Editing Cutaway (filmmaking)

{{Short description|Filmmaking technique}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
In [[film]] and [[video]], a '''cutaway''' is the interruption of a continuously filmed action by inserting a view of something else.<ref name="Brown_Page_23">{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Blain |title=Cinematography: Theory and Practice, Image Making for Cinematographers and Directors |date=2012 |publisher=Focal Press |location=Burlington, Massachusetts |isbn=9781136047381 |page=23 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uyMYMbjheqgC&pg=PA23 |access-date=August 11, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Glossary |url=http://www.artoftheguillotine.com/glossaryc.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707170259/http://www.artoftheguillotine.com/index.php?page=glossary |archive-date=7 July 2011 |access-date=31 March 2010 |publisher=The Art of the Guillotine}}</ref> 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 another scene, generally unrelated or only peripherally related to the original scene. The interruption is usually quick, and is usually, although not always, ended by a return to the original scene. The effect is of commentary to the original scene and creates variety.

==Usage==
The most common use of cutaway shots in dramatic films is to adjust the pace of the main action, to conceal the deletion of some unwanted part of the main shot, or to allow the joining of parts of two versions of that shot.<ref>{{cite web|title=The 'Grammar' of Television and Film|publisher=Aberystwyth University|url=http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/short/gramtv.html|access-date=31 March 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100406104908/http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/short/gramtv.html|archive-date=6 April 2010}}</ref> For example, a scene may be improved by cutting a few [[Film frame|frames]] out of an actor's pause; a brief view of a listener can help conceal the break. Or the actor may fumble some of his lines in a group shot; rather than discarding a good version of the shot, the director may just have the actor repeat the lines for a new shot, and cut to that alternate view when necessary.

Cutaways are also used often in older horror films in place of special effects. For example, a shot of a zombie getting its head cut off may, for instance, start with a view of an axe being swung through the air, followed by a close-up of the actor swinging it, then followed by a cut back to the now severed head. [[George A. Romero]], creator of the ''[[Living Dead#Romero's Dead series|Dead Series]]'', and [[Tom Savini]] pioneered effects that removed the need for cutaways in horror films.<ref>{{cite web|title=George Romero Surveys the Dead|publisher=Parallax view|url=http://parallax-view.org:80/2008/10/29/george-romero-roams-the-land-of-the-dead/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202150155/http://parallax-view.org/2008/10/29/george-romero-roams-the-land-of-the-dead/|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 December 2008|access-date=2008-12-02}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Tom Savini biography|publisher=film reference|url=http://www.filmreference.com/Writers-and-Production-Artists-Ro-She/Savini-Tom.html|access-date=31 March 2010}}</ref>

In [[news broadcasting]] and [[documentary film|documentary work]], the cutaway is used much as it would be in fiction. On location, there is usually just one camera to film an interview, and it is usually trained on the interviewee. Often, there is also only one microphone. After the interview, the interviewer usually repeats his questions while he is being filmed, with pauses that act as if the answers are listened to. These shots can be used as cutaways. Cutaways to the interviewer, called [[noddy (TV interview technique)|noddies]], can also be used to cover cuts.<ref>{{cite web|title=Talk about Newsnight|publisher=BBC|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/newsnight/2007/08/faking_it.html|access-date=31 March 2010}}</ref>

The cutaway does not necessarily contribute any dramatic content of its own, but is used to help the [[Film editing|editor]] assemble a longer sequence.<ref>{{cite web|title=Cutaway|publisher=MediaCollege.com|url=http://www.mediacollege.com/video/shots/cutaway.html|access-date=31 March 2010}}</ref> For that reason, editors choose cutaways related to the main action, such as another action or object in the same location.<ref>{{cite web|title=Module 51|publisher=Cybercollege.com|url=http://www.cybercollege.com/tvp051.htm|access-date=31 March 2010}}</ref> For example, if the main shot is of a man walking down an alley, possible cutaways may include a shot of a cat on a nearby dumpster or a shot of a person watching from a window overhead.

The animated series ''[[Family Guy]]'' is noted for its use of cutaway gags.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bPIYEAAAQBAJ&dq=Family+guy+cutaway+gag&pg=PA43 | title=Tragedy Plus Time: National Trauma and Television Comedy | isbn=978-1-4773-2256-7 | last1=Scepanski | first1=Philip | date=6 April 2021 | publisher=University of Texas Press }}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Buffer shot]]
* [[Cross-cutting]]
* [[Dissolve (filmmaking)]]
* [[Fast cutting]]
* [[Flashback (narrative)|Flashback]]
* [[Jump cut]]
* [[L cut]]
* [[Match cut]]
* [[Shot reverse shot]]
* [[Slow cutting]]
* [[Cutscene]]
* [[Family Guy#Humor|Cutaway gag]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Continuity Editing}}
{{Cinematic techniques}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cutaway (Filmmaking)}}
[[Category:Cinematography]]
[[Category:Cinematic techniques]]
[[Category:Film editing]]