Cross-cutting is an editing technique most often used in films to establish action occurring at the same time, and often in the same place. In a cross-cut, the camera will
cut away from one action to another action, which can suggest the simultaneity of these two actions but this is not always the case. Cross-cutting can also be used for characters in a film with the same goals but different ways of achieving them.
Suspense may be added by cross-cutting. It is built through the expectations that it creates and in the hopes that it will be explained with time. Cross-cutting also forms parallels; it illustrates a narrative action that happens in several places at approximately the same time. For instance, in
D. W. Griffith
David Wark Griffith (January 22, 1875 – July 23, 1948) was an American film director. Considered one of the most influential figures in the history of the motion picture, he pioneered many aspects of film editing and expanded the art of the na ...
's ''
A Corner in Wheat
''A Corner in Wheat'' is a 1909 American short silent film which tells of a greedy tycoon who tries to corner the world market on wheat, destroying the lives of the people who can no longer afford to buy bread. It was directed by D. W. Griffith ...
'' (1909), the film cross-cuts between the activities of rich businessmen and poor people waiting in line for bread. This creates a sharp dichotomy between the two actions, and encourages the viewer to compare the two shots. Often, this contrast is used for strong emotional effect, and frequently at the climax of a film. The rhythm of, or length of time between, cross-cuts can also set the rhythm of a scene. Increasing the rapidity between two different actions may add tension to a scene, much in the same manner of using short, declarative sentences in a work of literature.
Cross-cutting was established as a film-making technique relatively early in film history (two examples being Edwin Porter's 1903 short ''
The Great Train Robbery'' and Louis J. Gasnier's 1908 short ''The Runaway Horse''); Griffith was its most famous practitioner. The technique is showcased in his
Biograph work, such as ''A Corner in Wheat'' and 1911's ''
The Lonedale Operator
''The Lonedale Operator'' is a 1911 short American drama film directed by D. W. Griffith, starring Blanche Sweet and written by Mack Sennett for the Biograph Company. The plot of the film involves a girl who takes over a telegraph station af ...
''. His 1915 film ''
The Birth of a Nation'' contains textbook examples of cross-cutting and firmly established it as a staple of film editing.
Mrinal Sen has used cross-cutting effectively in his agit-prop film ''
Interview'', which achieved significant commercial success.
Christopher Nolan uses cross-cutting extensively in films such as ''
Interstellar'', ''
The Dark Knight'' and ''
Inception'' - particularly in the latter, in which sequences depict multiple simultaneous levels of consciousness.
[ '' Cloud Atlas'' is known for its numerous cross-cuts between the film's six different stories, some lasting only a few seconds yet spanning across hundreds of years in different locations around the world. Its cuts are eased by the similar emotional tone depicted by each side's action.
Cross-cutting is often used during phone-conversation sequences so that viewers see both characters' facial expressions in response to what is said.]
See also
* Buffer shot
* Cutaway (filmmaking)
In film and video, a cutaway is the interruption of a continuously filmed action by inserting a view of something else. It is usually followed by a cut back to the first shot. A cutaway scene is the interruption of a scene with the insertion of ano ...
* Dissolve (filmmaking)
In the post-production process of film editing and video editing, a dissolve (sometimes called a lap dissolve) is a type of film transition in which one sequence fades over another. The terms fade-out (also called fade to black) and fade-in a ...
* Fast cutting
* Jump cut
A jump cut is a cut (transition), cut in film editing in which a single continuous sequential shot of a subject is broken into two parts, with a piece of footage being removed in order to render the effect of jumping forward in time. Camera posit ...
* Match cut
* Shot reverse shot
Shot/reverse shot (or shot/countershot) is a film technique where one character is shown looking at another character (often off-screen), and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character (a or ). Since the characters are ...
* Slow cutting
Slow cutting is a film editing technique which uses shots of long duration. Though it depends on context, it is estimated that any shot longer than about fifteen seconds will seem rather slow to many modern-day viewers, especially those who ar ...
Notes
References
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Cinematography
Cinematic techniques
Film editing
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