Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
If a character looks at his watch you may see an insert that shows a close-up of the watch
so the audience knows it is 5 minutes until midnight. An insert could also be something that
the director wants the audience to see but the main character is unaware of. In live action,
these shots are usually added, or inserted, during the editing process.
Cutaway
Cutaway refers to shots that show images that are not in the main action but are usually
happening at the same time. If a knight is fi ghting a dragon you may see the camera “cut
away” to the damsel in distress as she shields her eyes when her hero appears to be falter-
ing in the battle. In a cutaway you can show the actions and reactions of these other par-
ticipants without stopping the main action. The knight and dragon could be fi ghting near
the edge of a rocky cliff and a cutaway may show small rocks that have been kicked loose
during the battle rolling off the edge of the cliff and falling down into an abyss. Sometimes
a cutaway is used to reveal the environment to create atmosphere and a sense of what a
place is like and feels like. During the knight and dragon battle, a cutaway shot may show
a pile of human bones and armor telling us that many other knights have tried and failed
to defeat the dragon.
Cut on the Action
If an outlaw is going to be hanged in a Western town, a distant shot may show the outlaw's
body start to drop through the trap door. A cutaway may show a close-up of the rope pull
straight and tight where it is attached at the top of the gallows. Then the camera may return
to the distant shot of the outlaw dangling at the end of the rope. This cutting away from the
main action to show a detail is sometimes called
cut on the action
. It suggests to the audi-
ence that the main action is continuing while the detail was being shown. This same “cut
on the action” could happen the opposite way, starting with a detail shot, cutting away to
a distant shot, and then returning to the original close-up.
Cross Cutting
Another editing device which is similar to the cutaway is cross cutting. Cross cutting is used
to show two actions that are happening at the same time. This becomes particularly important
if the two actions or events are going to come together and create one major action. In the
storyboard segment of the pirate rabbit by student Maria Clapsis (fi g. 60 and 61), a lizard
captain is above deck and a pirate rabbit is below deck entering a doorway leaving a gun
powder trail on the fl oor. Later, the rabbit has an encounter with a hanging skeleton that
causes him to get frightened and drop his cigar. In the storyboards shown, cross cutting
allows the audience to see that the cigar has started a fi re that keeps growing next to the
gunpowder. At the same time the pirates, oblivious to the fi re, are preparing to shoot a
canon ball at a passing ship. In the end, the cigar fi re near the gunpowder and the attempt
to shoot the cannon simultaneously reach a climax and the pirate ship blows up. The passing
ship is unharmed but the pirate ship is sunk.
