightenment long ago and it would take us lifetimes to catch up.

Richard Hankin has a way to cut to the chase without being rude or feeling like he's in a rush. He is very low key and his method appears very relaxed on its surface, yet his sample works were highly emotional and demonstrably clear.

Mary Manhardt is self-depracating and humble. But she's also cutthroat in an edit room (and I say this with in the most loving way possible). I was at the controls when she was advising our Last Hijack team and her mind operates so quickly it was difficult at times to keep up. Good thing she has a sense of humor: "Have you started reading my mind yet, Dave?" After enough time I think I did.

Mary Lampson is joy incarnate. She seems like she edits with her gut first, doesn't try to over think things. And her gut - at least by the time she reaches the end product - is most often right. Harlan County, USA is a must watch and a clinic doc editing/storytelling.

Carol Dysinger bares her soul during her presentations. Her insight is tied to her personal experience and I admire her for being so honest about her career choices and tracing her trajectory as an editor-tunred-director.

Ross McElwee is a filmmaker who is also open about his personal life, only its up on screen. His professorial demeanor belies a wry sense of humor. He's sharp and always, always taking notes.

Now for some general words of wisdom on doc storytelling that the aforementioned great minds of above imparted to us that stuck with me:

• Doc editing is the process of contextualizing intention. You as a storyteller intend to communicate a story and a theme. Your footage and the way you shape it create the context around how this intention is conveyed.
• Sometimes you have to be up front with your nakedness. Identify obstacles and use them to your advantage.
• If you want everything to resonate, you need one thing (a scene, a key moment) that everything resonates against. The glue of your intention is connected to that scene.
• When you hunger for an opening to your film, that's when you start working on one. But never start with your opening.
• Sometimes you need to take a scene down to its blocking. Get to the core of your scene, only use the bare minimum of what you need to understand it. Then ask, "Okay... Do I need anything else?"
• When you're trying to avoid being obvious, you have a tendency to be unclear.
• Figure out what the sentences are so you can identify the periods. Then you can see how to go from one sentence to another.
• When cutting a film, be aware of what you're bringing to the project.
• Reasons to include something in a film: It advances the story; illuminates character; its funny; or provides a moment of rest.
• There are editors who take their time and care. And there are editors who get the job done. Cast accordingly.
• A film can't be about anything. A film has to be about something.
• The best way to be boring is to leave nothing out. Creativity is about making mistakes. Art is about which ones to keep.
• Keep bins for the beginning of the film and bins for the end of the film.
• "Notes make me grumpy."
• Bad notes from dumb people won't mess up your work. Good notes from smart people can, though.
• Perfection is achieved when there's nothing left to take out. It's about creating something new from things that don't go together.
• Messy editing: Don't get too good too soon.
• Don't underestimate the intelligence of the audience. Complexity is good; confusion is bad.
• Watching dailies is not about making choices. Watching dailies is about making lists. 
• When making selects: Pull anything that interests you, sound and picture. Don't try to impose a structure right away. People try to look for shots and make choices too early. 
• Sometimes movement is about letting go of geography
• You have to get people on board with feeling rather than logic. Let me know just what I need to know so I can feel something. If you can get an audience on board your emotional journey/rhythm, then you can do anything. 
• There is no truth. There's only dailies.

We were also paid a special visit by sound designer Randy Thom of Skywalker Sound. He told me a little anecdote at dinner one night that blew my mind: The key plot point in Coppola's The Conversation wasn't in the script. It was devised by editor/sound designer Walter Murch.

Coppola handed Murch the footage for Conversation before heading off to shoot The Godfather Part II. He said, "Here's a little movie I shot, see what you can do with it." Murch heard one of the actors blow a line. He thought, "What if Gene Hackman mis-hears something on the headphones." A classic was born.

How does Thom know this? His first film job ever (ever) was on Apocalypse Now.

A few tips from Randy:

• Sound design is important but what is most important is creating context for sound design. 
• Intrigue first. 
• Point of view: Is sound being filtered through the character's point of view or the director's?
• Starve the eye visually, the ear gets turned on.
• The best sound work is about focus and how little you can get away.