I bought your book, and enjoyed it.
I shoot travel video. I have no control over the opportunities I will encounter while traveling. Can you say more about how to assemble an unscripted video?
I get a lot of good shots, but the problem comes later, when I try to edit them into some kind of cohesive story. For me that's the most difficult and time consuming part of video creation.
I eventually pull it together, but it takes a long time to create a narrative. Any suggestions?
Len
Video editing is garbage-in, garbage out. Your problem is not in the editing part of this process, it's in the footage Shooter-Len is giving Editor-Len. Start with better, more focused footage and your videos will practically assemble themselves! (that's a total lie, but it will be a lot easier.)
True– on some travel days you can't control much. The ship captain is unlikely to return the cruise liner to the dock for a second take. But that doesn't mean you have no control over your video.
Right now you're shooting random shots and expecting your edit to work. Then when you sit down to look at footage, you're forced to wade through all this unrelated stuff. If you weren't shooting a story intentionally, it's going to take a miracle to make one out of these unrelated parts.
And that's the trick: You need to shoot a story intentionally. Even when you can't control the circumstances of your travel, you can always control what you shoot.
"Unscripted" Projects have Scripts
No professional starts shooting without a story in mind. Tons of random footage, hours of screwing around with it, trying to find something interesting– that stuff hurts when you're paying your editors.
Things we think of as unscripted aren't, really. Reality TV days are completely planned to one extent or another. It could be as simple as an outline to show which housewife will throw a chair, when and and at what location– all the way up to a fully fleshed-out script that includes suggested lines for the (non-) actors.
A documentary director will always start with a strong thesis (i.e, "Mel Brooks is one of the most important filmmakers of the 20th century.") and a thick bible of who to interview, themes to explore, and what archival footage they need to shoot or find.
If it's just you and a camera, you won't need anything that extensive. But you'll still need to script before you shoot.
Script Before You Shoot
The way to start– especially if you have no real control over the events– is with an inventory of what you DO know about your shoot day:
You probably know what city you'll be in. What activities are likely. Your mode of transport. Who'll be with you.
Are you in Italy, Los Angeles or the Himalayas?
Are you on foot? Taking a cruise? Flying?
Are you going to a concert, wedding or on a guided tour?
Are you with your husband, parents, work associates or total strangers?
Stories start to suggest themselves when you take the answers to these questions and start looking for story form, which includes a hero, a beginning, a middle and an end:
- Who might make an interesting subject (the hero)?
- How does the story/event/journey start?
- What happens in the middle?
- How does it turn out?
Not all your ideas will be good. Some just won't work, and you'll have to change stories on the fly. But you'll be starting your day with a whole bunch of possible stories:
Instead of random shots of Paris: "My high school senior's first day in Paris– and his first time out of the country." Or of mountains: "My wife and I climb Mt. Shasta." Or of churches and people eating: "Fran and Joe finally get married in Hawaii."
You don't have to write anything down ahead of time. Just laying stories out in your imagination will help your videos.
Find the Story that Interests You
On the day, you can't shoot every story you thought about. Some won't physically work, activities may change, some stories will be boring. Find one you are really interested in, and commit to it.
FOMO is not your friend. Yes, if you focus on one story, you'll miss other things. But you'll also miss all the irrelevant, unfocused footage that a person with no story ideas would have shot.
Any point of view makes a better video than no point of view.
Be Extremely Interested
Once you pick a story, go deep. Shoot the hell out of your story. Do interviews. Shoot different points of view. Look for extra beautiful shots that fit what you're documenting. Going deep on one thing is almost always more interesting than a smattering of many things.
Don't be Afraid to Abandon Ship
You thought the alligators at Everglades National Park would make a great story, but they're just lying in the sun. Since you've considered a bunch of stories in advance, find another one that interests you.
Or switch your focus on the fly. What about the ranger who stands a foot away from the end of their snouts– with his back to them? Kinda scary!
The great thing about practicing with story is that it becomes second nature. Even when you're not in control of events, you'll see great– more focused– stories everywhere. And that, I promise, will make your edits easier.
My new video course has a veritable slew of short lessons on how to tell story in travel, home, marketing, and documentary video. I'd be a fool not to plug it here.
Do you have a question or need video advice? Of course you do!
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