Editing techniques

Cutting

• The process where one shot is replaced on screen immediately by the next.

Shot/reverse shot

• Cutting back and forth between people in a conversation.

Eyeline match

• Cutting to show what a character is looking at.

Graphic match

• A similar shape or colour linking two consecutive shots.

Action match

• Cutting to show another angle of the scene.

Jump cut

• A jump cut is a cut in film editing in which two similar shots of the same subject are taken from camera positions that vary only slightly.

Crosscutting

• Crosscutting is an editing technique most often used in films to establish action occurring at the same time in two different locations. I a cross-cut, the camera will cut away from one action to another action.

Disolve

• A dissolve is a gradual transition from one image to another. A first image gradually dissolves and fades out and is replaced by another image which fades in over it. They are usually used in film to connothe the passage of time and change of mood.

Fade in/face out

• A fade in shot is where a new shot starts as black and gradually appears.
• A fade out is there a shot gradually gets darker until it disappears.
• They are usually used at the beginning or end of day in a film.

Fade in

Fade out

Superimposition

• The exposure of more than one image on the same film strip. Two distinct images appearing simultaneously with one superimposed upon the other.

Long/short take

• Long takes: takes of an unusually long length, i.e more than a few seconds. This is commonly used for dramatic and narrative effect in films.

• Short takes: takes that only last for a few seconds these are used usually at a faster pace for action or dramatic takes to build tension and excite the audience.

Slow motion

• Slow motion is an effect in film-making  whereby time appears to be slowed down as the video being played back is more slowly than it was made or recorded.

Fast paced/salow paced editing

• When the editing is fast paced the action will cut rapidly from shot to shot with each shot lasting only a few seconds. Slow paced editing will involve limited cutting from shot a shot.