Editing a Documentary with Adobe Premiere Pro
A course by Martina de Alba
, Visual Artist
Learn to tell real-life stories that inspire an audience by exploring creative shooting and editing techniques, from the initial structure to the finished video
- 100% positive reviews (7)
- 276 students
- Audio: English
- English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, French, Italian, Polish, Dutch
Learn to tell real-life stories that inspire an audience by exploring creative shooting and editing techniques, from the initial structure to the finished video
- 100% positive reviews (7)
- 276 students
- 16 lessons (2h 49m)
- 17 additional resources (4 files)
- Online and at your own pace
- Available on the app
- Audio: English
- English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, French, Italian, Polish, Dutch
- Level: Beginner
- Unlimited access forever
Telling real-life stories through documentaries is a way to help people understand situations and inspire them to change for the better. Through editing, you can reveal conflict, play with time, show each character’s point of view, and keep your audience mesmerized. Visual artist Martina de Alba specializes in editing, producing, and directing compelling documentaries for clients including The New York Times, National Geographic, and CBS.
In this online course, she teaches you her editing techniques to tell engaging stories that evoke emotion. Learn to create a short documentary in Premier Pro step by step, from the structure to the finished cut. Find your narrative voice through documentary editing.

What will you learn in this online course?
Course table of contents
-
U1U1. Introduction
-
U2U2. The Theory
-
U3U3. Watching, Organizing Footage, and Editing
-
U4U4. Finishing Touches
-
FPFP Final project
Begin the course by getting to know visual artist Martina de Alba. Discover how she turned her love for design into a career editing, directing, and producing documentaries, along with the influences that inspire her.
Dive into the elements of a documentary, from b-roll to voice-overs. Then discover different montages you can use in your edits. Learn what The Kuleshov Effect is and how it relates to emotion, before exploring the types of shots used in cinematography.
Set up a project file and find out how to organize your footage. Then create a three-act structure for your documentary with storytelling in mind. Martina guides you through the process of adding music, sound effects, and graphics to your content, as well as how to create a title.
See how to use basic tools for color correction. To wrap up the course, Martina shares her advice for finessing and exporting your finished documentary.
What is this course's project?
Edit a ten-minute documentary with Adobe Premier Pro, from the initial file import to the final version.

Who is this online course for?
This course is for anyone with an interest in learning how to edit documentaries.
Requirements and materials
Basic editing skills are recommended.
In terms of materials, you will need a device with access to editing software. Martina uses Adobe Premiere Pro.

Reviews

A course by Martina de Alba
Martina de Alba is a Spanish visual artist, currently working as a director, producer, and editor in Los Angeles. She studied graphic design in Barcelona before moving to New York City to learn video editing which combined her passions for both graphics and music. She worked as a full-time video editor at VICE Media and, in 2016, joined The Front, a female-based media company in Brooklyn. Martina later moved to Los Angeles, where she transitioned into directing and producing.
She has worked on short documentaries for The New York Times, National Geographic, CBS, Spotify, and Apple, among others, and is currently editing documentary series for Disney+, Paramount+, and MSNBC.
Content
-
U1
Introduction
-
About Me
-
Influences
-
What Will We Do in This Course?
-
-
U2
The Theory
-
Elements of a Documentary
-
Elements of a Documentary: Montage
-
The Kuleshov Effect
-
Defining Shot Types in Cinematography
-
-
U3
Watching, Organizing Footage, and Editing
-
Prepping the Project File 1
-
Prepping the Project File 2
-
Prepping the Project File 3
-
Basic Documentary Structure
-
Music, Sound Effects, and Graphics 1
-
Music, Sound Effects, and Graphics 2
-
Music, Sound Effects, and Graphics 3
-
-
U4
Finishing Touches
-
Color Correction
-
Finessing and Exporting
-
-
FP
Final project
-
Editing a Documentary with Adobe Premiere Pro
-
What to expect from a Domestika course
-
Learn at your own pace
Enjoy learning from home without a set schedule and with an easy-to-follow method. You set your own pace.
-
Learn from the best professionals
Learn valuable methods and techniques explained by top experts in the creative sector.
-
Meet expert teachers
Each expert teaches what they do best, with clear guidelines, true passion, and professional insight in every lesson.
-
Certificates
PlusIf you're a Plus or PRO member, get a custom certificate signed by your teacher for every course. Share it on your portfolio, social media, or wherever you like.
-
Get front-row seats
Videos of the highest quality, so you don't miss a single detail. With unlimited access, you can watch them as many times as you need to perfect your technique.
-
Share knowledge and ideas
Ask questions, request feedback, or offer solutions. Share your learning experience with other students in the community who are as passionate about creativity as you are.
-
Connect with a global creative community
The community is home to millions of people from around the world who are curious and passionate about exploring and expressing their creativity.
-
Watch professionally produced courses
Domestika curates its teacher roster and produces every course in-house to ensure a high-quality online learning experience.
FAQs
Domestika's courses are online classes that provide you with the tools and skills you need to complete a specific project. Every step of the project combines video lessons with complementary instructional material, so you can learn by doing. Domestika's courses also allow you to share your own projects with the teacher and with other students, creating a dynamic course community.
All courses are 100% online, so once they're published, courses start and finish whenever you want. You set the pace of the class. You can go back to review what interests you most and skip what you already know, ask questions, answer questions, share your projects, and more.
The courses are divided into different units. Each one includes lessons, informational text, tasks, and practice exercises to help you carry out your project step by step, with additional complementary resources and downloads. You'll also have access to an exclusive forum where you can interact with the teacher and with other students, as well as share your work and your course project, creating a community around the course.
You can redeem the course you received by accessing the redeeming page and entering your gift code.
doco.designer
Muy buen curso. Lo recomiendo al 100%
View translation
Hide translation
samir02vargas
Great....
zoksart
Great!
luwismatius
i can get some theory who help me understand documentary and editing more than before
rodolfo.gil
PlusUm bom acompanhamento (e bastante completo) de todo o processo de edição de um vídeo.
View translation
Hide translation