👋 How to Edit A 45-Minute Interview in 15 Minutes or less...
👋 How to Edit A 45-Minute Interview in 15 Minutes or less...
Using The Mardi Gras System it is 100% possible.
My first job as an assistant editor…
As a professional editor, most of your time is spent chugging through interviews to find soundbites.
In fact, my first job at tommysTV in Baton Rouge was entirely dedicated to prepping the edit for the main editor by pulling out the highlights from the interviews. Our documentary-style interviews could go on for 45 minutes or more!
So, I needed to develop a system for getting 45 minutes of footage in HALF THE TIME.
Here’s the quick rundown:
Watch on 2X Speed
Blade & Ripple
The Mardi Gras System
⏩ Watch on 2X Speed
If your computer can handle it, hit the “L” key twice and watch all of your raw interviews on double speed. And if your computer can’t, then change the playback from “Full” resolution to “1/4”
🔪 Blade & Ripple
As you’re chugging through interviews, you don’t have time to take notes. You don’t have time to grab the “good” clip and drag it into a new timeline. Since you’re running on double speed, the two tools you’ll have handy are blade and ripple delete.
Your blade, of course, cuts your clips. But what most editor do is they cut a clip on both sides, then hit the DELETE key.
This is wrong. 👆
This leaves a gap in your timeline, which means more clicks, which means SLOWER EDITING TIME.
Instead, map the Ripple Delete to the “R” key. The Ripple Delete will automatically delete the bad clip and will scoot your entire timeline down, thus closing the gap!
I use this combo 99% percent of the time.
So, now we have the tools, let’s dive into label your clip with...
🎭 The Mardi Gras System
Being a native Louisianan, Mardi Gras is only a few weeks away, and I figured I name this editing technique after the greatest holiday of the year.
Why?
Because of the color system, I used to label soundbites: purple, green, and gold.
As you’re slicing through clips, you need to create a labeling system.
Some of these edits can take multiple days over multiple weeks, and you need to be able to sit down on any given day and be able to scoop up the “great” soundbites and leave behind the “okay” soundbites.
When you zoom out on your timeline, you can truly see which soundbites are at your disposal.
From the above interview, we see that there is a good mix of golds and greens. Plenty to work with.
🎉 Here’s the Mardi Gras System:
These are labels on Adobe Premiere Pro
Purple (aka Violet) = Okay
Green (aka Forest) = Good
Gold (aka Mango) = OMG! AMAZING!
🟣 Purple
Clips that fall into the purple category are passable. The interviewee might have rambled a bit, but at least they were coherent. These clips are your last resort if you run out of green and golds.
🟢 Green
Good clip. No complaints. I have exported many videos that were 95% green clips. The interviewee was concise and insightful. Greens are great for the middle of your video.
🟡 Gold
Holy shit! This clip is MONEY! Some interviewees are soundbite machines and can crank out endless gold clips. Use gold clips in your intros to hook your audience, and outros to end a strong note. Indulge yourself, use all the golds you got before moving on to the greens.
📀 How to Spot a “Gold” Clip
Gold clips warm the hearts of any video editor. So what makes a gold clip golden?
Concise (not necessarily short)
Impactful to the story/plot/characters
(Yes… Even your corporate commercials have plots and characters.)
Insightful for context/background information
Emotional (Crying, laughing, drama)
Also you can count,
Plot Twists
Unexpected Victories
Eye-opening facts
Crying on camera (almost guaranteed gold)
And of course, a good tight sound bite.
No rambling. Direct to the point.
Here’s the explainer video:
Hotkeys for the Mardi Gras System
Go to Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts
Search: Label
Find Violet, Forest, Mango
Violet is the comma key “,”
Forest is the period key “.”
Mango is the forward-slash key “/”
As you cut clips and ripple delete the gaps. You are pressing those label keys and then moving on to the next part of the uncut interview.
Cheers,
Jordan P. Anderson
@jordanpanderson
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