Quick Cuts

This post (written by Nayana) contains my understanding and practical work about quick cuts.

A "quick cut" sequence in the film is a series of rapid, short shots edited together with dynamic camera angles and movements. Its purpose is to create urgency, excitement, and intensity, often used in action scenes or tense moments. This technique engages the audience, heightens emotions, and visually stimulates, effectively conveying fast-paced energy within the narrative.

Edgar Wright

The film director Edgar Wright employs quick cuts to give life to mundane situations. For example, he adds energy and dynamism to simple everyday tasks like getting ready, going to the bathroom, and filling in paperwork. Another technique is to mix the quick cuts with shots of a longer duration for comedic effect, as well as adding a crash zoom to the shots. Some of his films are; Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim vs The World, and Baby Driver

My Example

Me and my teammate, Sharon decided to make a short clip about a student who had to get a last-minute signature on their group's paperwork. The brief asked us to make a boring school task to be made more energetic and dramatic using quick cuts. This project was the first for us to make together and I found it really fun as we work well together and it was easier for us to connect our ideas and our skills to make this video. Sharon made the storyboard which we used throughout the shoot and I helped being in the video with simple added directions. 

I am quite proud of a lot of the scenes as I felt it was very fun and matched well with the music. I also really liked the shaky shot we did while running to the teacher's lounge as it showed how panicky and rushed the emotion were during the action. Although I had a lot of struggles with using sound effects because I couldn't match them well enough hence why there are barely any sound effects so I want to learn more about how to incorporate the sound effects in the shot. Many of the shots actually didn't match with the music perfectly which was a bit bothering but it was good enough for satisfaction. I also felt confused when to use smash zoom, normal zoom or no zoom so that may made the video felt a bit more awkward.

I might want to propose to use these quick cuts in our actual documentary project as I feel it is perfect for a lot of the scenes but it may make it not look like a documentary and more like a sitcom.