Cross-cutting

This article is about a filming technique. For other terms, see Cross cut (disambiguation).

Cross-cutting is an editing technique most often used in films to establish action occurring at the same time, and often in the same place. In a cross-cut, the camera will cut away from one action to another action, which can suggest the simultaneity of these two actions. Cross-cutting can also be used for characters in a film with the same goals but different ways of achieving them.[1]

Suspense may be added by cross-cutting.[2] It is built through the expectations that it creates and in the hopes that it will be explained with time. Cross-cutting also forms parallels; it illustrates a narrative action that happens in several places at approximately the same time. For instance, in D. W. Griffith's A Corner in Wheat (1909), the film cross-cuts between the activities of rich businessmen and poor people waiting in line for bread. This creates a sharp dichotomy between the two actions, and encourages the viewer to compare the two shots. Often, this contrast is used for strong emotional effect, and frequently at the climax of a film. The rhythm of, or length of time between, cross-cuts can also set the rhythm of a scene.[3] Increasing the rapidity between two different actions may add tension to a scene, much in the same manner of using short, declarative sentences in a work of literature.

Cross-cutting was established as a film-making technique relatively early in film history (two examples being Edwin Porter's 1903 short The Great Train Robbery and Louis J. Gasnier's 1908 short The Runaway Horse); Griffith was its most famous practitioner. The technique is showcased in his Biograph work, such as A Corner in Wheat and 1911's The Lonedale Operator.[4] His 1915 film The Birth of a Nation contains textbook examples of cross-cutting and firmly established it as a staple of film editing. Mrinal Sen has used cross-cutting effectively in his agit-prop film Interview, which achieved significant commercial success. Christopher Nolan uses cross-cutting extensively in films such as Interstellar, The Dark Knight and Inception - particularly in the latter, in which sequences depict multiple simultaneous levels of consciousness.[1] Cloud Atlas is known for its numerous cross-cuts between the film's six different stories, some lasting only a few seconds yet spanning across hundreds of years in different locations around the world. Its cuts are eased by the similar emotional tone depicted by each side's action.

Cross-cutting is often used during phone-conversation sequences so that viewers see both characters' facial expressions in response to what is said.[5]

Advanced forms

Illustration of illusory cross-cutting in Medea (2018)

Beyond its conventional use to depict simultaneous action, can also forge deliberate illusory linkages between otherwise unrelated film spaces, times, or even diegetic levels. In such cases, editors alternate shots to encourage viewers to infer spatial continuity or interaction where none actually exists – a strategy that serves misdirection or thematic association rather than straightforward continuity editing. Early filmmaker D. W. Griffith pioneered this approach in Intolerance (1916), which intercuts four separate storylines set in different historical periods, linking them thematically rather than chronologically.[6] This kind of thematic cross-cutting leads the audience to perceive a unifying idea or parallel between disparate scenes. The psychological basis for these inferences was famously demonstrated by the Kuleshov effect, in which viewers derive more meaning from the juxtaposition of two shots than from a single shot in isolation.[7] By sequencing unrelated shots, filmmakers can thus prompt the audience to construct a continuous narrative space or relationship through inference.

Such techniques allow cross-cutting to manipulate audience expectations. In Jonathan Demme’s The Silence of the Lambs (1991), the climactic sequence cross-cuts between an FBI tactical raid and the lair of the killer Buffalo Bill, encouraging the assumption that the agents are surrounding the villain’s house – only to reveal that the FBI has raided a different, empty location. This misdirection exploits the viewer’s natural inclination to assume simultaneity and spatial proximity when scenes are intercut.[8] By the time the cross-cut sequence divulges the spatial disjunction, the viewer experiences a jarring surprise, underlining how cross-cutting can shape and subvert audience inference. Cross-cutting is equally capable of drawing out ironic or thematic parallels: for example, Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather (1972) intercuts a serene church baptism with brutal gang executions, creating a pointed contrast that enriches the film’s commentary on guilt and innocence.[9] Here, parallel editing operates on a symbolic level, aligning two events not to imply physical interaction but to evoke a deeper conceptual connection.

Experimental films have pushed these ideas further, using cross-cutting to blend different realities and question the boundaries of the diegesis. Medea (2018) provides a striking example: a present-day character’s gaze is intercut with a shot from Andy Warhol's Bad (1977), creating the illusory impression of a shared space and even a moment of mutual recognition across two unrelated films.[10][11] Medea has been described as a postmodern adaptation “remixed” with Warhol’s film, and the accompanying image illustrates this illusory cross-cutting: the framing aligns characters from different sources as if they occupy the same scene. In such cases, cross-cutting functions less as a continuity device and more as meaning-making montage, prompting the viewer to question what is “real” in the narrative. By juxtaposing fragments of distinct times or worlds, the editor invites the audience to actively assemble narrative meaning, demonstrating how profoundly cross-cutting can influence the construction of story space through inference and imagination.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b "cross-cut - definition of cross-cut in English". Oxford Dictionaries - English. Archived from the original on August 28, 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  2. ^ Van Sijll, Jennifer (1 August 2005). Cinematic Storytelling. Michael Wiese Productions. ISBN 9781615930029. Retrieved 1 November 2017 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ Rosenberg, John (11 February 2013). The Healthy Edit: Creative Techniques for Perfecting Your Movie. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781136040733. Retrieved 1 November 2017 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ "Lonedale Operator: Part 2". Tcf.ua.edu. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  5. ^ "Screenwriting.info: Intercuts". Screenwriting.info. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  6. ^ Bordwell, David; Thompson, Kristin (2016). Film Art: An Introduction. McGraw-Hill. pp. 228–229. ISBN 978-1259534959.
  7. ^ Eisenstein, Sergei (1949). Film Form. Harcourt. pp. 33–34.
  8. ^ Bordwell, David (1985). Narration in the Fiction Film. University of Wisconsin Press. pp. 103–104. ISBN 978-0299101749.
  9. ^ Monaco, James (2009). How to Read a Film. Oxford University Press. pp. 234–235. ISBN 978-0195321050.
  10. ^ Medea at IMDb
  11. ^ Medea synopsis – matantal.com

References

  • Bordwell, David; Thompson, Kristin (2006). Film Art: An Introduction. New York: McGraw-Hill. pp. 244–245. ISBN 0-07-331027-1.
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