Cuts and transitions

Twenty-three ways to get from one shot to the next.

A transition is a shot built to be cut. A model gives you one clip at a time, so most of these are two runs and a join: prompt the frame that leaves, prompt the frame that arrives, and the match is what sells it.

The hard cuts

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No blend and no shape. The cut lands, and the change is the point.

Jump Cut: A cut inside the same shot skips time and leaves a visible jolt.

A cut inside the same shot skips time and leaves a visible jolt.

Axial Cut: The cut jumps straight along the lens axis to a closer or wider version of the same frame.

The cut jumps straight along the lens axis to a closer or wider version of the same frame.

Smash Cut: A hard cut lands between two shots that contradict each other.

A hard cut lands between two shots that contradict each other.

Crash Cut: An abrupt cut lands with no easing on either side.

An abrupt cut lands with no easing on either side.

Flash Cut: A frame or two appears so briefly it registers below conscious reading.

A frame or two appears so briefly it registers below conscious reading.

Quick Cuts: Shots arrive fast, one after another, with no room to settle.

Shots arrive fast, one after another, with no room to settle.

Cuts that hide the join

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Something carries across the cut, so the join reads as one continuous action.

Match on Action: A movement starts in one shot and finishes in the next.

Match on Action

A movement starts in one shot and finishes in the next.

Match Cut: Two shots are linked by a similarity that carries across the cut.

Two shots are linked by a similarity that carries across the cut.

Graphic Match: Two shots share a shape, so the cut between them feels inevitable.

Two shots share a shape, so the cut between them feels inevitable.

Match Motion: A movement in one shot continues into a different movement in the next.

A movement in one shot continues into a different movement in the next.

Match Split: Two halves from different shots meet on a seam and read as one frame.

Two halves from different shots meet on a seam and read as one frame.

Invisible Cut: A cut is hidden inside a wipe, a whip or darkness, so the shot seems unbroken.

A cut is hidden inside a wipe, a whip or darkness, so the shot seems unbroken.

Transitions with a shape

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The frame itself changes: a blend, a wipe, a closing circle. These are drawn rather than cut.

Dissolve: One image fades into the next, and both are visible in the middle.

One image fades into the next, and both are visible in the middle.

Fade In / Fade Out: The image resolves out of or into a solid colour.

Fade In / Fade Out

The image resolves out of or into a solid colour.

Wipe: A hard edge travels across the frame and replaces one image with the next.

A hard edge travels across the frame and replaces one image with the next.

Iris: A circle closes in on or opens out from one part of the frame.

A circle closes in on or opens out from one part of the frame.

Transitions: A shaped move carries the film from one shot into the next.

A shaped move carries the film from one shot into the next.

Set Transition: The camera moves and the set changes around it without a cut.

The camera moves and the set changes around it without a cut.

Cutting between two places

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Structures rather than single joins. The film holds two lines at once, or compresses a long stretch into a run of short shots.

Cross-Cutting: The film alternates between two places happening at the same time.

The film alternates between two places happening at the same time.

Montage: A run of short shots compresses a long stretch of time.

A run of short shots compresses a long stretch of time.

Fragments: Short broken pieces of a scene arrive out of order.

Short broken pieces of a scene arrive out of order.

Split Screen: The frame divides, and two images play at once.

The frame divides, and two images play at once.

J-Cut and L-Cut: The picture changes before or after the sound does, so the two overlap.

J-Cut and L-Cut

The picture changes before or after the sound does, so the two overlap.

Run one of them

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Other techniques

Shot typesTwenty-five ways to frame a shot, and the wording that gets each one.25 shot types Camera anglesNineteen places to put the camera, and the wording that gets each one.19 camera angles Camera movementEighty-six ways to move the camera, and the wording that gets each one.86 camera moves CompositionThirty-two ways to arrange a frame, and the wording that gets each one.32 composition rules LightingForty-one lighting setups, and the wording that gets each one.41 lighting setups Lenses and opticsSeventeen lenses, and the wording that gets the look of each one.17 lenses Colour and film lookNineteen colour looks, and the wording that gets each one.19 colour looks Time and motionTwenty-one ways to bend time in a shot, and the wording for each one.21 time effects In-camera and optical effectsFifty-seven effects a camera can make on its own, and how to ask.57 effects Atmosphere and weatherThirteen ways to fill the air, and the wording that gets each one.13 atmosphere effects Genre looksTwenty-seven genres, and the wording that gets the look of each one.27 genre looks Viral looksForty-four looks that travel on short-form video, and how to ask.44 viral looks

Two shots share a shape, a movement or a sound, so the cut between them reads as inevitable. Prompt the two clips separately and keep the shared element in the same part of the frame.