Cassidy, Kyle. “Cutting On Action”. Videomaker.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 24 Mar. 2016.

Kyle Cassidy’s piece clearly articulates the importance of ‘cutting on action’, and explains the fundamental skills one must utilise in order to achieve a smooth cut. What’s more, Cassidy lists the many reasons why cutting on action is an important feature of almost every form of media.

Cassidy uses a very basic example of a door being opened to demonstrate how an editor would utilise cutting on action to benefit all who are watching. Firstly, he states that by cutting on an action, it allows the next shot to have a link with the previous, instead of there being blank space or a pause, and this then allows the two shots to flow smoothly together. Also, this means that the audience is able to have an understanding of the space in which the action of the film is taking place. The door may open on one side of the screen, and then the next show will see the other side of the door placed on the opposing side of the screen, making sense to the audience.
Another reason why cutting on action helps a film flow is that it helps create rhythm between shots, which would not exist if the shots were continually cut whilst there was a blank space, or lack of action.

This article is particularly helpful as it explains how shots are cut together to help the audience understand and experience a sequence more fluently. His examples are basic, yet detailed, and they inform and teach the reader how to link shots and cuts in an expert fashion, placing emphasis on the content of the shot, and the timing between cuts.

One thought on “Cassidy, Kyle. “Cutting On Action”. Videomaker.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 24 Mar. 2016.

  1. I used this source in my bibliography but somewhat discarded it once I found the direction in which I wanted my research to head. While it’s a pretty simple piece of video, it is quite informative, i.e it cuts to the point.

    Bit of a beginner’s article and not hugely useful on what I was doing at the time (long take vs. montage) but it was still worth a watch to re- hash some basic editing techniques.

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