Editing Tip: Motivated Editing

Posted on by Jeff Riegel, Producer/Editor

December 1, 2010

by VideoMaker

Though it is the simplest way to transition from one shot to the next, making a natural-looking cut can be tricky. If you’re not careful, you could end up with a series of jump cuts which can be jarring to the viewer. The best way to make an otherwise obvious cut is to make a motivated edit.

One way to achieve a motivated edit is to use the on-screen conversation to determine the timing of your cut, known as the “shot/reverse shot” technique. For example, when Subject A asks Subject B a question, cut to Subject B for the response. You can then cut back, again, to Subject A for the reaction to the absurdity of Subject B’s response. Cutting in this fashion will allow the viewer to follow the conversation in a manner which feels natural.

By making motivated edits each shot will run smoothly into the next which will create a seemingly continuous flow of shots. Once you’re able to master this technique, your edits will be flawless and your videos will begin to look more professional.

For more ideas on how to get from one shot to the next check out Editing Motivation.

PS – Have you downloaded your free eDoc Videograpy Essentials yet?

Editing Tip: Motivated Editing

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For two decades, Jeff Riegel was a senior level Producer/Editor for the Department of Defense and various government contractors in Northern Virginia. Outside of the workplace, Jeff keeps himself busy with the creation of festival worthy documentaries "Tori Nelson: Fighting for Her Future" and the once nominated and two-time Emmy award winning "A Journey of Education and Remembrance." His short film "The Great Realisation" captured the eyes at 18 international film festivals with various winning honors; a poem that takes on heavy themes such as fevered capitalism, man-made ecological issues, digital addiction during the global Covid blight. Jeff is looking for funding investors and co-producing "The Lost Clipper," a two+ decades project about the first hijacking in U.S. history and the search for those 15 lost souls abducted in 1938, the true first act of war with Japan. Filming takes him to Micronesia, Guam, Hawaii, Canada, and locations across the U.S. (see www.LostClipper.com) He enjoys creating media-marketing social networking campaign for personalities such as 13-time world boxing champion Tori Nelson, Netflix's "Narcos" personalities Steve Murphy and Javier Pena, and renowned landscape photographer Frank Lee Ruggles. Jeff is eager to attack any project head-on. Jeff's Motto: think beyond convention...and consider it done!