intercutting
Switching between shots
Intercutting is a film editing technique that alternates between two or more scenes happening simultaneously or in parallel, building tension or showing connections between separate actions: The director used intercutting to show the hero racing to the airport while his lover waited at the gate.
The technique creates rhythm and implies relationships between storylines that unfold together.
Assembled sequence of images
- cutawayView with exterior removed
- spliceJoin end to end
- sequenceOrdered succession of elements
- transitionChange from one state
dissolve · fade · wipe · L-cut · J-cut · shot · scene · footage
Rate of musical performance
- pacingRate of movement
- cadenceRhythmic pulse or pattern
- pulseArterial blood throb
- timingArt of choosing moments
flow · pattern · beat · sequence · acceleration · modulation · staccato · syncopation
Involuntary past memory
- flash-forwardNarrative leap to future
- foreshadowingHinting at later events
- subplotSubordinate narrative strand
- suspenseAnxious uncertainty about outcomes
climax · pacing · backstory · perspective · voiceover · reveal · cliffhanger · crossover
Matching structural elements
- counterpointSimultaneous independent melodies
- alternationSequential interchange of elements
- interplayReciprocal action between things
- contrastNotable difference between things
convergence · dichotomy · interweaving · simultaneity · duality · collision · tension · comparison
montage
Assembled sequence of images
transition · dissolve · fade · wipe · L-cut · J-cut · shot · scene · footage · continuity
tempo
Rate of musical performance
timing · flow · pattern · beat · sequence · acceleration · modulation · staccato · syncopation · momentum
flashback
Involuntary past memory
- flash-forwardNarrative leap to future
- foreshadowingHinting at later events
- subplotSubordinate narrative strand
suspense · climax · pacing · backstory · perspective · voiceover · reveal · cliffhanger · crossover · convergence
parallelism
Matching structural elements
- counterpointSimultaneous independent melodies
- alternationSequential interchange of elements
- interplayReciprocal action between things
contrast · convergence · dichotomy · interweaving · simultaneity · duality · collision · tension · comparison · opposition
- film editingediting, film editing, cut, editor, splice
intercuttinglong take
Uninterrupted cinematic shot
one-shot · oner · master shot · tracking shot
cutting, cutter, intersection, cuttings, intersect, intersperse, cuttable, interspersing, intercut