Operation Manual

Appendix D: Videography tips 321
• The less motion there is in a shot, the shorter it
should be. Shots with fast movements can be longer.
• Long shots have more content, so they should also
be shown longer.
Ordering your video sequences in a deliberate manner
not only permits you to produce certain effects, but
even enables you to convey messages that cannot or
should not be shown in pictures. There are basically six
methods of conveying messages through cuts:
Associative cuts
Shots are strung together in a certain order to trigger
associations in the mind of the viewer, but the actual
message is not shown. Example: A man bets on a horse
race and, in very next scene, we see him shopping for
an expensive new car at a car dealership.
Parallel cuts
Two actions are shown in parallel. The film jumps back
and forth between the two actions; making the shots
shorter and shorter until the end. This is a way of
building suspense until it peaks. Example: Two
different cars drive from different directions at high
speed toward the same intersection.
Contrast cuts
The film purposely cuts unexpectedly from one shot to
another, very different shot, in order to point up the
contrast to the viewer. Example: A tourist lying on the
beach; the next shot shows starving children.
Substitutionary cut
Events that cannot or should not be shown are replaced
by other events (a child is born, but instead of
childbirth, the blossoming of a flower bud is shown).