So many first time, second time and even fifth time movie makers do not understand when and why cut aways are used. Therefore, many of them just miss them out. No! No! Bad move! Read here to find out what they are and when to use them.
People just cannot seem to get to grips with cut aways and the concept is quite simple really. What is a cut away then? A cut away is simply a shot that breaks down a scene. They show an object in the scene that is not the main action. A cut away, ‘cuts away’ to an object that isn’t the main action. Continue reading to find the three most common places to ‘shove’ a cut away.
There are a number of times when using cut aways is useful. One maybe used to marry together two different shots that may not be quite in time with one another. By placing a cut away in between the shot, the audience will not notice the mistake.
Another example of using a cut away is to hide mistakes in a single shot, if the actor did something slightly wrong but you loved the rest of the shot, you can just cut out the small mistake and fill it with a cut away.
Finally, they can be used to break down long action sequences and or long shots. If you have a really long conversation that will inevitably get boring for the audience, you can always shove one, two, or even three cut aways in it to break it down. Using cut aways in this way will also feel, for the audience, as if the scene ran for less time that it truly did.
Still baffled? Read on below, and hopefully the examples will show you some ways in which they can be used in your movies:
Yes, in the shot, it is a pile of bodies, and it may not look like anything all too special to use as a cut away. But there is a way that this could be used perfectly.
Imagine a mass murder, stood about to murder another victim and then store the corpse in his garage (the shot above) and then he murders his victim. You can hopefully see where this will easily slide in.
Smoking is something that people do because they are an addict, because they are nervous, because they feel cool and for many more reasons. Therefore the shot could be used after the following shots:
- A man stood outside the court just before a trial. His face shows nerves. Then cut to the cigarette in the hand.
- A man stood in a group of others who are ‘cool’, then cut to the cigarette to show he is ‘cool’.
- A man huddled in a corner, shaking, he is an addict filling his addiction. Then cut to the cigarette to show this.
Now, hopefully you will have no reason to not understand when and why to use cut away shots. Hopefully there is no lack of understand.
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