Snails on the brain.

Actually the snails are completely unrelated. I don't know why I said that.

I'm even going to include bullet points in this blog. Trust me, it'll help you understand my thought processes.

So far in this blog, we have covered the following:

• The initial idea,
• The implementation,
• Viewing other documentaries,
• Historical and theoretical accounts of the Gelert legend.

Now, I want to concentrate on something very different. In our Media Practice: Fiction module, I am the editor of the fiction piece. We have decided to carry our roles over to the practical dissertation piece.

As a results of this, I have to decided to read many books on the editing process. One of these was The Technique of Film and Video Editing: history, theory and practice by Ken Dancyger. In this book, he discusses the significance of the editor in a documentary filmmaking process, stating:

"In the documentary sequence, the editor has a crucial and creative function. Given the goals of the documentary, that function gives the editor more freedom than the editing of a dramatic film. With freedom comes responsibility, however." (Dancyger, 2007: 304)

Dancyger has put this in a very simplistic way. I can as well. Oh dear.

Because of the media practice: fiction module, we will be able to implement many aspects into our film. The use of the storyboard, shot list and a shooting schedule. I'm very glad I took that module, because it has given me so much help for the dissertation and the future.

Another book which emphasises the necessity of the editor is Documentary in Practice: filmmakers and production choices by Jane Chapman. In this book, she discusses each role of documentary making and analyses how important they are. With regards to editing, she states the following:

"It is often said that a documentary is either made or at least sorted out in the edit suite, a process which can be both creative and rewarding, but also painful." (Chapman, 2006: 110)

Well, that's encouraging.

"She then goes on to discuss offline editing and how it creates an "edit decision list, to identify a matching point on the master during the online edit. During the offline a rough assembly edit come first as a loose compilation of the shots that the producer/director wants, in the order of the script, allowing for trimming later." (Chapman, 2006:110-111)

This means the working relationship between myself and Leighton (the director/presenter) will have to be solid at all times. I'm looking forward to creating the documentary, as it will (hopefully) be a testament to all of our talents.

References

• Chapman, Jane. Documentary in Practice: filmmakers and production choices. 2006.

• Dancyger, Ken. The Technique of Film and Video Editing: history, theory and practic. 2007.