CUTLIST vocabulary
Words for editing
A multilingual vocabulary for describing how editing feels, moves, and creates meaning. Pick several words and combine them — one label is rarely enough.
Seven ways to describe editing
- Atmosphere — How does the edit feel overall — quiet, tense, dreamlike, heavy?
- Emotion — What feeling moves through the cut — longing, grief, hope, anxiety?
- Rhythm — How beats repeat or break — steady, staccato, breathing, syncopated?
- Pace — How fast it moves — lingering, breathless, accelerating, unhurried?
- Space — Room between images — open, cramped, pauses, distance, offscreen?
- How shots connect — How images relate — elliptical gaps, collisions, echoes, fragments?
- Figurative images — Recurring image logic — memory, water, mirrors, dreams?
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