Putting it all together...The editing phase.

There I was, with over four hours of raw audio material, and now I had to somehow find the best twenty four minutes and place it in a clear, coherent order. I had been so involved in all the conversations and chanting, that I decided to capture as much material as possible,  instead of narrowing it down to one theme. For the final piece I am rather thankful for obtaining so much material, but at the beginning stages, the hours spent sliming it down felt like an eternity.

I had already separated my audio into the various days of recording. I knew that I would start off the documentary with a set of vox pops, as I wanted to break the stereotypes of what people think. The journey to the church would also be a great place to start, as it was my first hand initial experience of meeting with all the Rastafarians. After listening to all the footage, I noticed there were four predominant underlying themes. Firstly was the issue of marijuana and how it is misrepresented, this the Rastafarians felt extremely passionate about. Secondly was the lifestyle of the Rastafarians, in particular the vegetarianism which they all endure. What was interesting here is how they attempt to tie up vegetarianism with religion. Thirdly was the issue of Rastafarians and occupation, and lastly was the lifestyle of the Rastafarians before they found ‘Jah’.  I purposefully asked all the Rastafarians the same questions in this last category, as I knew editing would be somewhat easier. I had also made another category of the chanting episode, my idea was to bring the chants to life through narration of what the specific instruments symbolise.

I realised it would take up too much time explaining the different time zones, so decided to make the documentary seem like it occurred in one day. I added the church scene in the morning, to the lunch scene at Jased’s house, which did in fact happen, but not on the same day. I also incorporated the chanting episode into the church service. As it was an account of my first hand experience I was not afraid to leave my questions in the audio pieces. For the narration I also attempted to make it as descriptive as possible, to really capture the listeners’ imagination. I also consciously explained the term “I and I” as it is said often within the documentary, and shows the Rastafarians personalities. In the final product, I was relatively pleased of how I structured the documentary, as it does seem to happen in one day.