Trimming Out Filler (MMM#34)
Greetings everyone,
Madeline here with the 34th entry in The Movie Minute. Today, we’ll be discussing the importance of trimming out filler and how having b-roll or second angles helps immensely.
Interviews form the backbone of the content we produce, whether highlight videos, short reels, or otherwise. But while interviews can range from a few minutes to an hour, that doesn’t mean we’ll use the entire interview straight. This is especially true because a full raw interview can have a long length due to an inevitable abundance of filler words and long pauses. And as editors ourselves, it’s our job to trim or mask these out to make the interview subject look as professional and confident as possible.
Filler usually means words like “um” or “uh” that often occur between words or sentences. In addition, there’s also “low confidence” words or phrases that. The most common examples of these are “you know” as well as “and so”. While this occurs over 90% of the time with various interview subjects and environments, leaving them in the finished video can make the subject look nervous and thus affect the presentation of the finished material. Long pauses are things that need to be trimmed out as well, especially since with short form videos, viewers are said to only have an attention span of around 30 seconds to a minute.
So, how do we trim these out? We once had to do so entirely by hand, but Premiere Pro has this wonderful feature that streamlines the process, known as “text-based editing”. Since we have Premiere transcribe all audio before we sync the camera and mic tracks, it automatically detects any filler words or long pauses and offers the option to automatically trim them out. However, caution is still paramount when using this method. For example, false positives can often occur when labeling filler or long pauses. This often occurs if the subject has a softer voice. In addition, we usually also trim out the questions asked by the interviewer, and while Premiere tries its best to differentiate between speakers, it’s not always 100% accurate. Just like with other AI tools, it’s not meant to be a total replacement, but it helps immensely in making post-production more efficient.
But just cutting out the filler isn’t enough- what are we going to do with the “j-cuts” or “jump cuts” that can look distracting to the viewer? To make those cuts appear smoother, we usually change camera angles if the interview was conducted with more than 1 camera. However, there can be multiple cuts in a few seconds, and some interviews are conducted with only 1 camera. That’s where B-roll comes in- additional footage to cut away to, which helps supplement the main story. We usually shoot b-roll at all of the events we do, but stock footage comes in handy as well. It’s also important to use fades or other effects on the audio, as the trims can also cause some unintended clicks or pops, usually caused by the audio cutting earlier than the end of a word or sentence, which often happens if it’s followed by a filler word immediately after.
Overall, trimming out filler in the videos we produce, such as “ums and uhs”, low-confidence phrases, and long pauses and then covering with b-roll or angle changes is a mundane but crucial part of our editing process here at Poor Bear Stories. Even the smallest changes can make a huge difference in the overall presentation of the video to keep the audience engaged.
That’s all for this entry in The Movie Minute. Wishing you all the best, and see y’all in 2! -Madeline
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