--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Of course, when you're making a…" description: "\"Of course, when you're making a documentary, you don't have actors, but nonetheless, there is a writing process that does take place in the editing roo..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf3/rithy-panh-11040_editing_of-course-when-you-re-making-a-documenta_1448254.jpg" --- # Of course, when you're making a documentary, you don't… ![“Of course, when you're making a documentary, you don't have actors, but nonetheless, there is a writing process that does take place in the editing room.” quote by Rithy Panh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf3/rithy-panh-11040_editing_of-course-when-you-re-making-a-documenta_1448254.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf3/rithy-panh-11040_editing_of-course-when-you-re-making-a-documenta_1448254.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf3/rithy-panh-11040_editing_of-course-when-you-re-making-a-documenta_1448254.jpg) > “Of course, when you're making a documentary, you don't have actors, but nonetheless, there is a writing process that does take place in the editing room.” [Rithy Panh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rithy-panh/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Creating a documentary involves a writing process that occurs during editing, even without actors. **In simple terms:** Documentaries are shaped in the edit room. Key Takeaway Embrace editing as a storytelling tool. Themes filmmaking editing storytelling Mood reflective informative Type educational insightful When to use this quote - documentary production - post-production workflow Key Concepts narrative construction visual storytelling Questions to Reflect On - How does editing influence your narrative? - What story emerges in the cut? A Different Perspective May underestimate the role of pre‑production planning. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Documentary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/documentary/) [Process](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/process/) [Theatre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theatre/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Writing process](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing-process/) ## Related quotes > [How do you deal with giving yourself the options in the editing room for dealing with problems that come up from a shifting tone?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-requa/how-do-you-deal-with-giving-yourself-the-options-in-the-editing-room/) [John Requa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-requa/) > [The bottom line is that your performance is made in the editing room.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brent-sexton/the-bottom-line-is-that-your-performance-is-made-in-the-editing-room/) [Brent Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brent-sexton/) > [The thing about making a documentary in Las Vegas is there isn't much to film apart from other people making documentaries about Las Vegas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-james/the-thing-about-making-a-documentary-in-las-vegas-is-there-isn-t-much/) [Clive James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-james/) > [Twenty to thirty years ago, who was making documentary films? Nobody. Well, relatively few people. It was an art form that had limited theatrical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/errol-morris/twenty-to-thirty-years-ago-who-was-making-documentary-films-nobody/) [Errol Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/errol-morris/) > [For someone like me, making a documentary - I don't kid myself. There's no influence at all. What I do is entertainment. I would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-portillo/for-someone-like-me-making-a-documentary-i-don-t-kid-myself-there-s/) [Michael Portillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-portillo/) > [I think making a documentary gets you out and about more, with people. With stand-up, you're talking at people. With documentaries you're talking with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ardal-o-hanlon/i-think-making-a-documentary-gets-you-out-and-about-more-with-people/) [Ardal O'Hanlon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ardal-o-hanlon/) > [If I weren't making documentary films, I suppose I'd be teaching.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-lindstrom/if-i-weren-t-making-documentary-films-i-suppose-i-d-be-teaching/) [Brian Lindstrom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-lindstrom/) > [Making the documentary was an extraordinary experience and it really hit home to me the quasi-religious nature of this anthropogenic global warming cause. These…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-minchin/making-the-documentary-was-an-extraordinary-experience-and-it-really/) [Nick Minchin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-minchin/) > [So much of art-making is about reducing things to the essentials, so I don't feel particularly crippled by this. I don't want it to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-holzer/so-much-of-art-making-is-about-reducing-things-to-the-essentials-so-i/) [Jenny Holzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-holzer/) > [There's always the question when you're making a documentary if the talking heads will work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heidi-ewing/there-s-always-the-question-when-you-re-making-a-documentary-if-the/) [Heidi Ewing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heidi-ewing/) > [The making of the documentary is an involving and collaborative process where you go deeper unlike in movies where you just borrow someone else's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javed-jaffrey/the-making-of-the-documentary-is-an-involving-and-collaborative/) [Javed Jaffrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javed-jaffrey/) > [For me, the making of a documentary to mark the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain was an intensely personal journey. I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-jason/for-me-the-making-of-a-documentary-to-mark-the-70th-anniversary-of/) [David Jason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-jason/) > [I spoke to my father about making a documentary on him. I have been seriously contemplating that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arbaaz-khan/i-spoke-to-my-father-about-making-a-documentary-on-him-i-have-been/) [Arbaaz Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arbaaz-khan/) > [You know, the process of making a documentary is one of discovery, and like writing a story, you follow a lead and that leads…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shatner/you-know-the-process-of-making-a-documentary-is-one-of-discovery-and/) [William Shatner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shatner/) > [Making a documentary about my hometown was always going to be the most difficult topic I had ever covered! No question.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacey-dooley/making-a-documentary-about-my-hometown-was-always-going-to-be-the/) [Stacey Dooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacey-dooley/) ## More by Rithy Panh > [What I like to do with every film is to bring a form, like a cinematographic proposal. If you watch 'S21,' it's a form;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rithy-panh/what-i-like-to-do-with-every-film-is-to-bring-a-form-like-a/) [Rithy Panh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rithy-panh/) > [We need creativity. We need more poetry after Auschwitz.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rithy-panh/we-need-creativity-we-need-more-poetry-after-auschwitz/) [Rithy Panh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rithy-panh/) > [It's better to live a world where you can hear different languages and sensibilities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rithy-panh/it-s-better-to-live-a-world-where-you-can-hear-different-languages/) [Rithy Panh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rithy-panh/) > [Sometimes if you can tell one personal story with a lot of sincerity, it can become a universal story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rithy-panh/sometimes-if-you-can-tell-one-personal-story-with-a-lot-of-sincerity/) [Rithy Panh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rithy-panh/) > [I didn't survive because I was stronger than others. I survived because my family and friends helped me to survive. They took my place.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rithy-panh/i-didn-t-survive-because-i-was-stronger-than-others-i-survived/) [Rithy Panh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rithy-panh/) > [We must be capable of writing our own history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rithy-panh/we-must-be-capable-of-writing-our-own-history/) [Rithy Panh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rithy-panh/) > [In this era of digital special effects, I think it's good to work with our hands and our hearts, to use water and clay,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rithy-panh/in-this-era-of-digital-special-effects-i-think-it-s-good-to-work-with/) [Rithy Panh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rithy-panh/) > [Every time you are getting ready to make a shot in a documentary film, you are asking yourself questions about your cinematographic approach. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rithy-panh/every-time-you-are-getting-ready-to-make-a-shot-in-a-documentary-film/) [Rithy Panh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rithy-panh/) > [If you can keep something very personal, like a song, like a color, like a story, deep in your heart, then nobody can destroy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rithy-panh/if-you-can-keep-something-very-personal-like-a-song-like-a-color-like/) [Rithy Panh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rithy-panh/) > [The most beautiful thing in Cambodia isn't the country - it's the Cambodian people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rithy-panh/the-most-beautiful-thing-in-cambodia-isn-t-the-country-it-s-the/) [Rithy Panh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rithy-panh/) > [Evil has always been there; it's always a part of us. Evil is no big surprise. But what about the people who gave freely,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rithy-panh/evil-has-always-been-there-it-s-always-a-part-of-us-evil-is-no-big/) [Rithy Panh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rithy-panh/) > [As children, we did not have toys. We invented characters and animals; we invented stories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rithy-panh/as-children-we-did-not-have-toys-we-invented-characters-and-animals/) [Rithy Panh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rithy-panh/) > [Cinema is not truth. Even when you make documentary films, you can choose to show this shot and not the other shot - this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rithy-panh/cinema-is-not-truth-even-when-you-make-documentary-films-you-can/) [Rithy Panh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rithy-panh/) > [“But I’ve never seen a free exchange. A gift is something else. I lived for four years in a society without currency, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rithy-panh/but-i-ve-never-seen-a-free-exchange-a-gift-is-something-else-i-lived/) [Rithy Panh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rithy-panh/) > [I have never been political in a partisan sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rithy-panh/i-have-never-been-political-in-a-partisan-sense/) [Rithy Panh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rithy-panh/) [Explore all 62 Rithy Panh quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rithy-panh/) ## More Documentary quotes > [When I speak a serious subject in an informal and humorous way, it has bigger impact. So much so, when BBC made a small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arunachalam-muruganantham/when-i-speak-a-serious-subject-in-an-informal-and-humorous-way-it-has/) [Arunachalam Muruganantham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arunachalam-muruganantham/) > [The documentary style is an incredibly flexible and useful one. It's a wonderful tool for establishing the credibility of the version of things that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-gohlke/the-documentary-style-is-an-incredibly-flexible-and-useful-one-it-s-a/) [Frank Gohlke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-gohlke/) > [In the spring of 1984, I went to the northwest of France, to Normandy, to prepare an NBC documentary on the 40th anniversary of D-Day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-brokaw/in-the-spring-of-1984-i-went-to-the-northwest-of-france-to-normandy/) [Tom Brokaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-brokaw/) > [Most of the photographs people take with their cameraphones are of little value in terms of documentary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-parr/most-of-the-photographs-people-take-with-their-cameraphones-are-of/) [Martin Parr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-parr/) > [My senior thesis was a documentary. By the time I graduated from college, I thought I was going to make films, and my interest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaby-hoffmann/my-senior-thesis-was-a-documentary-by-the-time-i-graduated-from/) [Gaby Hoffmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaby-hoffmann/) > [Most of my life, I thought that I would end up a novelist. But then, in New York City, after college, I started a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-spaihts/most-of-my-life-i-thought-that-i-would-end-up-a-novelist-but-then-in/) [Jon Spaihts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-spaihts/) > [By calling it a memoir, I meant is as a collection of memories. I thought it was (a more) artful (title) than documentary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-merchant/by-calling-it-a-memoir-i-meant-is-as-a-collection-of-memories-i/) [Natalie Merchant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-merchant/) > [I'm a documentary photographer. That's what I've always wanted to be; that's where my heart and soul is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-ellen-mark/i-m-a-documentary-photographer-that-s-what-i-ve-always-wanted-to-be/) [Mary Ellen Mark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-ellen-mark/) > [Yeah I'm telling real stories, but if you pick up a documentary on strippers, you're going to want to see some stripping, so we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/method-man/yeah-i-m-telling-real-stories-but-if-you-pick-up-a-documentary-on/) [Method Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/method-man/) > [The pictures that were coming from Vietnam were showing us what was really happening on the ground level. It was in contradiction to what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-nachtwey/the-pictures-that-were-coming-from-vietnam-were-showing-us-what-was/) [James Nachtwey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-nachtwey/) > [It's supposed to be entertainment. It's not supposed to be a documentary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeri-ryan/it-s-supposed-to-be-entertainment-it-s-not-supposed-to-be-a/) [Jeri Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeri-ryan/) > [If you merely focus on what we already know, then it's not revelatory. You may as well just go and watch a documentary or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-oyelowo/if-you-merely-focus-on-what-we-already-know-then-it-s-not-revelatory/) [David Oyelowo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-oyelowo/) > [Helen Weaver’s book was a revelation to me! Although I was a young woman in the fifties, I was there, but I wasn’t there!…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-cassady/helen-weaver-s-book-was-a-revelation-to-me-although-i-was-a-young/) Carolyn Cassady > [If you want to see the real Pablo Escobar, go see a documentary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wagner-moura/if-you-want-to-see-the-real-pablo-escobar-go-see-a-documentary/) [Wagner Moura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wagner-moura/) > [There's a tradition of reenactment in documentary which is about sort of illustrating what the past might have been like.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-oppenheimer/there-s-a-tradition-of-reenactment-in-documentary-which-is-about-sort/) [Joshua Oppenheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-oppenheimer/) [Browse all 655 Documentary quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/documentary/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Of course, when you're making a documentary, you don't have actors, but nonetheless, there is a writing process that does take place in the editing room.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Rithy Panh" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rithy-panh/of-course-when-you-re-making-a-documentary-you-don-t-have-actors-but/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Documentary" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rithy-panh/of-course-when-you-re-making-a-documentary-you-don-t-have-actors-but/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf3/rithy-panh-11040_editing_of-course-when-you-re-making-a-documenta_1448254.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf3/rithy-panh-11040_editing_of-course-when-you-re-making-a-documenta_1448254.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf3/rithy-panh-11040_editing_of-course-when-you-re-making-a-documenta_1448254.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Of course, when you're making a documentary, you don't have actors, but nonetheless, there is a writing…” — Rithy Panh", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Rithy Panh", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rithy-panh/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Of course, when you're making a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rithy-panh/of-course-when-you-re-making-a-documentary-you-don-t-have-actors-but/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rithy-panh/of-course-when-you-re-making-a-documentary-you-don-t-have-actors-but/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```