Paper edit first, radio edit second, pictures last.
The standard
Reference pieces by other creators, chosen to set the bar for documentary & video essay. Our own named client work lives on how we work.
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A documentary holds you by owing you an answer.
- 01Transcribed and paper-edited before the timeline opens: quotes chosen, ordered, timecoded, with the b-roll noted against each one.
- 02A radio edit next — A-roll only, no pictures — so the argument has to stand up with nothing to hide behind.
- 03Archive and b-roll are laid to cover the joins, and every archive frame carries its source on screen.
- 04Score enters last. Music laid early does the work the structure should be doing.
Retention in long-form is not a function of cut rate, fast cutting over an empty structure only makes the emptiness arrive sooner. What holds somebody at minute fourteen is a question they picked up at minute two and still cannot answer, and that gets built on paper where being wrong is cheap, not in a timeline where it costs a day.
Also in Long-form
The whole category- 01Educational & explainerOne hard idea, re-ordered until a stranger can follow it.6 references
- 02Long gaming videosHundreds of hours of play, reduced to the decisions that mattered.6 references
- 03Vlogs & lifestyleA week of handheld footage, shaped into a day with an arc.6 references
- 04Commentary & analysisA voice over footage, and the receipt on screen while the claim is made.6 references