Editing Insert (filmmaking)

{{Short description|Filmmaking technique}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2022}}
[[File:It's a Wonderful Life (1946) inserts.webm|thumb|right|This sequence from ''[[It's a Wonderful Life]]'' (1946) uses two insert shots—one of a sign and one of a record player—to add visual detail to the actions performed by [[Donna Reed]].]]
In [[film]], an '''insert''' is a shot of part of a [[scene (filming)|scene]] as filmed from a different angle and/or focal length from the [[master shot]]. Inserts cover action already covered in the master shot, but emphasize a different aspect of that action due to the different framing. An insert differs from a [[Cutaway (filmmaking)|cutaway]] as cutaways cover action ''not'' covered in the master shot.<ref name="Brown_Page_25">{{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=25 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uyMYMbjheqgC&pg=PA25 |access-date=August 11, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.filmsite.org/filmterms11.html | title=Insert Shot – Filmsite | publisher=Filmsite.org | access-date=4 January 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.movieoutline.com/articles/a-glossary-of-screenwriting-terms-and-filmmaking-definitions.html | title=Insert Shot-Movie Outline | publisher=Movie Outline | access-date=4 January 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://shohawk.com/insert-shot/ | title=Insert Shot | publisher=Sohawk.com | access-date=4 January 2016}}</ref>

There are more exact terms to use when the new, inserted shot is another view of actors: [[close-up]], [[head shot]], knee shot, [[Two Shot|two shot]]. So the term "insert" is often confined to views of objects—and body parts, other than the head. Often inserts of this sort are done separately from the main action, by a second-unit director using stand-ins.

Inserts and [[Cutaway (filmmaking)|cutaway]]s can both be vexatious for directors, as care must be taken to preserve [[Continuity (fiction)|continuity]] by keeping the objects in the same relative position as in the main take, and having the lighting be the same.

== In popular culture ==
The 1975 movie ''[[Inserts (film)|Inserts]]'' directed by [[John Byrum]] about a [[pornographic film]] production, which starred [[Richard Dreyfuss]] and was originally released with an [[X-rated|X rating]], took its name from the double meaning that "insert" both refers to this film technique<ref>{{cite web|title=Inserts film|publisher=Answers.com|url=http://www.answers.com/topic/inserts-film|access-date=30 March 2010}}</ref> (often used in pornographic filmmaking) and to sexual intercourse.

==See also==
{{Music video}}
*[[Continuity editing]]
*[[Cutaway (filmmaking)]]

== References ==
<references />

{{Continuity editing}}
{{Cinematic techniques}}

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[[Category:Cinematography]]
[[Category:Cinematic techniques]]
[[Category:Film editing]]
[[Category:Pornography terminology]]


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