Invisible cut

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The invisible cut (also known as “découpage classique”, “continuity editing”) is the predominant form of montage in Classical Hollywood . It is also called "classical narration". Its aim is to make the viewer as little aware as possible that it is a film. The viewer should be able to concentrate solely on the action.

To do this, a few rules must be followed: For example, a smooth, gradual transition of shot sizes , the beginning of a scene is introduced with an " establishing shot " (long shot), dialog scenes are recorded using the shot-reverse shot method, axis relationships are maintained (i.e. no axis jump on the other side of the plot axis), omission of redundant ( elliptical narration ).

The invisible cut is not literally invisible, but rather should not be consciously perceived by the viewer, so that the impression of an uninterrupted flow of events is created.

A literal application of the “invisible cut” can be found in the Alfred Hitchcock film Cocktail for a Corpse (1948), which uses only hidden cuts. The film is based on a play, a closed drama in which place, time and plot are uniform. Hitchcock wanted to transfer this unity into his film. At the time, the film was shot on rolls of film, the length of which was limited to about ten minutes. Hitchcock cut the transitions between the individual rollers so that the illusion was that the film was in a single setting added. He concealed the film cuts, among other things, with strong close-ups of uniformly colored objects, e.g. B. the black fabric on the back of a jacket: One role ended with this shot, the next role began with exactly the same image.

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Individual evidence

  1. ↑ François Truffaut : Mr. Hitchcock, how did you do it? . Heyne, Munich 1973, ISBN 3-453-86141-8 , p. 149 f.