Radio Cut vs Scene-Based Editing: Choosing the Right Approach for Your Documentary

An interesting conversation started on Linkedin after I posted about why my editing process is anti-radio cut. For those of you not on linkedin, I thought I’d give you an overview of the opinions. The whole thing was quite thought-provoking!

The dichotomy is between stringing out your whole story by audio first, or at the other extreme, cutting footage scene by scene into some approximation of its final shape and then figuring out structure. What's your editing process at the beginning of an edit?

between radio cut vs scene-based editing, I almost always use the latter process, but I hadn’t thought how much that might be because of the type of documentaries I typically work on. The conversation made me think of one or two projects that might have been better served by stringing out a radio cut first. Let me first tell you more about my process.

My Editing Process: Scene-Based, Not Radio Cut

First: look at all the material, and make rough selects as I go. From those selects, I'll jump into cutting scenes. Usually I'll pick the scene that seems the most fun to cut to get going. Maybe it's a verite moment, or a story beat told in interviews by multiple people that I “cover” in b-roll or verite. As I'm doing this, I'm thinking about how this scene will function in the story arc of the piece: is it scene-setting? Character development? Laying out the central problem? Setting up a cliff-hanger? Climactic?

How I think it will function will determine to some extent how I cut it.

I'll move through the footage this way, scene by scene.

I'll think about what other beats will be needed to tell the emotional arc of the whole piece, and look for the elements that will fulfill that beat, sometimes requiring creating them from nothing or bringing in new material.

When I have a bunch of scenes, I'll start stringing them together and figuring out the structure. Obviously, much of this is a collaborative process if I'm working with a director.

Why I Prefer Starting with Scenes

I've always felt this works for me better than starting by stringing out rough scenes and audio into a proximity of the whole show (a radio cut) because: 

✂️ A radio cut is dependent on words, and so you're making decisions without so much of what gives a film emotional resonance.

✂️ Without shaped scenes it can be very hard for your collaborators to tell whether the structure is working, and what the beats are.

✂️ Framing your structure around words might lead you to undercut non-verbal moments that don't fit into a verbal narrative, or undervalue some verite moments

✂️ A radio cut imposes the rhythm of an essay (or a podcast) that will ripple down through subsequent versions.

A Linkedin Conversation

I posted about this on Linkedin, and an interesting conversation ensued. MMany people shared their own process:

• Several people said that I seemed to define radio cut too narrowly. In their work they include selects from the verite, music, space, and pacing. More like a “stringout.”

• The radio cut gets approval on the foundation before the work is put into the visual elements (I would say this makes a lot of assumptions about the vision of the person doing the “approval." Making constructive comments on a stringout is a rare skill)

• The more interview-driven a show is, the more a radio cut makes sense

• The more that the show will lean on visuals created after the start of the edit (recrees, animation, graphics), the more a radio cut is necessary.

One person summed it up like this:  “I do radio cuts as a default, but this post makes me realise they may not always be appropriate. I think for TV programs that were shot with a shooting script it helps to know the bites are there, the ideas make sense, and it's all more or less in the right order. But maybe not so useful for a film that is really being made and shaped in the edit room through creative iteration.”

Choosing the Right Editing Approach for Your Film

Starting with a radio cut can work for some kinds of documentaries, especially ones that are very interview-driven. Other documentaries can be negatively impacted by starting with a radio cut. It's important to consider what kind of film you are making and whether it can benefit from the radio cut process or should be cut in a process that follows the footage more. The main point is that the effects of how you begin the process of shaping your story are far-reaching in their effect on the final product, so consider carefully!

I would love to dive into a conversation with you about whether we should start cutting scenes, or stringout the whole show, on YOUR project.

Once you decide the overall process, the organization begins. Read my post about organizing your interviews for sortability