The Art Of The Cut: Editing Concepts Every Filmmaker Should Know

by Greg Keast

The Art of the Cut is a clear and concise introduction into many of the most important concepts in film editing. The book is written primarily for those who wish to learn the basic principles of editing but who may also be filmmakers or close to the filmmaking process. For this reason, some of the editing concepts are actually filmmaking concepts but are absolutely critical for both the editor and filmmaker to appreciate and understand. With the aid of photographs and graphics, the book neatly summarizes over 100 concepts related to the practice of editing and serves as an easy-to-understand and handy reference guide. If you want to master the art of editing and learn the key principles quickly, then this book is the perfect resource to have.

Genres: Film

240 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2015

Reviews

[Mars Fargo]

What works so well about this book is that it never attempts to present itself as definitive... which ironically makes it the definitive book on editing.

It's structure dedicates a page to every major editing concept, with a picture example of each. It intentionally does NOT present context to this technique. It presents the technique, with no conjecture of the right or wrong context to use them. This vagueness is what makes the book such a valuable asset to passionate filmmakers. By being so vague, the reader is forced to think creatively to understand the techniques; the generalized, undetailed nature of each one forces the viewer to come up with why they might want to use that technique or not use that technique. Thus the creative use of the technical takes more precedent in this volume than technical objectivism, stimulating the reader to be creatively active rather than a passive observer.

[Rase McCray]

I didn't love this as much as some others. It's admittedly very good, but I simultaneously found it too brief yet filled with stuff that felt like filler. I guess that's on me because I was expecting this to be more technical and turned out to be a little more philosophical.

On the other hand, this book is both short and an incredibly quick read, which I liked. And to the book's credit, I can't imagine any editor or prospective editor reading this book without getting at least *something* out of it.

So still a worthwhile read for anyone looking to improve their editing. For me, the better book has definitely been The Editor's Toolkit by Chris Wadsworth.

[Nick Bentz]

Super informative, but some concepts are pretty self-explanatory and redundant. I appreciate when Keast gets into the psychological implications of various cutting techniques and bridges, and would definitely like to see more of that in the book, rather than the more self-help, 'don't forget to take risks' angles, which, while valuable, probably deserved to be collected together into one final statement at the end rather than being peppered throughout the structure of the work. Overall, I appreciate the format of the book, and it will definitely serve as a valuable reference to return to in order to ground yourself in the rudimentary concepts of film editing.

[Panayiotis Drakos]

Well written with an easy-to-follow layout.

Simple and consice to understand, and that really is the main principle the author was trying to achieve with this book. Some concepts may seem oddly similar at times, but they are in reality complementary to previously mentioned ones.

Would highly recommend for anyone that wants to have a book around that summarizes alot of the editing concepts applied to many movies throughout the years (and with solid references as well!)

[The Warped One]

A pretty good primer. Some explanations are overly complicated, and I was hoping for some more unique insights. A ton of quotes but curiously fewer from actual editors than I would have expected. Also the author seems to have a hard time writing good examples of what they are trying to explain. They also avoid a lot of example devoid of references- like they use made up examples not real world examples. I bookmarked two or three pages for future reference but not much.

[Dalan Mendonca]

Definitely not the first book on editing you should read. Half this book is an empty page with a quote. There's a lot of vague philosophical fortune cookie wisdom too. I took away very little new from this book.

[Bryan Olvera]

Good guidelines/tips for Film Editors and Cinematographers.
Each page a nugget of useful to study and learn from.

[Mark Rego]

This Book is awesome for people on the movie or filmmaking business, or if you want to start! It gives you some rules and how to make things make sense for the spectator.

[Brian Artka]

I love the pace of this book because you can read a concept or two, then put the book down to ponder and think deeper about that specific concept.

I would say that the editing concepts discussed in the book range from beginner to advanced, so it's either a good book for review, or a good book to learn new ideas.

[Pranay Kumar]

Film Editing Bible - No. 2! Learnt so much in just a few page, WOW