Transforming Warzone Footage Into Captivating Short Film for the BBC
‘Trust Is Earned’, a short film for the BBC, highlights the rigorous editorial process that their journalists abide by to ensure that the news they share is truthful and accurate. Using raw footage gathered over the last few months of war in Ukraine, the hard-hitting behind-the-scenes clips reveal the lengths that these journalists go to in order to deliver the most authentic stories.
The two minute film is directed by critically acclaimed Academy Films director Billy Boyd Cape and edited by tenthree’s Stephen Dunne, who has been credited with a string of recent award-winning work for his edits on Frontline19 and Alzheimer’s Society. With a loose script, the two worked together in the edit suite from day one, creating the story arc through close collaboration.
In this interview, LBB’s Sunna Coleman speaks with Billy and Stephen on their close collaboration, the importance of disagreement, and treading the line between journalistic impartiality and emotional pull.
LBB> The BBC brief was quite a challenging and unusual one. What were your initial thoughts and vision for this spot?
Billy> The script from BBC Creative was brilliant, but the scale of it was huge - on one side it was dealing with a horrifying ongoing war that was developing by the day, and on the other side, it needed to tackle the scale of the BBC’s Editorial Guidelines and show a whole ton of BBC journalists at work. For the film to work it had to tell both of these stories simultaneously.
My first thought was that this needed to be told from a first-person point of view. Everything had to be experienced as the reporter on the ground did: rough, raw and in the face of the unknown.
Stephen> I personally found the concept of the project fascinating and couldn’t wait to get going! I had no idea the lengths to which these journalists go to in order to discover and report on the truth.
We wanted to create a film that felt authentic and real, as Billy says in the world of POV, anything that looked too polished or crafted wasn’t going to fit. We needed to approach this project like a documentary, we watch, organise, reduce then repeat (for weeks).
LBB> The piece focuses on trust and authenticity - how did you get that feel and theme across in the way that you crafted the story?
Billy> Although a big dense text doc, I can’t understate how fascinating the BBC’s guidelines are. It’s a 200 page document that sets out, in no uncertain terms, that trust, honesty and impartiality above all must be protected in everything the BBC does. We started building the guidelines into the edit from day one. These held up the key principles of the campaign in every edit we put together.
Stephen> This process was like walking a tightrope for a storyteller, you naturally gravitate towards the harder hitting material or the shots that will pull the emotional strings for the audience, but we had to remember the story here is one from the perspective of the journalist, impartial. This had a massive impact on how we approached the edit.
LBB> This project involved a very close collaboration between you both from day one. How did you handle this process and what were the challenges and benefits of working in this way?
Billy> The first thing I did when I started pitching on this project was find out Stephen’s availability. We’d worked together a couple of times before and I knew his work ethic, his creative approach and his instincts that would be what this project needed. There was nothing straightforward or streamlined, but that’s also where an editing room can be a place of total freedom and creativity.
Stephen> I love working closely with another creative mind in the room, really pushing ideas and concepts as far as they can go! Billy of course is hugely talented as is clear to see in his work, but his hidden talent is his patience in the edit, always happy for me to scrap a section of the edit and try something new.
Billy> We would discuss scene ideas in totally abstract terms - only weeks later would those ideas materialise into being something real in the edit. For instance, the ‘Check and Verify’ finale was all about finding clarity within the chaos of the war — we arrived at a sequence which captured all sides of the war: the military impact, the human impact and the political impact.
LBB> What were some of the other challenges that came with this project and what solutions did you come up with?
Billy> New footage was arriving every day, mostly from news archives, some BTS material directly from the BBC teams in Ukraine. It was extremely hard to know when a scene was finished or just a placeholder for something we still hoped to discover.
Stephen> I agree with Billy on this one, as the new material came in new ideas for scenes and chapters would appear which meant digging back into past rushes batches with a new brief in mind. Dave, who was the assistant editor on the project, worked tirelessly with the huge amounts of daily digging that was needed.
LBB> You’ve collaborated together for quite a few years now - tell us about your creative relationship and the work that you do together.
Billy> What’s great is we think differently, we come at things with different ideas, and we don’t always agree. The result is something more mature and meaningful, because the substance and effect of a decision has been discussed and debated before finding a place in the edit.
Stephen> Collaborating with Billy is always very enjoyable as he mentioned, we do think differently which means we do challenge each other, but both have the same creative approach which is ‘there is no wrong suggestion’. We try every idea and we normally learn from it, which then sparks a whole new idea. No stone left unturned!
LBB> What were your personal highlights from this project? What are you particularly proud of?
Billy> The intricacy of this project wasn't just the bulk of the archive but finding out how to tell the story through each tool at our fingertips: the visuals, the sound and the titles. It was only when we found the balance of all three that the film really began to sing.
Also a shoutout to Soundtree who did both music composition and sound design. None of this was an afterthought - their work was happening throughout the editing process and was a huge part in helping us create something that was distinctly original in its feel.
Stephen> For me I really enjoyed the way in which we chapterised the film. It gave me a rare opportunity to employ a series of different editing styles all used within the same storytelling process. Completely agree with Billy on how amazing Soundtree have been to collaborate with, the score was beautifully unique and mature.
LBB> What was your reaction to the finished piece?
Billy> It’s rare that you get to be involved in a project that feels so important. The horrors in Ukraine are ongoing, and while it feels like a lot of the world is starting to tune out, I hope this piece acts as a reminder to people that this is still happening on our doorstep.
Stephen> I couldn’t have said it better!
LBB> Any other creative insights you’d like to share?
Billy> This experience was tough – every day of the summer going into the edit and trying to find sense from hours of footage from a brutal warzone. But I feel lucky to have made work that has highlighted the incredible work of the BBC - an organisation we must cherish and protect. Their work is truly essential.
