This document discusses various types of cuts and transitions that can be used in film editing. It describes cutting on action to provide better views of situations or emphasize actions. Cutaways can provide additional context or omit information. Cross-cutting builds tension by cutting between two locations. Jump cuts speed up scenes or show complex movements. Match cuts transition between similar movements. Fades transition between scenes or indicate passing time. Smash cuts contrast high tension with low tension. Iris shots focus on one object while blocking others. Whip transitions are meant to be noticeable. Invisible cuts make transitions seem seamless. L-cuts and J-cuts use overlapping sound to connect shots.

1. Cuts & Transitions

2. Cutting on Action
• Cutting on action uses a simple cut on an
action performed on screen or a movement
performed by person or object.
• Things such as turning, walking into different
rooms, punches and kicks.
• This can be used to provide a better view of a
situation or used to create more power
behind an action.

3. Cut Away
• This is inserting a clip into a scene that can
provide more information or to take away more
information.
• This can been seen as quick flashbacks taken
from a characters thoughts or looking at
something in the same space as the scene or
from a different place than the scene.
• Can hide things like sex scenes or murder scenes
that can be used to keep a films age rating down
and not disturb viewers.

4. Cross Cut
• Cutting between two different location over
and over.
• This can be used to build tension if done right
and at the right speed.

5. Jump Cut
• Shows a passing of time by taking sections of a
shots out.
• This can be used to speed up a scene that
would usually take too long, or used to create
a sense of urgency.
• This can also be used to add a full shot to
show complex or important movement.

6. Match Cut
• One shot that mimics another by using similar
movement of compassion.
• This is normal used as a transition of time or
location.
• Example: something being thrown and then it
being matched by something of similar size
and speed but something completely different
then in a different location or time.

7. Fade In/Fade Out
• Dissolve to black or dissolve out of black is
often used to represent small passing's of
time.
• You can also add a dissolve to have two clips
together at the same time. This can be used to
show emotion of a character during a
flashback.

8. Smash Cut
• Can be used to transition from a scene with
lots of tension to none or none to lots.
• Tension can be indicated by things like loud
diegetic/non-diegetic sound or lots of
movement.
• Calm is indicated by an absence of noise and
someone or something being very isolated in
negative space.

9. Iris
• An iris is used to focus on one thing in a shot
while blocking out any input from anything
else.
• This is done by having a fully black screen and
only one thing in a circle that can be viewed.
• This transition is mostly used as the ending
transition of a film.
• The most notable example is in “Looney
Toons”

10. Whip
• This is a simple transition just like a cute away
or cut on action.
• It is used as a transition that is meant to be
noticed.
• It uses a small animation to fade across the
screen of one clip to another or in different
shapes such as the classic ‘Star Whip’.
• Whips are most notable used in “Star Wars”.

11. Invisible Cut
• These are cuts used to make it seem like there
was no cut.
• Usually cued on movement to make it seem like
several shots were all done in one take.
• These can show passing of time are used in the
complete opposite to show no passing of time
when there was actually lots of time passed.
• The most notable example is “Birdman” which
has tricked many into thinking the whole film is
done in one take.

12. L-Cut and J-Cut(Sound Bridge)
• These are audio based transitions also known as
sound bridges. They are used to link and
transition two shots together using sound from
either clip.
• This is done by overlapping the sound over both
clips. The sound can be made louder while
transitioning or quieter. It can also go from a
more dense sounds to a not so dense sounds.
• An L-Cut is when it uses the sound in the first clip,
while a J-Cut is when it uses sound from the
second clip.