Cut Styles

DO NOT DO:

Jump cut. Abrupt switch from one scene to another which may be used deliberately to make a dramatic point. Sometimes boldly used to begin or end action. (example)

Cut Away

2 Progressive cut. Scenes that progress rapidly through video shots that would take a long time to progress on their own.

Objective:

• change the scene;
• compress time;
• vary the point of view; or
• build up an image or idea.

Matched cut. In a 'matched cut' a familiar relationship between the two different shots takes place (example)

• continuity of place and direction;
• completed action;
• a similar center of attention in the frame;

Cutting rhythm

Deliberate frequent cuts used for emphasis for emphasize, shock, confusion, or surprise (example many cuts showing various shots to emphasis the boy walking)

(e.g. a person is stressed out and is thinking of all their responsibilities; the camera shows each of these responsibilities in a rapid fire getting faster and faster and showing the person getting more stressed out)

Cross-cut (intercutting)

A cut from one scene to another but they consists of the same time.

In this example, the boss sitting in the chair is waiting for the guy running to the meeting. Both scenes are happening at the same time, boss looks at his watch and the other guy is running to the office while he is waiting.

Cutaway

Shows an action but then cuts away to a different clip and then back to the original action although it shows that there has been progression. Used in between a jump cut. Example

Reaction shot. Any shot, usually a cutaway, in which a participant reacts to action which has just occurred. Example

Insertshot. A bridging close-up shot inserted into the larger context, offering an essential detail of the scene (or a reshooting of the action with a different shot size or angle.)

Also applied as an adjective to sequences which use such cuts.

(e.g. if a person turns right, the next scene will show him straight on turning that direction)

Watch the video on a few of these cuts or transitions.

Comment

Finally, search YouTube for an appropriate TV or movie clip (at least three minutes long, no trailers). Make a comment on the video in YT of the various cut styles that you see used (at least four). Note the time (e.g. 1:21) when the cut style is used. Make sure you use the exact time format, which will automatically create a link to that clip after you post the comment. For time under one minute, begin with a 0 (e.g. 0:22).

Example: buffer shot 0:32, split screen 2:05, etc.

Take a screenshot of your posted YT comment and post it to posterous along with the link to the video.

Try not to get caught up into trying to find the perfect clip to watch; be efficient with your time. If you already spent at least thirty minutes working on it and you cannot find the cuts, just explain by email that you tried and do not complete it.

Good YT comment Example:

The Turn Off

Posted Comment

Teach It Directions

Go to https://sites.google.com/site/thevideocuts. You should have been invited by your class gmail on access to edit the site. I want everyone to contribute to learning and teaching on of the video cuts. Go to the cut list and choose a cut that has not been taken that you want to focus on and teach. Create and insert the cut page you want to teach right away so someone else does not take it. When you insert a page, the motivated cut will be there which is a template guide. You will replace the content with yours for your cut. First thing you should change is to add your name at the bottom so people know who has that cut.

GoogleSite

When you use GoogleSites, click on add a new page and name it your cut name (e.g. Motivated Cut). Place it under the current link Video Cuts. If you have never used GoogleSites, I recommend that you watch the GoogleStie video tutorials, but not required.

Content

When you make your page, use a similar template design than the the motivated cut page. Make sure you have all the same headings and content for each heading. Take a photo of something or someone that portrays or represents your cut. Use iPhoto, Picasa, or any other program to make it black and white, or you can take the photo in B&W.

Take another abstract photo that is not distracting and will just add texture to your page and place it as a banner than fits well across the length of your text at put it at the bottom of your page. Make this B&W also. Both of these photos should be left aligned on your page and choose L size.

Take a creative profile photo of yourself looking to the right and make in B&W. When you insert your photo at the bottom of the page, change the size to small and left align.

Delete any text on the page that was previously there to help guide you as instructions.

Video

When you make your video, do not explain anything like the video list below. Instead, you film and edit (in any program) a very short (under 30 seconds) sequence of scenes and clips that clearly demonstrates the cut. Make sure you have good lighting and the camera is not shaking when you film. Please put effort into these and make them quality, but not long and complicated. You can choose your scenario or brief storyline.

Past Videos

The list below is some video examples students in the past made but I told them not to spend much time on them. Most did not make quality cut examples that are correct or clearly shown. I want you to make really good videos and I will use them for teaching video. If any of the former students also taught your cut below, place a link to their videos at the bottom of your page under Further Video Examples & Explanations. Post at least two videos under this section. If former students did not create any, then find other videos on YT that teach your cut.

Submit

When you are finished, take a screenshot of the top half of your page and post it along with a link to your page to posterous. Ask one person who is currently taking the class to read your page and ask them to make a posterous comment with suggestions on how to make things more clear or things to add. Then ask someone who has never taken computer applications and is a HS student and have them give suggestions as well. They must find at least two things that are not clear or ways to improve. Then go back and improve those parts if you think it is needed. Post your posterous article to the spreadsheet.

(example, 1:20): (example, 1:20):

The cut is usually made on an action (for example, a person begins to turn towards a door in one shot; the next shot, taken from the doorway, catches him completing the turn). Because the viewer's eye is absorbed by the action he is unlikely to notice the movement of the cut itself.

4 Motivated cut. Cut made just at the point where what has occurred makes the viewer immediately want to see something which is not currently visible (causing us, for instance, to accept compression of time).

5 Reverse cut. Scene stops and cuts to a reverse of the same scene (e.g. rewind effect).

Cutting rate.

cutaway shot (CA). A bridging, intercut shot between two shots of the same subject. It represents a secondary activity occurring at the same time as the main action. It may be preceded by a definite look or glance out of frame by a participant, or it may show something of which those in the preceding shot are unaware. (See narrative style: parallel development) It may be used to avoid the technical ugliness of a 'jump cut' where there would be uncomfortable jumps in time, place or viewpoint. It is often used to shortcut the passing of time.

13 Fade, dissolve (mix). Both fades and dissolves are gradual transitions between shots. In a fade the picture gradually appears from (fades in) or disappears to (fades out) a blank screen. A slow fade-in is a quiet introduction to a scene; a slow fade-out is a peaceful ending. Time lapses are often suggested by a slow fade-out and fade-in. A dissolve (or mix) involves fading out one picture while fading up another on top of it. The impression is of an image merging into and then becoming another. A slow mix usually suggests differences in time and place. Defocus or ripple dissolves are sometimes used to indicate flashbacks in time.

14 Super-impositions. Two of more images placed directly over each other (e.g. and eye and a camera lens to create a visual metaphor).

15 Wipe. An optical effect marking a transition between two shots. It appears to supplant an image by wiping it off the screen (as a line or in some complex pattern, such as by appearing to turn a page). The wipe is a technique which draws attention to itself and acts as a clear marker of change.

16 Inset. An inset is a special visual effect whereby a reduced shot is superimposed on the main shot. Often used to reveal a close-up detail of the main shot.

17 Split screen. The division of the screen into parts which can show the viewer several images at the same time (sometimes the same action from slightly different perspectives, sometimes similar actions at different times). This can convey the excitement and frenzy of certain activities, but it can also overload the viewer.

180 degree rule

buffer shot example

12 Buffer shot (neutral shot). A bridging shot (normally taken with a separate camera) to separate two shots which would have reversed the continuity of direction.