Cuts & Transitions 101 

I keep coming back to this one. It's a cheat sheet.

0:00​ Intro - Cuts - 0:29 ​Cutting on Action (One shot to another while subject is in Motion) 0:58 Cutaway (Cut into an insert shot and back) 1:30​ Crosscut (Intercut between locations) 2:13​ Jumpcut (Cut between the same shot to deliberately show the passing of time) 2:59 Match Cut (Cut from one shot to a similar shot by matching the action or composition ) 3:38 Verbal Match Cut (Match cut by dialogue) - Transitions - 3:53​ Fade In/Out (Dissolving to/from a colour) 4:04 Dissolve (Blend one shot into another) 4:55 Smash Cut (Abrupt transition) 5:33 Iris (Old cameras close their iris manually to achieve such the transition) 5:57 Wipe (Literally “wiping” the scene, replacing with another scene) 6:13 Invisible Cut (Impression of a single tick, but the cuts are not easily spotted) - Audio Transitions - 7:25 L-Cut (Audio of current shot carries on to the next shot) 8:01 J-Cut (Audio of the next scene starts before the Visuals) Hope this helps!

You forgot to mention the greatest cut of all time, "the RU-vid Ad Cut."

This video taught me more about editing in 12 minutes than my first year in film school - I have a sneaking suspicion that I’ve just wasted a ton of money

Such a modest title for such an amazing video!

[TIME] [TRANSITION NAME] 0:29 CUTTING ON ACTION 0:58 CUT AWAY 1:31 CROSS CUT 2:13 JUMP CUT 3:00 MATCH CUT 3:53 FADE IN / FADE OUT 4:04 DISSOLVE 4:55 SMASH CUT 5:32 IRIS 5:57 WIPE 6:05 MORE WIPES 6:13 INVISIBLE CUT 7:24 L - CUT 8:01 J - CUT 9:04 CREATIVE COMBINATIONS ----------------------------------------------------- *Same as above but with a short description...* [TIME] [TRANSITION NAME] [TRANSITION DESCRIPTION] 0:29 CUTTING ON ACTION _This means, cutting from one shot to another while the subject is still in motion._ 0:58 CUT AWAY _This means, cutting to an insert shot of something, and then back._ 1:31 CROSS CUT _This is when the editor intercuts cuts back and forth between locations._ 2:13 JUMP CUT _Jump cuts are when the editor cuts between the SAME shot._ 3:00 MATCH CUT _Match cuts are often incorrectly referred to as jump cuts... A match cut cuts from one shot to a similar shot, by either matching the action or the composition._ 3:53 FADE IN / FADE OUT _It's just dissolving either to, or from, black._ 4:04 DISSOLVE _It's when you blend one shot into another._ 4:55 SMASH CUT _Smash cuts are abrupt transitions._ 5:32 IRIS _It used to be an in-camera effect back in the day, when you could manually open and close your iris to transition from black. Nowadays, it's used as a stylistic choice._ 5:57 WIPE _A wipe is a wipe..._ 6:05 MORE WIPES _There are many types of wipes._ 6:13 INVISIBLE CUT _It is used to give the impression of a single take..._ 7:24 L - CUT _It is an audio-based transition. This is when the audio from the current shot carries over to the next shot._ 8:01 J - CUT _It is when the audio from the next scene starts BEFORE you get to it._ 9:04 CREATIVE COMBINATIONS

Oh no! Now I can't never watch a movie without thinking "that's a nice .....cut!"

In case you can’t tell the difference between the L and J cut, just remember how it looks when editing. Since in an L cut, the sound carries over to the next shot, it resembles a capital L. With J cuts, since the audio starts before the next scene begins, it resembles a J.

Probably my most favorite cut in movies is the J cut. I've always been fascinated with it since I was a kid back in the 70's. To me there's something very interesting about hearing the next scene just before seeing it.

Match cut is literally the coolest editing technique.

Thanks Joey! A movie is being made three times: 1.Script 2.Production 3.Editing The editorial process is quite unique! Fact is, quite some of those edits shown here are not planned in advance, but happen during the editorial process. Happy accidents are your best friend in the cutting room!

9:20 The matching J cut in Fight Club is freaking genius. When Norton's character drops that folder and you hear the splash of water from Pitt's character in the next scene where he's taking a bath. That sound was the basis of that transition to the next scene and it was brilliantly done.

This video is incredible.

For years I've been trying to describe the L and J cut. Now I finally have a term for them. Ty!

It basically was a 12 minute short film about cutting stuff up Genius

To know I have obeyed the laws of cuts and transitions without knowing all this information amazes me! I taught myself through sight but this really elevates my eye now! This video has not only helped identify what I've done but helped me title my video reels. Thank you for this!

That was INCREDIBLY helpful, I mean, it was awesome haha. As u said it, people wont even notice. My friend asked my why I take so long to edit.. they say it looks easy and all haha.. its like magic, the better you are, the less people see. Great video, I subbed!

I shared this with my teacher for Video and now he uses it when teaching

Scary movie 3 used wisely many of these transitions. The J cut joke with ship horn is pure art.

This video is almost 3 years old and I have to say thank you. It is just what I needed. I recently started making videos on RU-vid and all I have been using is the cross fade, but your explanation and examples have opened up a whole new world of editing for me. THANK YOU.

I love it when the audio from a scene continues to play as the next scene or montage begins.

Oh my god, that closed caption thing is genius.

One day I was reading an article on screenplay and it said that the more "effortless" it looks the more effort it has put on it. You have to put a lot of effort to make something look effortless in the film. And that's the point..the more it looks like it's in a flow, the better it is. These are small things but they add up and you may not notice them consciously but you ARE noticing it subconsciously and that's why some films which have really good plots seem a bit dull.. because they are not focusing on these so called "little things".

"wang!", "willy!", "johnson!" - did not expect to laugh out loud from this type of video. nice.

Funny how I've used a lot of these editing techniques and never knew what they were called till now.

Very informative video, even for someone who has been editing for years like myself. It would have helped if they had visually shown why it's called a J and L cut for people who don't know.

Editors of bohemian rhapsody should learn about this video.

This is the most no-nonsense, straight to the point, and content-driven video on editing I've seen so far.

i have a feeling this is a video i will watch over and over again, very precise in such a short period of time. great work you guys are doing on this channel, i just want to thank you for that. :)

I knew Mad Max was good, but I hadn't realised I had to watch a scene 3 times to see how good it actually is!

One of my favorite cuts ever is the match cut in Last Crusade when the guy puts his hat on young Indiana Jones and when the hat lifts up it's fast forwarded to him as an adult.

This video literally saved me when I was confused about editing my film.

3:40 - I like to think I'm a smart guy but then comes shit like that and I'm in tears

Edgar Wright movies use so many creative edits and camera moves you could make this entire video from just examples out of the Cornetto trilogy and Scott Pilgrim.

One of the BEST explanations (with examples) on this topic, by far! Bravo!!!

I come back to this every few months. Thank you so much, this info changed my life.

Holy shit, my Film Studies homework was to watch this video

I'm starting to find that the writing and editing tutorials are what fascinate me the most.

Went to school for over 2 years to study filmmaking and accrued over $30,000 dollars in student loan debt which I'm still paying for and will say I've learned more from this channel since subscribing than I ever did in school. Thanks for your channel!

To all the creative thinkers who r making content creation, this is tressure for us! guys, amzazed by this ! thankful

Amazingly well done video

Thank you for being more efficient in explaining things than Film Riot

J-Cuts and L-Cuts are most common in documentaries. Especially going from a “scene” to an interview and vice versa.

I didn't go to film school, but I love learning new things.

So crazy that this channel probably has more information on filmmaking than my entire college education

CUTS Cutting on action - 0:30 Cutaway - 0:59 Cross Cut - 1:31 Jump Cut - 2:13 Match Cut - 2:59 TRANSITIONS Fade In/Out - 3:53 Dissolve - 4:04 Smash Cut - 4:55 IRIS - 5:32 Wipe - 5:57 Invisible Cut - 6:13 L Cut - 7:25 J Cut - 8:01 Creative Combinations - 9:04

This video really is the best. I love how it doesn't tell you when and where to use any of the cuts, it just explains where they are commonly used and provides a few examples. Doesn't waste time with bullshit either. I feel much more knowledgeable about editing 10 minutes after this than I did after taking an hours-long Lynda course on it.

7:11 if you look closely, when the narrator says “here.” The card slightly moves to the top left. This is the cut.

I absolutely love your video essays. Please continue to do more! Not only is it a great way to see some iconic scenes, but I can appreciate it even more than I did initially. *__*

Edgar Wright is the master of transitions

Thanks a lot. I showed this to my Multimedia class today. I was unprepared and you saved me hours of work compiling film clips. Nice job!

This is one of the best videos on RU-vid. Very informative and fascinating. The use of examples is done well.

3:44 *"I was distracted by that enourmous flying... Wily!"*

Wish me luck, I'm submitting a short film for a Digital Arts contest so I'll be binge watching these all night. Starting with this one.

one of my main reference videos for cuts and transitions. At 9:40 it would be cool to see how those combination of cuts are actually written out in a script, seeing how rapid they were lol

Man just speechless how effective it is on several years after ❤

wow its such a amazing video. thank you so much u really educate me lots of things. i hope i used in a right way in my vlog

Closed Captions, many youtubers are too lazy to add that.

There's a simple cross cut/cut away in Spiderman Homecoming, which transitions from the classroom to a lab, and then seamlessly into to the Cafeteria. It uses the clocks as an anchor, cutting to them when they go to the next room. It's simple, but invisible at the same time

This is a very well-done video. I use it a lot when teaching the basics of video production and film grammar. Thanks!

7:39 I don’t think enough love goes to the matte painting on the left side of the screen

My personal favourite is a continuous shot. Basically, the camera man follows the actor around and films the entire scene in a single shot; hence the continuous. Just like the one in Game of Thrones during the Battle of Bastards when the camera was following Jon in action as mayhem ensued

That match cut dissolve looked amazing, this video didn't have what I was looking for, but I actually learned a ton...so thank you.

Beautifully explained, ive seen all of these without knowing their names. Fascinating.

I'm teaching myself editing and this has been incredibly informative. Thank you thank you thank you.

Wow! What a great video. I need to watch this one a few more times.

As a solo creative, I don't care what the name of the cut is, I just edit however my imagination leads. But I appreciate the value in being able to precisely describe what is required to other professionals in a multi-person crew. Also having labels for what you do lends credibility when discussing budgets with clients.

Excellent, very useful compendium of transitions. And to show how to use them in combination is a big step beyond what other how-to videos do. Thank you!

This was a fantastic video for beginners like me! Awesome!

im never going to forget that the first time i saw star wars i laughed until i cried for several minutes because of that wipe transition of C-3PO

Best whip-pan cut ever (as described at 6:37) is the one from Serenity where they intoduce every one of the cast in just one continuous take. They then sneak a cut into it when the captain and doctor walks down the stairs to (a complete new set but) the lower floor in the movie. Brilliant and I never noticed it until it was pointed out to me.

easily one of my fav utube vids for film of all time. Has helped me teach film in the classroom and has given me great ideas for projects with the content they created.

Great editing is one of the reasons that makes Mad Max one of my most favorite movies.

best filmmaking channel on RU-vid. no over the top jokes like Film Riot that make the video 13 minutes long, and not an amateur like DSLRGuide. Thanks!

Such a great teacher is this video. Will keep coming back to this. Thank you

baby driver has this one scene in a hall where you can hear a faint alarm clock going off in the background. Scene last for about a minute & you think the alarm is nothing but ambient sound of that place, until suddenly the alarm becomes louder & we cut to the next morning with baby driver in his bed, the alarm going off. Baby driver in general has stunning audio design.

Amazing way of teaching us! thanks

One of best videos i have ever seen on RU-vid. Your explanation was too good,even a layman can understand very easily..your explanation to all the editings were simply amazing and you have taken the movies which mostly everyone has watched,by this they can understand very easily the difference of each cut's.. Really hats off to your work bro 👏👏

Thank you SO much. This was extremely helpful and well done. I’ve been editing just self taught for a few years and jumping up my game. Many of the cuts I’ve been intuitively using I questioned if I know what the hell im doing. Many will seem natural and I’ll replay over and over again still wondering. No I see I’ve been doing some of these cuts you went over. I will be studying this video many more times. Thank you loads!

Such a satisfying, amazing video. thanks!

2:09 Nobody: Not a single soul: Robocop having a seizure

Still one of my favourite videos on YT. Come back to it often and always find it helpful 👍

It's nice having the correct name for the transitions we have been using for year. Thank you!

I'm very happy that my observation in movies has increased drastically.....i noticed j- cuts and l-cuts all the time but didn't know what do we call that technique

I really dig this kind of overview. Keep em coming!

Wow! Besides the great content, watching so many examples from those really great movies just made feel like re-watching them all but now paying attention to all the types of cuts!

Everything was explained simple and straightforward. I wouldn't learn so much not without such perfect examples. Thanks!

When Yoda fades away is that really a dissolve wipe - yes the mechanics of the FX might be, but it's actually inside the story world that the character is fading away, it's not non diagetic.

3:52 *"It looks like a giant... Johnson!"*

What a great video!! This is one of the few videos I've found that explains what they mean properly and don't just show examples, besides, the closed captions are great!!!

I love this video! EXCELLENT movie choices for examples!

Kingsman's fight scenes have really good invisible cuts!

13 reasons why has alot of creative cuts and transitions

So far best editing video on you tube... thanks a million mate!!

This is a great refresher on video cuts and transitions, Thank you!

I think the J-cut is my fav other than the cut on action

Started in on directing a short animation and was going well until I had to stitch all our scenes together and while the story board was great the lack of thoughtfully designed transitions and cuts ruined the films quality. Definitely learned a lot in the process and continue to try to better understand the nuance of cinematic sequencing.

A technique I really love is when you cut between time and/or location without initially realizing that you've transitioned. One of my favorite examples is in Back to the Future when Doc is skipping down the road with joy after having successfully sent Marty back to the future, and then he looks up at the clock tower; it cuts to a shot of the clock tower and for a second or 2 we think we're seeing his point of view but then we realize we're back in 1985 when the helicopter flies overhead. Another great example is Reservoir Dogs when Mr. White tells Mr. Orange that he's hungry and they should get some tacos, then he starts to drive off, we cut to a wide shot of a car driving around a corner and we initially think it's a continuation of that moment but it's actually the day of the heist and they're in a getaway car.

You can add to your repertoire Focus in and Focus Out and Natural Wipes as well.

I just learned so much information.