Brevity

The human eye tends to dart rather than zoom or pan. – Remember its impolite to stare!

Most of the time we scan a scene with a rapid succession of small, darting looks. Try observing people’s eyes when they first enter a room. This is the reason most movies are edited into short bits of visual information lasting on the average of two to five seconds. Try counting the number of cuts per minute of your favorite television show or movie. You will see for yourself how basic movie making tends to emulate the action of the human eye. Walter Murch, multiple academy award winning editor, wrote a brilliant little book about this called In The Blink Of An Eye.

There are exceptions. Many current event and music television programs use continuous, hand-held, wide angle, close-up forms of videography to create a sense of immediacy.

Movie Games

Showing the Story | Brevity | Continuity | Axis | Framing

Cross Cutting | Match Cutting | Cutting Tight or Wide