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title: hum-7-editing-glossary

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# hum-7-editing-glossary

## Major Types of Cuts in Bordwell & Thompson

### 1. **Continuity Cuts (Invisible Editing)**

These maintain spatial and temporal coherence across shots — the backbone of the **continuity system**.

* **Match on Action** – a cut during a movement where the action continues seamlessly across shots (e.g., opening a door in one shot, entering in the next).
* **Eyeline Match** – a cut from a character looking at something to what they are looking at, maintaining spatial logic.
* **Shot/Reverse Shot** – alternating shots between characters in conversation, usually obeying the **180° rule**.
* **Graphic Match** – visual shapes, colors, or movements are matched across shots (e.g., a bone turning into a spaceship in *2001: A Space Odyssey*).
* **Position Match / Screen Direction Match** – maintains the direction of movement or orientation (left → right, etc.).
* **Match of Direction** – preserves movement trajectory (e.g., character walks off right; next shot continues motion entering from left).
* **Matches in Lighting and Tonality** – ensures visual continuity between shots filmed at different times or places.

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### 2. **Discontinuity Cuts (Art-Cinema / Montage / Expressive Editing)**

These *violate* classical continuity principles for expressive, poetic, or intellectual effect.

* **Jump Cut** – abrupt, noticeable break in continuous time or space, omitting frames or changing camera position slightly (e.g., *Breathless*).
* **Elliptical Cut** – omits part of an action, shortening time without showing all intermediate steps.
* **Axis Jump / 180° Violation** – crossing the line of action, disorienting spatial logic.
* **Non-Diegetic Insert** – cuts to a shot outside the narrative world (e.g., symbolic imagery, metaphoric montage).
* **Graphic Contrast Cut** – juxtaposes sharply different visual elements for shock or irony.
* **Temporal Mismatch** – repetition or reversal of time; overlapping or reverse motion.
* **Intellectual / Associative Cut** – creates conceptual rather than spatial linkage (Eisenstein-style montage).

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### 3. **Transitions and Optical Devices**

Bordwell classifies these as *editing techniques* beyond the hard cut:

* **Fade-Out / Fade-In** – shot gradually darkens (out) or lightens (in), often marking temporal ellipsis or closure.
* **Dissolve** – overlapping fade where one image gradually replaces another, suggesting time passage or connection.
* **Wipe** – one shot replaces another through a moving boundary line (classic in early sound cinema).
* **Iris-In / Iris-Out** – circular mask opens or closes around a subject (common in silent-era and stylistic homage).

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### 4. **Relations Between Shots**

Each cut (continuity or not) functions through these **four relations** — Bordwell’s central analytic framework:

| Relation Type | Function                                                       | Typical Devices                                        |
| ------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Graphic**   | Links or contrasts visual elements (shape, color, composition) | graphic match, contrast cut                            |
| **Rhythmic**  | Controls duration, pacing, tempo                               | fast cutting, matched movement, jump cut               |
| **Spatial**   | Constructs coherent or fragmented space                        | eyeline match, 180° rule, crosscutting                 |
| **Temporal**  | Shapes story time                                              | match on action, ellipsis, flashback, overlapping edit |

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### 5. **Specialized Forms**

Bordwell and Thompson also note some special-purpose cut types used in stylistic systems:

* **Crosscutting / Parallel Editing** – alternation between simultaneous actions in different locations.
* **Montage Sequence** – a compressed series of shots condensing time, often with music.
* **Overlapping Edit** – repetition of the last bit of action from the previous shot.
* **Cutaway / Insert Shot** – brief shot of detail or related object (often used for continuity bridging or emphasis).
* **Analytical Editing** – cutting from a master shot to closer views to reveal spatial details.
* **Constructive Editing** – building a scene entirely from partial shots without an establishing master (Kuleshov style).

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### 6. **Sound Transitions (Added Layer)**

While not “cuts” in a visual sense, *Film Art* treats these as editing equivalents:

* **Sound Bridge** – audio continues across a cut, linking scenes.
* **Dialogue Overlap** – voice carries over the edit.
* **Asynchronous Sound Cut** – sound-image mismatch used expressively (e.g., *Apocalypse Now*’s rotor-to-fan cut).

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Would you like me to produce a **formatted chart or diagram** showing these categories hierarchically (e.g., “continuity editing → match types → examples”), or a **teaching handout version** (for students doing cut-type analysis in a workshop like Hum 7)?
