Schnittdramaturgie und Rohmaterialsichtung

The workshop involves working directly with the footage shot by the participants. The footage is viewed and analysed as a group. From this, potential editing concepts are developed:

• What is the film’s actual theme – and how has it changed since filming?
• Which are the main narrative strands and which are the subplots?
• What does the footage suggest in terms of the film’s rhythm?
• How does the relationship between image and sound, language and noise, concrete and associative images emerge from the footage?

Another focus lies on practical dramaturgical work during the editing process. Using various examples of documentary films, the development of an editing concept is presented. Whether for a documentary cinema spot, a short feature/web video, or a short or feature-length film: every film must span a narrative arc within the time available to it. This also applies to experimental or artistic formats. Without seeking to provide recipes for formulaic “one-size-fits-all” films, dramaturgical work in documentary filmmaking is about identifying narrative threads within the material itself, which enables the conceptual editing process. Using his own films as examples, Philip Scheffner will trace and illustrate his own approach.