Behind-the-Scenes
of Dr.STONE
We want to highlight the creators and their dedication
to the source material and scientific accuracy.
TRAILER
THE CHALLENGE
My video team at Crunchyroll have been wanting to do behind-the-scenes documentaries with production companies, because we love watching the process of making anime and so do our fans.
We were to make a 30min video that highlights the anime and the creators behind it. The challenge for us was to:
• Show the passion of the creators in making the anime.
• Educating the fans about the process of making an anime.
• Reveal the extent of the research and accuracy that went into the science, since this was a show about science.
Timeline
6 months total
• 1 month to approve
• 1 month to shoot
• 3 months to edit
• 1 month for notes.
Team
• 2 Producers
• 1 Sound/PA
• 1 Translator
• 1 Video Editor
• 1 Assistant Editor
Tools
• Adobe Premiere Pro
• Adobe Photoshop
• Adobe After Effects
MY CONTRIBUTIONS
As the Senior Editor on my team, I was the primary editor for this documentary. This type of work has been something my team has been wanting to do, but takes a lot of work pitching to stakeholders and working with other departments on setting expectations and potential benefits.
As the video editor, I was responsible for everything that took the raw footage until it became a finished product. This included:
• Syncing & cutting down 50 hours of audio and video.
• Editing multiple versions for different platforms and social videos.
• Finding music, sound effects, and doing color-correction.
• Create stills and motion graphics.
• Respond to notes from multiple stakeholders and departments.
MY EDITING PROCESS & SIMILARITIES TO UX
01
Prep // Research
To prepare for a documentary:
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Watch the show.
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Identify any questions or themes the viewer might be curious to learn more about.
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Find music that fits the tone I want.
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Meet with the partner manager to determine what we can and can't discuss.
02
Sorting Footage // Design
Once I have all the footage (about 50 hrs), I can start prepping for the edit:
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Get footage translated.
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Assemble clips of b-roll (background footage used to cover clips).
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Sync footage and audio.
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Sort footage by theme to assemble the story.
03
Editing // Prototype
Now that I have all the footage loosely sorted, I can start editing.
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Storyboard the major plot points.
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Edit together scenes. Assemble a-roll (primary interview footage).
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Add b-roll and clean up the edit by making the story tighter.
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Do the final polish for color, sounds, and subtitles.
04
Notes // Testing
When I'm happy with the story and overall edit, I show it to others and get feedback.
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Rough cut shown internally to team.
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Show it to partner managers to show to the production company to see if they want any changes.
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Get feedback from legal.
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Present it to stakeholders and marketing.
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Release it to the world.
RESULTS
The video was a big hit. We intended to release it on YouTube, our Crunchyroll platform, and social videos, with a goal of over 1 million cumulative views. It did nearly triple that, with 850k views on YouTube alone.
The production company we highlighted loved it so much that they included it into their box set. Our partners team used the video to get other production companies interested because having a successful video that showcases a production company's work makes approvals easier beyond a pitch deck.
Stakeholders were very pleased and used it as an example of how our company respects the work of creators and how far we go to make content for our audience.
THE FULL DOCUMENTARY
WHAT WENT WRONG
Although, we are very proud of the final product, as always, things went wrong that we didn't account for and need to be addressed for the future.
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First, we didn't account for how long it would take to get translations in. Since all our subjects spoke Japanese, not having the translations delayed editing.
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Our stock music license was good for digital releases but not physical, like a DVD. I had to negotiate with that vendor to get the rights for that and that involved asking for more budget.
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Approvals were difficult. Because there was going a physical release, we didn't account for approvals by some departments, like the DVD legal team.
ENGAGE WITH ME
LESSONS LEARNED
While we were excited about the documentary being added to the DVD, we were not ready for all the additional issues that brought. After this project, we decided to play it safe and work as if all projects would be for physical releases.
Another big change was involving other departments earlier and keeping them updated on our deadlines. We changed our process dealing with the translation team. We would send the audio from Japan to me as soon as it was recorded so that I could prep it for translation. We then separated it out into chunks as opposed to all at once, so they can have multiple translators working on it as opposed to just one.