The Editors

Big Brother is in full swing, and the cry from every booted out housemate is “ I’m not really a back-stabbing, two-faced wannabe, they edited it to make me look that way.” But with reality television here to stay, do these God-like editors really have the power to make or break how the viewing public see real people? How does a TV show go from reels of footage to the bite-sized slots that we see on our screens? And, crucially, what gets chucked out? Vera Brozzoni spoke to two top TV editors Ben Gooder and Julian Sykes to find out.

Ben and Julian are working in a small cutting room in a quiet Soho alleyway, replete with computer screens and a bank of dials, buttons and switches.
The two – who first worked together on hit ITV1 show Airline USA -  are busy editing an episode of a prime time reality show ( unfortunately I can’t tell you which one for copyright reasons) that will be broadcast later this year.
They begin with hours of footage from the TV company and have six weeks to edit it down to just two hours.
So how do they begin?

“Each sequence has a story,” explains Ben.
“We have to identify what it is and focus on it. Moreover, every scene has a leading character that changes, just like in a drama.
Every scene that we select has a reason to be there, it is motivated by some powerful human drama. The rest of the footage that doesn’t add up to the main story can be cut off.”

Which means that the editors don’t just pick up details and remove what is not needed, but have an active role in deciding what kind of story we will see.

Says Julian: “We are practically scripting the program as we edit it, because we look for interesting dialogue and focus on it, leaving all the rest behind. An original story is born from our selection.”
“We accentuate the psychological insight of the characters, what is most revealing about them”, adds Ben.
 “In that process we find humour or tragedy and build up the characters.”

As Ben and Julian – who use Avid for Windows, a program  enabling them to check the timing of the footage, mix the sound and cut the material -  work  with me looking on,  they discuss various creative ideas such as using the voice of “The Boss” (in this case a powerful, slightly scary lady) and superimposing it over the images of the participants as they perform the tasks they were ordered to do.

The result is powerful and effective – appearing as if the  Boss’s commanding voice is resonating in the poor participants’ heads.

 A few moments later, a sentence casually said by one becomes the key to the whole episode:
“That’s a story we can tell,” says Ben, and from now on the two build up a sequence that serves that particular story.
It becomes clear that the secret to editing is good storytelling, just like scripting or directing.

Perhaps the contestants on Big Brother should realise that the audience needs a story to focus on.
Reality as it is doesn't provide it  - those who have ever watched the uncut, live streaming will know that it quickly removes the will to live - but a skilfull cut on true life definitely does.

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