EDITING AND SOUND TERMS

CONTINUITY EDITING

A method used in film editing to ensure a seamless flow of action and narrative, maintaining consistent spatial and temporal relationships within scenes. (HOLLYWOOD EDITING)

Soviet Montage

A film editing approach that emphasizes the juxtaposition of disparate images and ideas to provoke intellectual engagement and emotional response in viewers. It seeks to create meaning through this contrast rather than simply maintaining continuity.

180-degree system

A guideline in film production that establishes a spatial relationship between characters or elements within a scene, ensuring that the camera remains on one side of an imaginary line to maintain consistent screen direction and viewer orientation.

axis of action

A guideline in film production that determines the physical relationship between characters and their surroundings. It helps maintain spatial orientation for the audience by ensuring that the camera stays on one side of an imaginary line.

establishing shot

An initial long shot that establishes the location and setting and that orients the viewer in space to a clear view of the action.

shot

A continuous point of view

reverse shot

An editing pattern that begins with a shot of one character looking offscreen in one direction, followed by a shot of a second character, who appears to be looking back

reaction shot

A shot that depicts a character’s response to something shown in a previous shot.

insert

A brief shot, often a close-up, that points out details significant to the action or interpretation.

eyeline match

A cut that follows a shot of a character looking offscreen with a shot of a subject whose screen position matches the gaze of the character in the first shot.

pov shot

A subjective shot that reproduces a character’s optical point of view, often preceded or followed by shots of the character looking

match on action

A cut between two shots continuing a visual action.

graphic match

An edit in which a dominant shape or line in one shot provides a visual transition to a similar shape or line in the next shot.

30-degree rule

A cinematography and editing rule that specifies that a shot should be followed by another shot taken from a position greater than 30 degrees from that of the first.

jump cut

An edit that interrupts a particular action and intentionally or unintentionally creates discontinuities in the spatial or temporal development of shots.

sequence shot

A shot in which an entire scene is played out in one continuous take.

crosscutting

An editing technique that cuts back and forth between actions in separate spaces, often implying simultaneity.

once-for-once frequency rule

a fundamental standard of narrative temporal frequency where an event happens exactly once in the story world (diegesis) and is shown exactly once on screen

overlapping editing

An edited sequence that presents two or more shots of the same action across several cuts.

flashback

A sequence that follows an image set in the present with an image set in the past.

flashforward

A sequence that connects an image set in the present with one or more future images.

temporal ellipsis

a narrative and editing technique that intentionally skips over a period of time, allowing the audience to fill in the missing events mentally

cut

In the editing process, the join or splice between two pieces of film; in the finished film, an editing transition between two separate shots or scenes achieved without optical effects. Also used to describe a version of the edited film, as in rough cut or director’s cut

dissolve

An optical effect that briefly superimposes one shot over the next, which takes its place: one image fades out as another image fades in.

wipe

A transition used to join two shots by moving a vertical, horizontal, or sometimes diagonal line across one image to replace it with a second image that follows the line across the frame

fade

An optical effect in which an image gradually darkens to black, often ending a scene or a film.

cutaway

A shot that interrupts an action to “cut away” to another image or action, often to abridge time, before returning to the first shot or scene at a point further along in time.

empty frames

montage sequence

A series of thematically linked shots or shots meant to show the passage of time, joined by quick cuts or other devices, such as dissolves, wipes, and superimpositions.

onscreen sound

any sound in a film or video where the source of the audio is visibly present within the camera frame.

offscreen sound

any film or television sound whose source is located outside the visible frame

voice-off

A voice that originates from a speaker who can be inferred to be present in the scene but is not visible onscreen.

diegetic sound

Sound that has its source in the narrative world of the film, whose characters are presumed to be able to hear it.

nondiegetic sound

Sound (such as a musical score) that does not have an identifiable source in the characters’ world.

semidiegetic sound

Sound that is neither strictly diegetic nor nondiegetic, such as certain voiceovers that can be construed as the thoughts of a character and thus as arising from the story world

parallel sound

Sound that reinforces the image, such as synchronized dialogue or sound effects or a voiceover that is consistent with what is displayed onscreen

contrapuntal sound

Sound that is unexpected considering the image that is displayed onscreen.

sound bridge

Sound that is carried over a picture transition or that belongs to the coming scene but is played before the image changes.

synchronous sound

Sound that is recorded during a scene or is synchronized with the filmed images and has a visible onscreen source; also referred to as onscreen sound.

postproduction sound

Sound recorded and added to a film in the postproduction phase.

sound mixing

The process by which all the elements of the soundtrack, including music, effects, and dialogue, are combined and adjusted to their final levels; also called re-recording.

leitmotif

a short, recurring musical phrase associated with a specific character, place, emotion, or idea

stinger

Sound that forces the audience to notice the significance of something onscreen, such as the ominous chord struck when the villain’s presence is made known.

micky-mousing

a film technique where the background music matches the on-screen action exactly

foley artist

A member of the sound crew who generates live synchronized sound effects while watching the projected film; named after the inventor, Jack Foley.

walla

A nonsense word spoken by extras in a film to approximate the sound of a crowd during sound dubbing.

music supervisor

The individual who selects and secures the rights for songs to be used in films.