The Art of the Cutaway

Eric Ossohou
February 2008

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Why do filmmakers, television professionals and videographers use cutaways? What is a cutaway anyway? A good understanding of the cutaway can elevate this classic television technique to an art form. A cutaway is a shot of something related to but outside the main action of a scene. It's a shot that cuts away from the main action to a separate or secondary action - hence its name, cutaway. For instance, a shot of a high school teacher lecturing to his students is followed by another one of the principal standing at the door listening. Then back to the shot of the teacher lecturing. The shot of the principal is the cutaway shot. In this instance, the cutaway also acts as a reaction shot - a shot of a subject's face to capture an emotional response.

In order to better understand the role of cutaways and unleash their true potential, we first need to understand the notion of continuity, which some consider the basis of the classical narrative structure. The dictionary defines continuity as the state of being without interruption. Continuity, as it relates to filmmaking or videography, refers to maintaining believable and temporal relationships within a scene in such a way that shots you intend to put together actually fit together in a natural and seamless flow of action, preserving the illusion of reality on the screen. That's where continuity editing comes in.

Continuity editing, also known as cutting to continuity or just the Hollywood style, is a term that refers to the actual arrangement of shots to produce a scene in which time and space seem to be uninterrupted, creating the illusion of reality. You maintain the fluidity of an action without showing all of it. Let's take a look at the following example. A medium shot (a shot from the waist up) of a man picking up a drink from a table is followed by a shot of him drinking it. (A closeup is usually a shot of the head and shoulders when it's a person.) Although two shots (one medium shot and one closeup) made up the action, we expect the movement to flow or give the impression of flowing smoothly, like a single, continuous action.

Bear in mind that a basic requirement of continuity (it could even be called the general rule) is to always change the size as well as the angle of shots that you intend to cut together within a scene. This will allow the shots to cut together smoothly. Maintaining and preserving continuity is of paramount importance and indeed is the name of the game. Continuity problems or mistakes will arise if you don't maintain a smooth and coherent action. One of such problems is a jump cut - an interrupted flow of action from one shot to the next. For example, if you cut from a shot of a woman sitting to a shot of the same woman standing in the same spot, without showing exactly how she got to that standing position, you will produce a confusing jump in time. The cut will break the continuity of time.

Now that we know a little more about continuity, let's cover the instances in which you might want to use cutaways. The possibilities are virtually endless. Use cutaways to solve continuity problems such as jump cuts. Sticking to the example we used earlier, if we cut from the shot of the woman sitting to a cutaway of a clock in the room, then back to the shot of the woman standing, the cut will be smoother. The audience will fill in the gap, by assuming the woman had plenty of time to get to the standing position. However, this is not the only assumption of a movie-savvy audience, which leads us to another usage of cutaways.

Cutaways can emphasize important details or add detail and meaning to a scene. From the cutaway shot of the clock, the audience might rightfully assume some of the following: the woman has to be somewhere on time, she's probably late and therefore is in a hurry, etc. The assumptions are infinite. Of course, the shot immediately preceding the cutaway and the one that follows it, as well as the context of the scene (whether the woman is actually looking at the clock, her facial expressions, her overall demeanor, etc.), will help in the interpretation.

Imagine another scene with a man working on a laptop sitting on a train, embarking on a long journey cross-country. Where is he going? What is he thinking? A cutaway out the train window shows passing farmland; the next shot shows him with an overnight bag slung over his shoulder, getting off the train. Clearly, without needing to say it, using only your cutaways, you've painted a picture of a businessman going to the city. The simple cutaway of the farmland out the window eliminated your need to have him get up, grab his bag, walk down the aisle and exit the train. You compressed time with your cutaway.

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