Invisible Cuts: a new Trend in Video Editing
In today’s visual design, aesthetics of continuity is everywhere.
From UI design to cinematography, we tend to cherish uninterrupted visual experiences that smoothly flows from one stage to the next.
For natural reasons. Continuity is aesthetically pleasing, immersive and prevents cognitive fatigue — we don’t need to adjust to new situations all the time. Also, by connecting through time and space, continuity helps understanding relationships between elements.
In cinematography, continuity usually refers to the rules developed in the early 1920s in the US, under the name of Continuity Editing. Those rules, still followed by the majority of filmmakers, aimed to maintain temporal and spatial consistency while editing different viewpoints. So it was more about preserving mental coherence than targeting pure visual continuity.
So how does visual continuity translate into filmmaking?
Within a single movie scene (same time and space), perfect visual continuity means that there is no break in what the audience sees. There can’t be any cut: it has to be a sequence-shot (single take).
Sequence-shots are the perfect representation of visual continuity for single scenes, and that may explain why they are on the rise currently. They have been used a lot and celebrated in recently awarded movies (Birdman, La La Land, the Revenant).
However, sequence-shots are limited to actions happening in the same space, and are technically demanding.
What about continuity between different scenes? Visual continuity manifests itself in filmmaking by defining new relationships that can be established between the shots. It is influencing how the shots are connected, mainly by transforming visual transitions.
Transitions support relationships
In videography, transitions describe how consecutive shots are combined together. The most basic transition is a cut, which simply consists in playing the two shots one after the next.
Other transitions can be selectively used, often to highlight the relationship between the two shots or scenes. Thus, fades to black can be used to separate parts of the story, dissolves might suggest the passage of time or dreaming moments, etc. Transitions are a visual syntax tool that editors can make use of to support storytelling or to convey some tone.
Most used transitions in films are somehow visually-generic, so that they don’t steal the show from the content of the shots.
Conversely, pronounced transitions can be used as stylistic elements, like the unmistakable wipe transitions in Star Wars movies. However, most editors stay away from that, since it might look too overbearing and break the magic.
Meaningful transitions
Transitions can actually achieve more than supporting existing continuity, they can create connections.
Making a simple cut between two shots naturally associates them through time proximity: we still have the first one stored in our short-term visual memory when the latter occurs, hence the mental connection.
We also tend to associate items that are visually similar — in size, shape, color, texture, etc.
Then, playing two shots that present visual similarity results in a combination that is stronger than the sum of its parts. Visual match creates impact.
That explains the popularity of match cuts in filmmaking. A match cut is a cut from one shot to another where the two shots are matched by the action or the subject. This definition, quite broad, can refer to visual, audio or metaphoric associations.
But more specifically, a visual match cut is a match cut where the two shots contain two similar objects in similar positions in the frame. It is particularly striking when the shots don’t belong to the same scene, because it establishes a relationship that was not already visible.
A very famous example of this is when in ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ a prehistoric ape tosses a bone that cuts into a futuristic space station. Stanley Kubrick metaphorically condenses the entire history of scientific progress in one brillant cut.
Modern series, Pixar movies, directors Edgar Wright or Wes Anderson, just to name a few, make an extensive use of visual match cuts. The objective is to create a thematic connection, or contrarily to reinforce contrasts between opposed situations (by ironically associating them).
Visual match cuts are also very aesthetic.
Whether there are meaningful or elegant, those cuts end up making a strong impression on the audience.
The power of invisibility
Transitions can push continuity even further, to the point where they disappear.
Matching the two shots perfectly makes an invisible cut. Historically, the intent of the invisible cut was to hide the transition from the audience.
Hitchcock made the first noteworthy attempt in his first color film, ‘Rope’. The camera he used could not capture more than 10 minutes of video at once, so he had to trick to hide cuts during long scenes.
When executed well, an invisible cut gives the impression that the entire scene is a sequence-shot, increasing the sense of immersion.
Alejandro Iñárritu uses that method to make his entire movie ‘Birdman’ look as if it had been captured in a single take.
In the above example, the invisible cut occurs when the camera is pointed on the floor, and is hidden by a whip pan, a movement of the camera which is so fast that it blurs the picture into indistinct streaks. The camera has also the exact same movement for the two shots, making the resulting motion smooth and uninterrupted.
Entering / leaving a very dark or very light environment — like in Hitchcock’s ‘Rope’ movie, or having an object crossing the screen are also very common methods to make cuts look invisible.
Invisible cuts can also have a slightly different intent. In some cases, the audience might realize that a transition has happened, but can’t tell the exact moment. Or, the transition may look smooth but incoherent given what happens in the shots. That can be used to unsettle the viewers on purpose.
Match cuts and invisible cuts cannot really be added as an afterthought during editing. It is possible to fake those transitions in post-processing, but the results would not reach the same level of quality. Since they need to take advantage of what is already present in the shots, they drive how the shooting is done. It is more demanding but results in a very organic look and feel for the audience.
Visual continuity as a system
Innovative directors and editors try to extend visual continuity beyond a few meaningful transitions and generalize the approach.
Although contradictory, it seems that the more invisible a transition looks, the more eye-catching the result can be. First, similar patterns and visual associations naturally draws our attention. Second, a smooth transition puts content first: the eyes are not being distracted by a visible change and can focus on what is in the shots.
Then, visual continuity is strongly correlated with impact. Reaching maximum continuity becomes an element of the art direction and drives the filmmaking process.
To achieve that, directors and editors would look for all the possible elements they can match between the shots: subjects, actions, scene elements, lighting, colors, etc.
They also make use of all the techniques introduced by the most innovative filmmakers to further blend the shots: obstruction of objects, camera moves (whip pans), passing through very dark and very light environments, adding lighting, etc.
Post-processing methods (correcting colors, masking one shot with the other, or warping time to align speeds) can amplify those similarities and help reach visual matching.
All those techniques are very efficient in specific use cases but they might prove insufficient for very dissimilar shots.
What is added to the mix and connects all together: motion.
Whether it comes from the motion of the shots themselves (subjects or camera moving) or some extra motion added in post-production, or a combination of both, the continuity of movement from one shot to the next is extremely effective on the eye.
It is crucial for the effect to work that the movement stays continuous — keeping the same direction, pivot, speed, and state in motion (accelerating, steady, or decelerating).
Some radical approaches even base transitions on the similarity of motion rather than on the content.
The art of transitions
Invisible transitions represent how visual continuity takes flesh in videography. Each transition adds visual momentum and conveys its own artistic expression. In the same way as opening titles went from being a mere presentation of the cast into becoming a true art form, transitions can go beyond being a supportive tool to fully embrace the art direction.
As filmmaking evolves, transitions will continue to thrive and become more and more intertwined with visual content. Eventually we won’t see them at all, and they will impact us even more.
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