2024–25Documentary
A documentary found in the footage
A 24-minute short doc cut from 60+ hours of interviews and verité — story structure, grade, and festival deliverables.
CLIENTTidewater Films
ROLEStory edit · Color · Deliverables
TOOLSPremiere Pro · DaVinci Resolve
RUNTIME00:24:10
THE BRIEF
What they needed
A small documentary team had shot for two years and had no idea what the film was. They needed an editor to find the story in 60+ hours of footage and shape a festival cut.
THE EDIT
How I approached it
- 01
Transcribed and tagged every interview, then built a paper edit to test three possible through-lines.
- 02
Assembled a 40-minute rough, then cut hard to a 24-minute fine cut with a clear three-act arc.
- 03
Graded in Resolve for a naturalistic, slightly desaturated look consistent across years and cameras.
- 04
Produced festival and broadcast deliverables with captions and a clean master.
BEFORE / AFTER
The breakdown
Story
Before60+ hrs, no through-line
AfterThree-act arc, 24-min fine cut
Assembly
BeforeUnstructured selects
AfterTagged, paper-edited, milestone-billed
Finish
BeforeMixed cameras / years
AfterMatched, graded festival master