Step by Step Guide to Editing Unscripted Content

Posted on: Sep 04, 2025

Photo Credit: gorodenkoff // iStock Photos

By Jessica Mathis

Anyone who has set out to make a documentary or unscripted content can tell you the amount of footage, information and interviews can be overwhelming. Oftentimes, opportunities arise to catch new interviews or footage that wasn’t part of the initial plan, and the amount of footage can expand into it’s own chaotic universe that is waiting for you to create order.

Creating a script for the edit can save you hours of spiraling through a disorganized edit. The script acts as a flexible road map, and may even lead to having a narrator connect together disjointed pieces where the story needs a little clarity.

After working on various types of unscripted content, I want to share a guide to creating clarity from the chaos.

Key Insights:

Logging and renaming B-roll upfront saves hours of searching later and creates a clear visual roadmap.
Transcribing interviews allows you to spot themes quickly and organize soundbites into a cohesive narrative.
Building a master script before editing ensures your documentary or unscripted content flows with clarity and purpose.

Step 1: Review and Log All B-Roll

“Let’s get that B-roll!” Producers want it, editors need it. I’ve been on projects that wanted 15 minutes of B-roll for every minute of interview. Mind blowing, right? After you shoot all that footage, you may have a ton of files with names like “C0078.” Since B-roll ties the story together visually, I start with logging, renaming and creating an outline that has a description.

Watch everything and note what you see and rename the files, sorting them into topic- or location-based folders on your drive, and into bins in your edit software.
Create a list or spreadsheet with file names, timecodes and short descriptions. It may be unorthodox, but I actually like to drop all my renamed B-roll on a sequence and create an outline that has timecodes so I can easily jump to that timecode, instead of scrolling through file names in the file panel to find each piece individually. Then, I just find it by timecode on the timeline and copy/paste the clip I want to the editing sequence, rather than using file names.

On a large project, I would likely have a different sequence for each type of B-roll, and use “Heading 2” to have categorical titles in the document with a table of contents inserted at the top. This way I can jump to each sequence list, depending on what part of the project I am scripting.

Organize notes into categories (e.g., “wide shots,” “close-ups,” “location details,” “action shots”). I also notate if there is sound we may want for some audio vérité.

Example: Word document would have a list that looks like this:

Sequence: Hospital Exterior Shots:

0:00-0:17 Medium of emergency room doors, daylight

0:17 – 1:00 POV walk in through emergency room doors

1:00 – 1:06 Establishing static shot hospital from street

Sequence: Hospital Interior Shots:

10:15-12:00 Medium pan of a patient room with natural audio of machines beeping

(More time-coded selections)

Sequence: B-roll with Person A:

(More timecoded selections)

Step 2: Transcribe All Dialogue

The story comes from your interviews, conversations and natural sound. After I’ve figured out my B-roll, I will transcribe all of the interviews and conversations. Having transcripts allows you to quickly scan for themes, compare quotes and avoid scrubbing endlessly through footage.

I used to manually transcribe, but these days I use AI tools like Descript. I create a separate sequence for each interview or conversation, and name the sequence for the person with additional info, like location, date or topic if they have more than one interview. Example: Tim at Hospital, Tim and Jess Walking, Jess on Court Records.
Proofread carefully. Fix typos, speaker names and misunderstood words.
Export the transcriptions to Word documents or Google Docs you can mark up for your edit. I use strikethrough for any background talk, interviewer bits, misspeaks, etc. that I know I don’t want.

Step 3: Identify Key Topics and Story Structure

Now that you have seen and understand what you’re working with from a general sense, you’ll decide on the main topics or outline for your piece. You may have started with an outline before shooting, but now you’ll know if it needs adjusting at all, and be able to decide where everything belongs. You might also want to use a mind mapping tool to help visualize.

Categorize your content. If you’re working on a brand testimonial, your categories may be problem, solution, results. A documentary might have general categories like backstory, conflict, turning point and resolution. You might use categories more specific to your project.

Color code each theme and put a lexicon at the top of each transcript. Create a line that lists each category, highlighted with the color for that category. Then, go through your transcripts and color highlight soundbites based on where they fit, so you can instantly see which quotes belong where.
If there is a lot to scroll through, I would then create separate documents for each topic. I would create headings by the interview sequence name and copy/paste the quotes with their timecodes from each interview that match that particular topic under their named heading. The heading lets you know which sequence timeline the timecode is for.

For example, on a document with all the quotes about surgery procedure:

Sequence: Tim at Hospital

List of timecodes and quotes about surgery procedure.

Sequence: Tim and Jess Walking

List of timecodes and quotes about surgery procedure.

Step 4: Build a Master Script File

Now, start assembling everything into one working document that will be your script draft.

Copy/paste soundbites with their sequence name and timecode into a master script, organized by your outline.
Copy/paste from your B-roll timecodes or file names above each quote, referencing your logged lists.
Include stage directions if needed (e.g., “Cut to overhead shot of city skyline”).
Read the whole draft and make a round of revisions.

At this stage, your master script should look like a hybrid between a transcript and a paper edit. It gives you a clear blueprint before cutting.

For example, the B-roll here would go over Tim’s soundbite:

Narrator: “You’ll write what a narrator might say here”

B-roll: Exterior Hospital Shots: 0:19 – 0:25 (Medium pan of hospital)

B-roll: Hospital Interior Shots: 0:50 – 1:14 (Close-up of ER reception checking patient in)

Tim at Hospital: 1:20:01 – 1:24:02 (“Soundbite quote”)

Step 5: Assemble and Adjust in the Edit

With the master script as your guide, start editing.

Place dialogue in order. Go through and place your B-roll. Don’t edit too much in this first draft. Just get it all laid out.
Watch for pacing — some quotes that read well may fall flat on screen, and you may decide to cut or replace them.

Step 6: Trim and Refine

Chances are, your script on the timeline may end up being longer than you want. Once you’ve built a section — or the full piece — shift into fine-tuning.

Remove filler words, redundancies or overly long explanations.
Make sure the B-roll covers jump cuts where you edited for those items. Tighten pacing so the story flows without dragging.
Replace any B-roll that doesn’t add value.

This process may feel time-consuming at first, but it pays off. It saves you time in the long run by avoiding endless footage spirals and scrubbing. It keeps your focus on story instead of getting lost in details, and it allows you to share your script with other stakeholders for approval before spending time on an edit.

Ultimately, you’re not just cutting clips. You’re writing the story in post-production, and this workflow ensures the final piece feels intentional and polished.

Key Takeaways:

Treat the edit script as your blueprint—it keeps you focused on story rather than getting lost in footage.
The process may feel slow at first, but it prevents wasted time and chaotic edits down the line.
A structured workflow makes collaboration easier and results in a polished, intentional final piece.

Jessica Mathis (AKA Divinity Rose) is an award winning screenwriter/performer/producer from Louisville, Kentucky. She is the CEO of She Dreams Content Development and Production, which focuses on female-forward projects in comedy, docustyle and genre entertainment.

You may also like: