Cut of Month
September 2010
| Type of cut | Slo mo. |
| Definition | Effect where the pace of the action is decreased from what occurred in reality in front of the camera. This retardation is created during editing or, more traditionally, during filming by overcranking (running the film through the camera at a faster rate than it will be played back). |
| Description | The slo mo, overhead shot of the olive (frame 1) as it’s dropped into the martini glass sets the tone and pace of the scene. It’s an action match to frame 2, a regular motion shot, where a hand grabs the glass. Frame 2, in turn, is an action match to frame 3 where magazine editor George Christopher (Ted Danson) turns away from the bar and walks toward camera with his employee Jonathan Ames, (Jason Schwartzman, creator and star of this Brooklyn-based comedy series).
This fun, splashy cut comes with equally delightful dialogue which I can’t resist adding. (It must be the Martini effect.) Here’s the dialogue from the beginning of this scene, which kicks off the episode. GC = George Christopher JA = Jonathan Ames GC: I love martinis. They heal all wounds. After about a thousand of them I’m still amazed. |
| Comments | If you’d like to learn more about editing slo mo shots such as how they’re effectively mixed with regular shots, read Chapter 7, Cuts that use Time Effects of Film Editing: Great Cuts Every Filmmaker and Movie Lover Must Know. |
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Cut of the Month.
Bored to Death: The Case of the Missing Screenplay ©2009 Home Box Office, Inc, All Rights Reserved.
August 2010
| Type of cut | These three frames demonstrate two types of cuts: 1) Cutaway 2) Sound. |
| Definition | 1) A cut to a small, significant detail of a scene. 2) A cut motivated by sound. |
| Description | This month’s cuts show a crucial moment in Jack Kevorkian’s life and life’s mission: the success of his Thanatron machine with the death of his first patient. In frame 1 she pulls the cord of the lever to release the lethal drug. In frame 2 – a cutaway – the cord is gone; the lever has been pulled. In frame 3 the sound of the lever releasing alerts Kevorkian (played by Al Pacino). |
| Comments | To find out more about the role of cutaways and sound in film editing, read Chapter 1 of Cut by Cut: Editing Your Film or Video. |
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Cut of the Month.
You Don’t Know Jack ©2010 Home Box Office, Inc, All Rights Reserved.
July 2010
| Type of cut | Eyeline match. |
| Definition | Matching screen direction means matching how an object or character exits one shot and enters the next shot, reappearing where the audience expects to see it. For this reason camera crews pay attention to screen direction when setting up and filming shots. |
| Description | Traditionally, when two characters talk on the phone, they are shot so they face each other, though this is not observed so much these days due to the music video effect on shooting and editing. Additionally, what I love about this pair of shots is their composition – their framing. It reflects the state of each character as they set up an evening together; the woman (played by the extraordinary Julianne Moore) is romantically dreamy and the man (played by the extraordinary Colin Firth) is emotionally needy. |
| Comments | To see examples of matching and non-matching eyeline cuts, read Chapter 2: Match Cuts of Cutting for Pace, Rhythm and Time of Film Editing: Great Cuts Every Filmmaker and Movie Lover Must Know. |
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Cut of the Month.
A Single Man ©2009 The Weinstein Company All Rights Reserved.
June 2010
| Type of cut | Screen direction match cut. |
| Definition | Matching screen direction means matching how an object or character exits one shot and enters the next shot, reappearing where the audience expects to see it. For this reason camera crews pay attention to screen direction when setting up and filming shots. |
| Description | Horizontal screen direction match Notice the house. It is moving to right to left. So it exits frame 1 on the right and enters frame 2 on the left. If it entered frame 2 on the right it would be as if the house had reversed direction and was moving right to left. The audience would be confused, if only momentarily. Vertical screen direction match Now the house is descending. So in frame 2 it enters frame from the top. |
| Comments | To find out more about editing and matching screen direction, read Chapter 2: Match Cuts of Cutting for Pace, Rhythm and Time of Film Editing: Great Cuts Every Filmmaker and Movie Lover Must Know. |
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Cut of the Month.
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Horizontal Example
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Vertical Example
Up ©2009 Disney Pixar All Rights Reserved.
May 2010
| Type of cut | Superimposition. |
| Definition | When two shots (or more) are held on top of each other. |
| Description | Superimpositions, commonly referred to as “supers,” prolong the value of each shot, intensifying the emotion of the moment. Supers are frequently used to reflect a character’s state of mind, which this shot of a calculating character in a casino exemplifies. |
| Comments | To find out more about how editors manipulate time, read Chapter 4: Cuts that use Basic Effects of Film Editing: Great Cuts Every Filmmaker and Movie Lover Must Know. |
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Cut of the Month.
The Hangover ©2009 Warner Brothers All Rights Reserved.
April 2010
| Type of cut | POV (Point of View). |
| Definition | A type of reverse cut that shows where a character is looking; a POV is a cut to what the character is seeing. |
| Description | Happy April Fool’s Day! Here’s a literal pee-oh-vee where George Falconer (Colin Firth) peers out at his neighbor while on the toilet. |
| Comments | To see more POVs and learn more about this important cut, read Chapter 1: Basic Cuts of Film Editing: Great Cuts Every Filmmaker and Movie Lover Must Know. |
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Cut of the Month.
A Single Man ©2009 The Weinstein Company All Rights Reserved.
March 2010
| Type of cut | Expanding time. |
| Definition | Editing to lengthen real time. |
| Description | Shots enter the cutting room, each with their own timing, created by the real time duration of the filmed action. Editors change this timing reflexively – shortening or lengthening it – to best tell the story. In this opening scene, Monk’s OCD (Obsessive Compulsive disorder) is palpable as he takes forever to remove his assistant’s paycheck from his checkbook. Monk’s action is drawn out to the point that she leaves the room, returning in frame 8. The scene used more than these eight cuts along with a sound effect of tearing and the series’ theme music to expand time and make the comedy work. |
| Comments | To find out more about how editors manipulate time, read Chapter 6: Cutting for Pace, Rhythm and Time of Film Editing: Great Cuts Every Filmmaker and Movie Lover Must Know. |
Your contributions are welcome.
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Cut of the Month.
Monk, Mr. Monk and the Genius ©2009 USA Network, All Rights Reserved.
February 2010
| Type of cut | Matte, a.k.a. key. |
| Definition | A common effect, achieved with two shots, by creating a hole in one shot and placing (keying) another shot in that hole. |
| Description | Series regular Tracy Jordan announces his desire to be an astronaut at the beginning of the episode. A shot of his press conference is keyed into a TV set, a common matte device. |
| Comments | For more information and examples of mattes – they appear in many shapes – read Chapter 5 of Film Editing: Great Cuts Every Filmmaker and Movie Lover Must Know. To learn more about how mattes and other effects are created, read Chapter 8 of Cut by Cut: Editing Your Film or Video. |
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Cut of the Month.
30 Rock: Apollo, Apollo ©2009 Universal Studios, All Rights Reserved.
January 2010
Believe it or not, the first thing I thought about was how the war did not sound like war. Having grown up watching Hollywood war movies I expected a lot more sound and much bigger sound. It was not until I was hit that I realized what I was in was real. WWII veteran*
| Type of cut | Sound. |
| Definition | A cut motivated by sound. |
| Description | Acclaimed documentarian Ken Burns succeeds in placing viewers at the scene of historical events in film after film. Here he puts us at the Allies’ June 6, 1944 landing on Omaha beach in France. How does he do this? By skillfully editing silent, live footage (Shots #1 and #3 with still footage (Shot #2 [frames 2 and 3]) and sparingly adding sound effects and narration. Burns manipulates the shots to create the desired effect: He zooms in the camera on Shot #2 and slows down the motion in Shot #3. But it’s the sound effects that make the scene real, combined with the narration that tells the story, which make the cutting come alive. |
| Comments | To learn more about the power of sound in film, read Chapter 10 of Cut by Cut: Editing Your Film or Video. |
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Cut of the Month.
*from Robert L. Mott’s Sound Effects: Radio, TV, and Film. Boston MA: Focal Press, 1993.
The War: Episode Four – Pride of Our Nation, ©2006 The American Lives II Film Project, LLC, All Rights Reserved.
December 2009
| Type of cut | Match cut on movement, a.k.a. an action match. |
| Definition | A match from the action (movement or motion) of characters or objects in one shot to the action in the next shot where the action continues or completes. |
| Description | This riot scene follows a peaceful protest of a visit to Berlin by Shah of Iran in 1967. The match is on the movement of the crowd of protestors fleeing the police and their moving batons. These action cuts put viewers in the middle of the scene so they can live the experience of the protestors. The cuts also literally move the action and the story forward. |
| Comments | To learn more about match cuts and matching on movement, read Chapter 2 of Film Editing: Great Cuts Every Filmmaker and Movie Lover Must Know. |
Your contributions are welcome.
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Cut of the Month.
Baader Meinhof Complex ©2009 Constantin Films, All Rights Reserved.
November 2009
| Type of cut | Eyeline – Non matching. |
| Definition | An eyeline cut is a cut to where the characters’ lines of vision – their eyelines – match so they appear to be looking at each other. |
| Description | This family is not connecting – everyone is in their own world – so their eyelines do not match. The reason? The mother (frame 3) – a pot dealer – is evading her family with her words and her eyes. As the scene progresses, she looks her family in the eye and defiantly confesses to burning down the family home. Then the family’s eyelines match as they stare at her in horror and disbelief. |
| Comments | To learn more about matching and non-matching eyelines, read Chapter 1 of Film Editing: Great Cuts Every Filmmaker and Movie Lover Must Know.. |
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Cut of the Month.
Weeds Episode 401 ©2008 Showtime Networks Inc, All Rights Reserved.
October 2009
| Type of cut | Eyeline match |
| Definition | A match cut where the characters’ lines of vision – their eyelines – match so they appear to be looking at each other. |
| Description | A lovely raking shot (frame #1), shows a couple of cop-lovers on stake-out. Amidst their shop talk and banter, they share a warm moment (frames #2 and #3). Their matching eyelines solidify this connection before the scene cuts to a master shot (frame #4) and she prepares to exit her car and go off to work. |
| Comments | To see examples of matching and non-matching eyeline cuts, and learn about all the different types of match cuts, read Chapter 2 of Film Editing: Great Cuts Every Filmmaker and Movie Lover Must Know. |
Your contributions are welcome.
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Cut of the Month.
Dexter, Season 3, Episode 305 ©2008 Showtime Networks Inc, All Rights Reserved.
September 2009
| Type of cut | Cutaway |
| Definition | A cut to a small, significant detail of a scene. |
| Description | An editor’s job is to move the story forward with every cut. Look at what this cutaway does: It takes the action from one scene to a reverse angle in another scene. To catch some more cool cutaways and learn more about what a cutaway can do for a movie, read Chapter 1 of Film Editing: Great Cuts Every Filmmaker and Movie Lover Must Know. |
| Comments | This was a great cut because it deftly brings together two story lines of action with one short cutaway. |
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Cut of the Month.
Cars ©2006 Disney/Pixar, All Rights Reserved.
The website author acknowledges the copyright owners of all motion pictures from which single frames have been used for purposes of commentary, criticism, and scholarship under the Fair Use Doctrine.