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Editor Katherine Griffin’s Insights<\/h3>\n
Griffin’s work in reality television is extensive. She\u2019s edited shows that explored finding love (Beauty and the Geek<\/a><\/em>, Bachelor in Paradise<\/a><\/em>), testing personal resolve (Fear Factor<\/a><\/em>, American Ninja Warriors<\/a><\/em>), family dynamics (Keeping Up with the Kardashians<\/a><\/em>), working as a team (The Amazing Race<\/a><\/em>), and career excellence (Project Runway<\/a><\/em>, Shear Genius<\/a><\/em>, Top Design<\/a><\/em>, Top Chef<\/em>).<\/p>\n As varied as these shows are, we wondered: Is there a common thread when approaching an edit for a reality show?<\/p>\n Yes, because they\u2019re all different flavors of documentary storytelling. In Reality TV, the editor is the visual writer responsible for tracking every aspect of the story, and that\u2019s the same for any type of show in the genre. One major aspect of that is the sheer volume of footage we are given. We have hundreds of hours of footage with no retakes, and sometimes one camera. So, cutting Reality TV is figuring out how to condense all of that down to a concise, clear story, and often that\u2019s a real challenge. Sometimes, the key moments aren\u2019t even caught on camera, and you have to get creative. Frequently, I look at footage that has no natural beginning, middle, or end, and I have to figure out how to make it into a scene. Just like Tim Gunn<\/a> says, \u201cMake it work!\u201d The creativity we have as Reality Television editors is awesome.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n In theory, the concept of “make it work”<\/em> seems roll-up-your sleeves romantic, but what about the reality? What kinds of tricks can an editor do to serve the storytelling with limited footage? And, are they different tricks than a scripted editor might use?<\/p>\n Not different, but I\u2019d say it\u2019s fair to say that since we\u2019re approaching the storytelling from more of a writing perspective, we use certain tricks more often. Like cheating lines from an entirely different scene or using interviews to punctuate a moment. We don\u2019t necessarily have all the elements you would naturally expect from a scripted shoot, so we, more often, search across all the footage of the season to find wild lines or reaction shots to make a scene work. When it comes together seamlessly, it\u2019s really gratifying.<\/p>\n Something I think is remarkable about editing reality and documentary television, as a whole, is that the editors aren\u2019t just picture editors. We\u2019re fully responsible for editing all sound, sound effects, music, and graphics, too. Literally, every single thing you see and hear on a reality television show has been chosen and crafted by the editor to tell the story. That rarely happens anywhere else in the industry, but I personally wouldn\u2019t want it any other way. I absolutely love the sound and music editing aspect of my work.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n With so much responsibility, one needs great power. Katherine feels most comfortable with Avid<\/a>, which has great media management and sharing capabilities.<\/p>\n Personally, I only use Avid. A lot of editors jump around on multiple systems for different sorts of projects, and I did do a short film on Final Cut<\/a> many years ago. But, I just really like Avid, probably because it translates so well from actual film. It uses the same vocabulary and workflow. I learned to cut on film and edited my first feature on 16mm, right out of high school. Then, I took classes to learn Avid when I first moved to Los Angeles, and it just felt so natural to me. Reality and documentary television is predominantly cut on Avid, so that worked out for me. It\u2019s the best at handling large, shared projects, but it’s also the system I use at home for my personal projects.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Reality TV series<\/em> Keeping up with the Kardashians promo poster. Image via E! Entertainment Television<\/a>.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n According to a Morning Consult\/Hollywood Reporter study<\/a> in 2018, people\u2019s opinion of Reality TV had a low favorability, but they still watched it. When chatting with Katherine, even I felt the need to offer \u201cfull disclosure\u201d that I’ve seen all forty seasons of Survivor<\/a><\/em>. She was very familiar with that reaction and dug deeper on what she thinks contributes to the longevity of many of these reality shows.<\/p>\n Anytime someone tells me they love what I\u2019m working on, they always say something like, \u201cI never watch reality TV, but\u2026\u201d or \u201cIt\u2019s my guilty pleasure.\u201d I find that fascinating. I don\u2019t know the exact numbers, but Reality Television must make up close to half of all programming, that must produce billions in revenue. Yet, it has this weird veil of shame around it. And Survivor<\/em> is the perfect example \u2014 try to name one other show with forty seasons!!<\/p>\n I think the personal connection that viewers feel toward these shows, and the people or situations in them, is exactly what gives the shows their longevity. Reality TV is essentially \u201cslice of life\u201d storytelling. Whether it\u2019s a docuseries like Keeping Up with the Kardashians<\/em> or The Deadliest Catch<\/a><\/em> or a competition series like Top Chef<\/em> or Project Runway<\/em>, they are a peek into a subculture that already exists. That is incredibly watchable! And, because we\u2019re watching real people instead of trained actors, people can\u2019t help but picture themselves in the show and wonder what they would do in that situation. Since the casting changes every season \u2014 unlike scripted television \u2014 a show can keep the same construct season to season, but still feel fresh and exciting with an entirely new set of people. That\u2019s what gives these shows staying power.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Reality TV show<\/em> The Amazing Race. Image via CBS<\/a>.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n Casting seems to be everything when it comes to Reality TV. We were curious: What are the secret ingredients that contribute to the ebb and flow of a cast member’s popularity across an entire season?<\/p>\n I think the winning formula, once again, comes down to casting authentic people who are willing to share very personal aspects of their lives, in a controlled environment (there are cameras and everyone knows they\u2019re being filmed), where anything can happen, anything can be said, and there is no redoing or undoing it. And, of course, the editing.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n That\u2019s the rub, isn\u2019t it? Expecting honesty and vulnerability from people who know they’re being filmed and edited. How much actual reality can you expect to capture? And, who drives that? In narratives, the screenwriter provides the text. In Reality TV, do producers provide the roadmap and agenda or is the show really found in the footage?<\/p>\n There\u2019s definitely a road map. By the time I\u2019m cutting a show, the producers in the field have worked with the producers in post (sometimes they are the same person and sometimes they aren\u2019t), and they have worked out the general structure of the episodes and season. However, if it\u2019s a docuseries I\u2019m cutting rather than a competition, there is a lot of trial and error and a lot of room for exploration. Sometimes, entire storylines evolve from an interesting aspect of the footage that then resonates on screen, or sometimes a storyline the producers thought would be the A-story turns out not to serve the season, as a whole, and gets scrapped. More than any other genre, it truly is editor-driven. One of the things I find so fascinating about Reality TV is that if the same roadmap and footage was given to three different editors, you really would have three very different shows.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Archetypes are created in reality television. Heroes and villains, the crazy, the cutthroat, the trusting or intense. Obviously, choices need to be made to support a character\u2019s narrative that works within the drama of the show. What\u2019s the human cost on that and has a participant ever challenged their depiction in the edit? What are the ethical concerns if a reputation is damaged, since these are real people and not fictional characters? Katherine spoke to that.<\/p>\n I\u2019m sure that happened a lot in the early days of Reality, but this is something that I feel has evolved considerably, even just over my career. In the beginning, it was still the wild west and people might not have known what they were getting into. I\u2019m sure there were people who challenged their depiction, but the contracts they sign are very explicit. I don\u2019t know of any specifically, but I\u2019ll never forget when I was on one of my very first shows, at a company that no longer exists, and a character was outed as gay. He hadn\u2019t come out on his own, and I was mortified. I remember my producer saying, \u201cYou have to leave your conscience at the door, Griffin.\u201d Needless to say, I didn\u2019t work there much longer.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t think those kinds of ethic concerns happen anymore, at least not on any of the shows in my sphere. I actually feel the opposite is true now. I just finished a season of RuPaul\u2019s Drag Race All Stars<\/a><\/em>, and the executive producer worked closely with me to make sure the depiction of each queen honored exactly who they are.<\/p>\n Mostly, the characters reveal themselves, and we just let them do it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/ins>Where is the future of Reality TV going? Will influencers such as the Kardashians<\/em>, the helpers such as the Queer Eye<\/em><\/a> team, the Real Housewives<\/em><\/a> of insert city here, or the competition shows lead the way? Katherine sees a new trend based on a new normal.<\/p>\n I think this culturally tumultuous time we\u2019re living through will have a big impact. Covid-19, the Black Lives Matter Movement, the upending of our government \u2026 they\u2019ll all inform shows moving forward. Reality TV is perfectly suited to address current events head-on because of its documentary style. It\u2019s reflective of the times. It actually pains me that the term “Reality TV star” has become so derisive because of the current occupant of the Oval Office, because I think Reality TV is very powerful and extremely creative. It has such a wide range, and there\u2019s truly something for everyone. Who would\u2019ve thought that a show about couple\u2019s therapy would be so magnetic and raw? Or, that you could have so many different shows about baking? I think it\u2019s awesome that these shows showcase such incredible talent and, in some cases, shape industries. That\u2019s powerful!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The movers and shakers of the industry might be the most tangible beneficiary of Reality TV. But, for storytellers and storytelling lovers, the gem plucked out of talking to Katherine was her observation that \u201cmostly characters reveal themselves<\/em>.\u201d Her job is the intersection of art and technique, but her gift to viewers, supported by the continued popularity of the medium, is being able to find the footage that makes everyday people relatable and empathetic.<\/p>\n Interested in video editing? Us too. That’s why we think you’ll like these articles:<\/p>\n Cover image of<\/em> Rhythm + Flow<\/a> via Netflix<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With hours of footage to whittle down identifying conflict and character development, we went to Emmy Award-winning editor Katherine Griffin for insight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":118,"featured_media":138487,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[39],"tags":[5376],"class_list":["post-class-post-137765","post-class-post","post-class-type-post","post-class-status-publish","post-class-format-standard","post-class-has-post-thumbnail","post-class-hentry","post-class-category-video-editing","post-class-tag-video-editing"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDocumentary Storytelling<\/h3>\n
Make It Work<\/h3>\n
Tackling Projects with Avid<\/h3>\n
Reality TV’s Longevity<\/h3>\n
![\"Keeping](\"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Kardashians-1.jpg\" "\\"Keeping")
<\/a>The Secret to Casting<\/h3>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.premiumbeat.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/amazingrace-1.jpg\" "\\"The")
<\/a>Providing a Roadmap<\/h3>\n
The Character’s Narrative<\/h3>\n
Reality TV’s Future<\/h3>\n
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