A quick look at this powerful editing technique that’s essential learning for all editors.
Take a look at the video clip below. It’s of my friend Rich practising his bowling.
Okay, you might say, it’s a guy playing cricket. What’s to learn about filmmaking-wise…?
Well, the video above is actually made up of two separate shots edited together to seem as if they belong together. This is the technique known as match cutting, sometimes also hideously referred to as match on action. Whatever you want to call it, match cutting is an essential skill for any editor to master, and in Adobe Premiere Pro we can quickly achieve this by using the Ripple Edit tool.
So why is match cutting so important…? It helps us to tell a fluid, moving story using a single camera, both by masking the cuts between disparate shots, and drawing us into the story in the process. Movies use this technique all the time as they are shot single camera, but filmmakers on a budget frequently only have a single camera anyway, so this technique really becomes invaluable.
The basic premise is simple; you find two frames in each clip that roughly match each other, then play the clips back to back:
The first clip trimmed down to its new Out point. Note the bowler’s arm positions.
The second clip trimmed to its new In point.
We’re using the Ripple Edit tool because it not only closes any gaps that would result from trimming the clips, it also splits the Program Monitor in two, known as the Trim monitor, allowing us to compare the new Out and In points of the two clips.
The first clip’s new Out point is on the left and the second clip’s new In point is on the right. The Trim monitor allows us to easily compare the two.
And that’s it. Or is it…?
Just a quick word of warning: match cutting can cause sleepless nights. That’s because it’s easy to get obsessed about exactly where the cut should go, so here’s a quick couple of titbits – firstly, it’s a good idea to pick a point of fast motion as your edit point, like in the example above where the bowler’s arm is whipping through its final, fastest phase. Another trick is to ask someone to watch the clip and ask them if it looks “right”. If they say yes, you’ve probably got it right. Finally, if you’re interviewing someone, try moving the camera closer and asking them politely if they would mind repeating a statement or two. Again, this gives the impression of having more cameras than one, and can help convey the story more effectively by providing more visual stimulus.
Okay, that really is it. Hopefully we’ve seen that match cutting is essential in telling your stories, whether you’re working on a feature film or cutting an interview with a local councillor, and although it can seem daunting for a time, it will become absolutely second nature to you very quickly – just remember to keep practising…!
Copyright © 2021 Chris Nelthorpe/Gasworks Films Ltd
