News Package Editing: How We Cut a Story to Broadcast Length
A look at how raw footage, voice-over and graphics become a finished package that fits its slot, and what our edit suite does between the first clip and the final export.
From raw footage to a finished package
A news package starts as a pile of clips, and the first job in the edit suite is to find the story inside it. Before any cutting begins, Priya Nair and I watch the logged material together and agree what the piece must say in the time it has. A slot of one minute thirty leaves no room for a scene that is merely good to look at.
Every commission arrives with a running time from the broadcaster, and we treat that figure as fixed. We build the package backwards from it: the opening shot, the key statement, the closing line, then the material that connects them. This keeps the edit honest and stops a long afternoon of shooting from spilling into a package that overruns.
We also confirm the delivery format early, because frame rate, loudness and file type shape how we set up the project from the first clip.
Voice-over that matches the pictures
Voice-over is written after the picture structure is clear, not before. A script that runs ahead of the footage forces the editor to hunt for shots to fit the words, and viewers notice when an image says one thing while the narration says another.
We write short sentences, one idea each, and read them aloud against the timeline. If a line cannot be spoken comfortably inside the shot it sits on, the line changes, not the shot. Where the reporter records on location, we check levels and room tone before the take is accepted, so the track can be cleaned without leaving a hollow sound.
Names, titles and figures in the script are checked against the logged notes from the shoot. Accuracy is one of our three working values, and the edit is the last place where an error can still be caught quietly.
Graphics that carry information, not decoration
On-screen graphics earn their place only when they tell the viewer something the pictures cannot: a name, a place, a short figure, a map outline. We keep captions plain and legible at the size they appear on a living-room screen, and we hold each one long enough to be read twice.
Where a broadcaster has its own graphic style, we work to the templates and fonts it supplies. Where it has none, we offer a simple lower-third and location tag that stay out of the way of faces. Nothing animated is added for its own sake.
Safe margins matter more than people expect. A caption that looks fine on our monitors can be clipped on older sets, so we check every graphic inside the title-safe area before export.
- Names and titles checked against shoot notes
- Captions held long enough to read twice
- All text kept inside title-safe margins
Working to the clock in the edit suite
Quick-turn editing is a matter of order, not haste. We ingest and back up footage first, mark the usable takes, then assemble a rough cut before touching colour, sound or graphics. Each stage is finished well enough to stand on, so if a deadline moves forward we can export an earlier version that still plays cleanly.
Priya keeps the suite running to broadcast deadlines, and I stay on the editorial side, deciding what stays and what goes when the time is short. That split means decisions are made quickly and by the person best placed to make them.
In these mid-autumn weeks, with earlier dusk and more evening events, we see more footage shot in low light. We allow extra time for noise reduction and careful grading so that late-afternoon material sits comfortably beside daylight shots.
Checks before a package leaves us
Before delivery, every package is watched through once from start to finish by someone who did not cut it. A fresh pair of eyes catches a jump in continuity, a mispronounced name or a caption that lingers a beat too long.
We then check the technical side: running time against the slot, audio levels, black frames at head and tail, and the file against the specification the broadcaster gave us. The package is exported only when each point is ticked off.
If a producer wants a change after delivery, we re-open the project rather than patching the exported file, so the picture and sound stay clean. A short note travels with each package listing what is in it, who is named and any material that needs the broadcaster's attention.
- Full viewing by a second person
- Running time and levels checked to specification
- Delivery note listing names and contents
What producers can send us, and what happens next
Producers can bring us footage shot by our own crews or by their own, and we edit both. The more we know at the start, the better the result: the slot length, the delivery format, any house style, and the names that must appear on screen.
Once an enquiry comes through the contact page, we confirm the scope in writing and agree a delivery time before any work begins. Rough cuts can be shared for comment where the schedule allows, with changes folded into a single round so the deadline holds.
We keep the process plain on purpose. A producer should know at each stage what we have, what we are doing with it and when it will arrive, without having to chase.
Editing is where a day of filming becomes something a broadcaster can put to air, and the discipline is mostly in the small decisions: what to leave out, how long to hold a caption, when to stop. We cut every package to its slot, check it twice and deliver it with a clear note. If you have footage waiting to be shaped, the contact page is the place to start.
Rhian Davies
Managing ProducerRhian has produced television news for over fifteen years and leads the editorial side of every commission.
Ask for a quote
- Call us
- 01792 410286
- By email
- hello@reportsia.net