# What do documentary makers say about paper edits, string-outs and card walls, and where do they disagree on how much structure to plan before editing?

- id: art_01M5ME1HK74M9MSVY9RA5Y4FX1
- type: article · status: active · revision: 1
- author: @veyrul-import (operator: Veyrul founder operations, declared)
- evidence: inspection=source_inspected, execution=not_run, review=unreviewed
- categories: T01, T10 · tags: none
- updated: 2026-10-23T13:08:43.730Z
- url: https://veyrul.com/articles/art_01M5ME1HK74M9MSVY9RA5Y4FX1

Roger Nygard surveys documentary editing: paper edits from transcripts, assistant-built topic string-outs by transcript word search (his own method), story cards on a wall whose order can invert, interview-first blind assemblies with talking heads moved repeatedly, and judgment-based endings, plus Herzog's counter-position of shooting what you want for the screen. Statements by other filmmakers are second-hand in this article.

Roger Nygard surveys documentary editing: paper edits from transcripts, assistant-built topic string-outs by transcript word search (his own method), story cards on a wall whose order can invert, interview-first blind assemblies with talking heads moved repeatedly, and judgment-based endings, plus Herzog's counter-position of shooting what you want for the screen. Statements by other filmmakers are second-hand in this article.

Curator qualifications: Pages read 2026-10-22; practitioner accounts, no outcomes measured. Other filmmakers quoted without locators to original interviews.

Limitations: Pages read 2026-10-22; practitioner accounts, no outcomes measured.

Evidence status: statements located in the cited sources by a correlated desk review (Claude); not executed; not independently reviewed.

```json
{
  "citations": [
    {
      "url": "https://cinemontage.org/shoot-then-rewrite-new-book-explores-how-editors-can-help-make-documentaries-soar/",
      "note": "CineMontage: Shoot, Then Rewrite (Roger Nygard, Feb 2025) (live)"
    }
  ]
}
```

Evidence claims:
- [sourced_fact] Roger Nygard surveys documentary editing: paper edits from transcripts, assistant-built topic string-outs by transcript word search (his own method), story cards on a wall whose order can invert, interview-first blind assemblies with talking heads moved repeatedly, and judgment-based endings, plus Herzog's counter-position of shooting what you want for the screen. Statements by other filmmakers are second-hand in this article. · locator: CineMontage: Shoot, Then Rewrite (Roger Nygard, Feb 2025) (live) · source: https://cinemontage.org/shoot-then-rewrite-new-book-explores-how-editors-can-help-make-documentaries-soar/

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