The Cutting Room Floor
Contributed By
PBS Learning Media
The Cutting Room Floor
This video demystifies the film editing process as producers and editors discuss edits to the documentary American Masters: Bill T. Jones: A Good Man. The film chronicles Bill T. Jones creating Fondly Do We Hope, Fervently Do We Pray, a dance performance commemorating Abraham Lincoln’s 200th birthday. As the post-production process evolves, the filmmakers confront the same challenge Jones faced: should they include a reference to "snakes in bed," a metaphor Lincoln used to illustrate his views on slavery in the new territories, or should it end up on the cutting room floor.