Editing filmed interviews well is a skill that takes time to develop and one that clients rely on me for regularly as a freelance video editor.
Editing filmed interviews
As a freelance video editor, I regularly receive commissions to edit filmed interviews. I also film a wide variety of interviews and panel debate-style projects myself, ranging from single interviews to ten-person panel debates.
Editing my clients’ filmed interviews
When editing filmed interviews for clients, I manage their media from start to finish. This may include footage from one or more cameras, microphone feeds, and additional sound recordings. The content might feature one person or many. As an editor, my aim is always the same: reduce the recorded material to a concise piece that meets the client’s brief.
In this article, I explain how to manage post-production editing for interviews and debates. I focus specifically on the audio editing stages, where getting things right makes the biggest difference.
Preparing your media
Before anything else, back up all media on at least two separate storage devices. This protects you against equipment failure.
Next, confirm that all media plays smoothly back and fourth slowly and quickly in your non-linear editing system. Transcode any files if necessary before you begin.
Adjusting audio levels
Check the master audio levels of all supplied files before you start editing filmed interviews. Ask yourself whether any master clips or recordings need level adjustments upfront.
Doing this first at a clip level saves you from having to adjust every individual clip in the edited timeline later.
Syncing your timeline
If the interview uses multiple cameras, syncing all footage to the sound recordings is your first priority. Build a single master edit sequence with all sound and vision on separate tracks, synced frame by frame.
If you used timecode or a clapper board, double-check sync at both the start and end of the sequence.
Make copies as you go
Once your master sequence is in place, duplicate it before making any changes. Rename each copy incrementally as you progress through each editing stage. This gives you a safety net — you can always revert to a previous version if something goes wrong.
Working with master sound
With your timeline in sync, identify which tracks carry the master sound. If you recorded audio externally or on a single camera, deselect monitoring on any additional tracks. Then verify that your master sound is perfectly in sync with the picture.
Managing audio sync relationships
I recommend keeping all original audio tracks in the timeline during the edit. They act as a reference and help maintain sync throughout. Only remove non-essential tracks if you are completely confident in managing the sync relationship yourself. You may need to refer back to an alternative audio track, and having everything in the timeline makes that straightforward.
Editing the timeline
With everything in sync, you can start shaping the edit to meet your brief. If you filmed the interview yourself, you will already have a feel for the highlights and what needs cutting. If you are coming to it fresh, play through the whole interview first to get a sense of the content before you begin.
Visualise the final edit
Think early about how your edits will work visually. Multiple cameras give you the flexibility to cut between angles and make any edit work. With a single camera, your options include:
- Cutting to a resized crop from high-resolution footage (such as 4K or 8K)
- Using cutaways to cover edits
- Watching facial expressions, head movements, and body language to find the cleanest cut points
Avoiding jump cuts
A jump cut is an AV cut in which sound and vision are edited at the same point. Some editors use them for stylistic effect, or bloggers use them to speed up their workflow. In serious interview editing, though, avoid them. They are visually distracting and signal a lack of craft.
Once you have a visual plan in place, work through the timeline and shape the content to meet your client’s requirements. Keep it engaging, concise, and relevant to the brief. Also ask yourself: were any pick-ups filmed at the end of the session that could be used? Have you selected the best available takes?
Trimming audio
Many speakers pepper their speech with filler words “um,” “ah”, or leave long pauses between sentences. Removing these requires frame-accurate editing. Use your software’s trim tool for this level of detail.
How tightly you can edit will depend on the time you have available. Cutaways and reaction shots are your best tools for making fine audio edits work visually.
Improving sound edits
Once you have a rough cut at the right duration, consider alternating your audio clips across different tracks. This makes a real difference to the final sound, particularly when you add dissolves or mixes to every audio transition.
If all your clips sit on A1 and you add mixes between them, you risk blending the offset of one word with the onset of the next, introducing unwanted sounds. Instead, alternate clips across tracks and mix up and down from silence at each transition.
Applying audio dissolves
To speed up the process, select the entire timeline and apply mixes to every transition in a single action once you are broadly happy with the edit. The right mix duration depends on the sound quality, background noise level, and how finely you have trimmed the audio.
After applying all dissolves, review each track individually. Check that no unwanted sounds have been introduced, cut short, or affected by your mixes.
Final audio work
With the audio in good shape, shift focus to the picture edit. You will likely need to revisit and adjust audio as the vision edit develops. At this stage, I usually prioritise getting the picture right before completing the final sound pass, adding music, sound effects, or wild track where needed.
Fine-tuning may include lifting quietly spoken words and pulling back louder ones. Use a combination of invisible edits, keyframes, and dissolves to smooth out peaks and troughs in your audio levels. Always check the technical delivery standards and set your master levels accordingly.
Adjusting EQ
If any supplied audio is unclear, inconsistent, or simply does not match the rest of the material, adjust the EQ. You can apply the same EQ effect across whole tracks or groups of clips in a few simple steps, saving significant edit time.
Listening to the final edit
Always play your finished sequence through multiple times before sending it to a client. This is how you catch any remaining level issues and confirm that every edit is as smooth and inaudible as possible. Repeated listening turns good editing into great editing.
I edit using Avid Media Composer.
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