9 Essential Cuts Every Video Editor Needs to Know

Video editing lets you explore your creative side in many different ways, but for beginners and outsiders alike, it is an element in the process of filmmaking that is often misunderstood.

Even with its creative potential, there are certain cuts every editor should be familiar with.

Standard, L and J cuts are the basics cut in video editing. Jump and montage are used less often, but they are very effective in showing the change in time, place or persons.

Some cuts like cutaways are very useful in covering problems in your original footage, and serve often as a filler.

Key Takeaways:

J-cuts and L-cuts tie scenes together by moving some audio from one shot into the other.
Cutaways are used to the viewer understand the characters’ environment or just cover up errors in footage.
Cutting on action requires sufficient shot coverage to work with.

“Whether you’re editing on Premiere, Final Cut Pro X, Resolve, or Avid, editing is littered with important decisions that will benefit your story in significant ways or become a huge detriment.”

Lance Carr

Lance is a fully qualified video editing tragic and renowned techno-struggler. He has put in the hard yards working out all manner of things technical... so you don't have to!