Cutting to soundtrack

Cutting to soundtrack is when the editing keeps up with the pace of the music. For example in music videos they would be fast editing for fast tempo songs.

An example of this is in Hadouken - M.A.D. the song is very fast paced at certain points, and during the fighting scenen the edid cuts to the beat.

Cutaways

Cutaways are used to cut from one shot to another. If there is a shot of a person standing, and we want to see where he was standing or who he was with, a cutaway would be used to show this.

For example in this shot we see the main character placing a knife in the dirt. A cutaway is used to show where he is and to widen the shot.

180 Rule

The 180 rule is a rule used by filmmakers, that says that for example if there is a conversation between two characters, the camera should not cross a line the goes between them as this can confuse the audience.

For example in the beginning of this scene we see Neo and the agent standing across from each other. The camera only stays on one side of the imaginary line.

Point of View Shot

A point of view shot is used to show the audience exactly what the subject is seeing. If a person spotted something on screen, a POV shot would be used to show the audience what the character has seen.

In this example, we see the character glance out the window, and a POV shot is used to show the he is looking at the woman dancing in the window opposite.

Shot Reverse Shot

A shot reverse shot is used mostly when two characters are in direct conversation and two or more shots are editing together to almost show the audience what they're looking at/talking to. Over the shoulder shots are commonly used in shot reverse shot because the audience can see both characters in the shot.

In this example from Jerry Maguire, the two characters are having a conversation and the shot reverse shot technique is used to show both characters talking.

Establishing Shot

An establishing shot is used to introduce a location or a setting. Establishing shot are very wide set shots that allows the audience to view the whole setting. Establishing shots usually shows important locations, the characters or objects.

This clip from The Lord of the Rings shows a good example of establishing shot. This sequence is used to show the audience the small village where the main characters lived and where the story starts.

Montages

A montage is an editing technique developed by Soviet Film-makers in the 1920's such as Pudovkin, Vertov and Eisenstein to play out a longer sequence of time into a shot clip. By using a montage a lot of time in a film can be saved by compressing a large amount of time into a much shorter clip. A big of example of a montage is in Rocky III.



In this clip, the film-maker decided to compress a long training process into a shot clip. This is used to show the audience the training very quickly and effectively. The clip contains inspirational music to emphasise the training Rocky had to go through.