The term cutting room floor is used in the
film industry
The film industry or motion picture industry comprises the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking, i.e., film production companies, film studios, cinematography, animation, film production, screenwriting, pre-production, p ...
as a
figure of speech referring to unused or scrapped
footage
In filmmaking and video production, footage is raw, unedited material as originally filmed by a movie camera or recorded by a ( often special) video camera, which typically must be edited to create a motion picture, video clip, television show or ...
not included in the finished film. Outside of the film industry, it may refer to any creative work unused in the final product.
In fact, offcuts of film are retained in a special cutting room bin and numbered during the editing process in case they are required later.
The phrase 'bin ends' is an alternative term.
Although the omission of filmed material happens to some extent for every actor ever filmed, many famous actors' entire appearance in a particular project have ended up on the 'cutting room floor' at one stage or another throughout their careers, including
Charlie Chaplin (when he accidentally walked onto the set of a "
Keystone Cops
The Keystone Cops (often spelled "Keystone Kops") are fictional, humorously incompetent policemen featured in silent film slapstick comedies produced by Mack Sennett for his Keystone Film Company between 1912 and 1917.
History
The idea for th ...
" upon first arriving to
Hollywood), and most of
Johnny Depp's performance in ''
Platoon
A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two or more squads, sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the branch, but a platoon can be composed of 50 people, although specific platoons may rang ...
'' (
Oliver Stone felt Depp's storyline distracted from the core of the story). Other examples are
Kevin Costner
Kevin Michael Costner (born January 18, 1955) is an American actor, producer, film director and musician. He has received various accolades, including two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Screen Actor ...
(as the friend whose funeral is attended in ''
The Big Chill''),
John Lithgow (as super-agent Harry Zell in ''
L.A. Story
''L.A. Story'' is a 1991 American satirical romantic comedy film written by and starring Steve Martin and directed by Mick Jackson. The plot follows a weatherman (Martin) trying to find love in Los Angeles. It was released on February 8, 1991, ...
''), and
Phyllis Diller
Phyllis Ada Diller (née Driver; July 17, 1917 – August 20, 2012) was an American stand-up comedian, actress, author, musician, and visual artist, best known for her eccentric stage persona, self-deprecating humor, wild hair and clothes, and ...
(as a cranky neighbor in ''
Juno'').
The actors still get paid for the performance (since they did film the 'cut' scenes, even though they were removed) and since the advent of the
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
, their performances may often be resurrected via extended
director's cuts, or as extras on the
deleted scenes portions included on many DVD releases.
References
Film editing
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