Fast cutting is a
film editing
Film editing is both a creative and a technical part of the post-production process of filmmaking. The term is derived from the traditional process of working with film which increasingly involves the use of digital technology.
The film edit ...
technique which refers to several consecutive
shots of a brief duration (e.g. 3 seconds or less).
It can be used to quickly convey much information, or to imply either energy or chaos. Fast cutting is also frequently used when shooting dialogue between two or more characters, changing the viewer's perspective to either focus on the reaction of another character's dialog, or to bring to attention the non-verbal actions of the speaking character.
One famous example of fast cutting is the shower scene in
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...
's film ''
Psycho
Psycho may refer to:
Mind
* Psychopath
* Sociopath
* Someone with a personality disorder
* Someone with a psychological disorder
People with the nickname
* Karl Amoussou or Psycho, mixed martial artist
* Peter Ebdon or Psycho, English snook ...
'' (1960).
More recent examples include the
can-can scene in
Baz Luhrmann's ''
Moulin Rouge!'' (2001).
The film ''
Mind Game'' makes extensive use of fast cutting to convey hundreds of short scenes in the space of fifteen minutes.
In ''
Run Lola Run'' fast cutting is used to quickly tell stories about minor characters to show how the casual actions of the protagonists have profound impact on what happens to them.
In various moments in the
''Saw'' movies, fast cutting is used frequently during trap scenes, which represent their frantic struggle to escape the trap.
Director
Michael Bay makes extensive use of fast-cutting in many of his feature films. He uses the technique most prominently during action sequences, in which it is used to make the action more energetic and intense.
Hip hop montage
A ''hip hop montage'' is a subset of fast cutting used in
film to portray a complex action through a rapid series of simple actions in
fast motion, accompanied by
sound effects. The technique was first given its name by
Darren Aronofsky
Darren Aronofsky (born February 12, 1969) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. His films are noted for their surrealistic, melodramatic, and sometimes disturbing elements, often in the form of psychological fiction.
Arono ...
, who used the technique in his films ''
Pi'' and ''Requiem for a Dream'' to portray drug use. According to the director's commentary of ''
Requiem for a Dream,'' the hip hop montage is used in film as a sample is used in hip hop, with a few moments of film or video, respectively, repeated throughout the work for effect.
The technique is derived from the
hip hop culture of the 1990s and
jump cuts first pioneered in the
French new wave.
It was used earlier in
Bob Fosse
Robert Louis Fosse (; June 23, 1927 – September 23, 1987) was an American actor, choreographer, dancer, and film and stage director. He directed and choreographed musical works on stage and screen, including the stage musicals '' The Paja ...
's ''
All That Jazz'' and
Paul Thomas Anderson
Paul Thomas Anderson (born June 26, 1970), also known by his initials PTA, is an American filmmaker. He made his feature-film debut with ''Hard Eight (film), Hard Eight'' (1996). He found critical and commercial success with ''Boogie Nights'' ( ...
's ''
Boogie Nights
''Boogie Nights'' is a 1997 American period comedy-drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. It is set in Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley and focuses on a young nightclub dishwasher who becomes a popular star of pornograph ...
''.
Guy Ritchie also used the technique in ''
Snatch'' to portray transcontinental travel. The work of
Edgar Wright
Edgar Howard Wright (born 18 April 1974) is an English filmmaker. He is known for his fast-paced and kinetic, satirical genre films, which feature extensive utilisation of expressive popular music, Steadicam tracking shots, dolly zooms and ...
, most notably in his collaboration with
Simon Pegg (''
Spaced'', ''
Shaun of the Dead'', ''
Hot Fuzz'', and ''
The World's End'') uses the technique for comedic effect.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt used the technique extensively in ''
Don Jon'' (2013) to portray the main character's habits.
See also
*
Slow cutting
*
kinestasis
References
{{Film editing
Cinematic techniques
Film editing