Chapter 5 - Cut-ins & Cut-aways

Incidental Shots | The Cut-in | The Cut-away | Head-ons and Tail-aways | Wider Uses | Summary

Incidental Shots

We are making good headway in our study of continuity. We have taken note of the structure of the sequence, of how sequences are connected, and of how those connections are made smoother and more interesting to an audience. So far we have an outline, a skeleton form of continuity.

We now take a look at certain shots which will serve to develop that outline, add substance to that skeleton.

These are shots which are in addition to the LS, MS, and CU which carry the main action of the sequence. Such inci­dental shots are known as cut-ins and cut-aways. They are brief shots, and are usually closeups and extreme closeups, or occasionally medium  shots.

Cut-ins and cut-aways arc among the most versatile devices in continuity, useful in many ways, rich in material. They are secondary but indispensable, as vital to the proper operation of a movie as ball bearings are to the motor of an automobile.

The Cut-in

The cut-in derives its name from the fact that it cuts into the main action. In a sequence showing two friends meeting, a CU of their handshake is a cut-in. If your subject is packing for a vacation, and you wish to show how well traveled his bags are, each ECU of the hotel labels constitutes a cut-in. You are using cut-ins when, in a sequence of Johnny taking the dog for a walk, you take an ECU of his hand snapping the leash onto the dog collar, or a CU of the dog's legs as it trots off. The cut-in is also known as an insert.

The Cut-Away

Brother shot of the cut-in, and even more valuable, is the cut-away which uses categorically opposite subject matter. Although it, too, can be a CU, ECU, or MS, it does not cut into the main action, but cuts away to a related subject or to a separate action that is going on at the same time.

The movie sequences with which we illustrated the cut-in also serve to provide examples of the cut-away. In the se­quence of two friends meeting, a cut-away would be a CU of the smiling face of a third friend watching the other two. In the vacation sequence, a cut-away would move the camera from the main action of frantic packing to the anxi­ous face ot a friend urging haste, or to a taxi driver outside waiting impatiently lor the vacationers to appear. In the case of Johnny walking the dog, a shot of Mother, or Johnny’s pal Freddy watching him put the leash on the dog, would be a cut-away.

The Cut-in and Cut-away

Top to Bottom

Establishing Shot	Cut-in
Medium Shot	Cut-away
Closeup	Reestablishing Shot

A thought to bear in mind regarding the cut-away is that it should be established in relation to the main action.

In our last illustration we suggested a shot of Mother or of Freddy as a cut-away. It is important that Mother or Freddy should have been seen in an earlier shot, in an LS, for example. Even though they may be merely background figures in that shot, their presence has been established, and there is no sur­prise or confusion to the audience when they suddenly appear on-screen in a cut-away.

(It is not necessary to establish cut-ins, on the other hand, because a cut-in is part of the main action and is therefore automatically established in one of the main shots of the sequence.)

The practice of establishing shots has its exceptions, like so many other practices of good continuity. It is sometimes ig­nored in highly specialized movie forms like newsreels or documentaries. These forms are extremely economical of footage and depend strongly on narration to tie shots together.

Variations of the Cut-in

Head-on Shot                           Tail-away Shot

For example, an audience may see an MS or CU of the President seated in the White House announcing a new missile launching, and this shot will be followed by an extreme long shot of the missile as it rises into space. The lack of good continuity technique would make the succession of shots con­fusing or meaningless without the aid of the "crutch" of narration.

Head-ons and Tail-aways

Cut-ins of action may take the form "of head-on or tail-away shots.

The head-on is simply a shot of the action directly approach-ing the camera. It is coming "head-on" or "full-face." Johnny and his friend walking directly toward the camera would be a head-on. This type of shot is often used as a genuine LS in order to introduce a sequence.

The directness of the head-on can give it a strong dramatic quality. One of the punchiest shots in photograph)" is the re­peatedly used head-on approach of an auto, tank, horses, or marching men, shot from ground level, and showing the mov­ing subject passing directly overhead.

The tail-away is the exact opposite of the head-on shot, and depicts action from the rear as it moves away from the camera. If you shoot the action of Johnny walking down the street with his friend and the dog from the rear, with tin1 subjects moving away from the camera, you have a tail-away.

This shot has novelty and drama and is popular for ending a sequence. The movement of a subject away from the camera, and the diminution in size as it recedes, strongly suggest that the action in that sequence is completed, whether it be a shot of a cowboy galloping off toward the horizon in a "Western,' or your own picture of Uncle Hal walking down the street to­ward the railroad station after paying you a visit

Wider Uses

We are limiting this chapter on cut-in and cut-aways. It is little more than an introduction to these extremely useful and important shots. We wish here only to define and describe them. We will have more to say about them very soon, notably in the chapters on directional continuity and buildup, and we will show to what varied uses they lend themselves.

Summary

Cut-ins and cut-aways are among the most useful devices in pictorial continuity. They are incidental shots, additional to the main action. They are usually CU's and ECU's and sometimes MS's.

The cut-in gets its name from the fact that it cuts into the main action, whereas the cut-away does exactly the oppo­site and cuts away to a related subject or to a separate action that is going on at the same time.

Care should be taken to have the cut-away subject established in the main action before the actual cut-away is used.

Head-on  and  tail-away   shots are specialized  types  otcut-in. The head-on is a shot of action as it directly approaches the camera, while the tail-away, its opposite, depicts the ac­tion from the rear as it moves away from the camera.

Cut-ins and cut-aways have important and varied uses which will be discussed in future chapters.

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