Every documentary editor knows the feeling: staring at hours of interview transcripts, hunting for that one perfect quote. It’s manual, tedious, and you risk missing the emotional core buried in paragraph 87. What if you could automate the hunt for narrative gold? Shift from Keyword Search to Narrative Function The key is to stop asking AI for “quotes about failure” and start training it to recognize narrative function . A great quote isn't about a topic; it's a story engine. It delivers a punchy summative statement, reveals personal vulnerability, or encapsulates a powerful contradiction. For example, using an AI transcription and analysis tool like Otter.ai , you can go beyond a simple transcript. The principle is to layer your analysis prompts to mirror your editorial judgment. Mini-Scenario: Instead of searching for "bankruptcy," you instruct the AI to flag lines that use metaphorical contrast to articulate emotional consequence.…