You've just rolled back from a wild weekend adventure, armed to the teeth with hours of film showcasing incredible views, crazy fun times, and laugh-out-loud moments with your crew. You can't wait to blast this on your socials, but wait - how do you turn hours of raw clips into a short, punchy video that's going to blow your followers' minds?
This is where the magic of video editing swings in to save the day. Now there is many different cuts you can implement in the art of editing footage but we are going to start with getting to grips on five key moves I believe are important to know aside from the standard cut. We are looking at the Jump Cut, Cutaway, J Cut, L Cut, and the Montage cutting style. With these cuts in your arsenal, you can turn your raw footage into an absolute viral sensation and further understand how and why they are implemented in today's top trending social media clips.
So let's jump into the deep end and explore these techniques. By the end, you'll be ready to turn your weekend adventure footage into the next big social media hit!
This little trick is all about hopping from one scene to another in a jiffy. It's perfect for showing a quick passage of time or to hurry the story along. On social media, jump cuts keep things snappy and engaging - just what you need for platforms like TikTok or Instagram Reels, where shorter is sweeter.
For instance, imagine you're putting together a makeup tutorial for a Youtube short or Instagram. You could use a jump cut to whizz from one step to another, cutting out the boring bits and keeping the video gripping. One moment your viewers see you applying foundation, and then bam! You're putting on eyeliner.
A cutaway is a sneaky shot that's usually got nothing to do with the main action. It's a cool way to make your videos more dynamic, add some extra context, or just mix things up visually. For example, while narrating a cooking video, you could cutaway to show the yummy end result.
Picture this: you're filming a day-in-my-life vlog for TikTok. You could use a cutaway to show your reactions or what's happening around you while you're chatting about the main events. It's a great way to give your viewers a bit more context and personality.
A J cut lets the sound from the next scene kick in before the visual switcheroo happens. It's a smooth way to lead your viewers from one scene to another. On socials, J cuts can crank up the suspense and get your viewers super engaged. Like, in a travel vlog, hearing the hustle and bustle of a market before you actually see it can make the whole experience even more immersive.
Let's say you're posting a travel vid on Facebook or Instagram. You could use a J cut to tease the next scene. You might start playing sounds of a busy beach — seagulls squawking, waves crashing — while the video is still on you leaving your hotel. It's a neat way to build up excitement for what's coming next.
An L cut works Ying and Yang with the J cut. In other words, it's the exact opposite of a J cut. Here, the visual transition happens before the sound from the previous scene wraps up. It makes your transitions feel smoother and less jarring. In social media content, L cuts can help keep the story flowing nicely, giving your content a more pro vibe.
Say for example you're making a cooking tutorial for YouTube. An L cut would let your voiceover continue while the video shows the next step in the process. You could be chatting about how to knead the dough while the video has already moved on to show the dough being put in the oven.
A montage is a quickfire series of short clips or images that tell a story or convey an idea. B-roll clips of tasks, actions, timelapse, slow-mo, animation, you name it. You fit these all into a cohesive short imagery explosion in whatever way best fits your vision and style and you have yourself an effective montage. These are super effective on social media for cramming a lot of info into a short, digestible video. They do particularly well to portray the passing of time from say a recent vacation you have taken or from a fitness/ hobby progression you'd like to share on social. Let's put this into a little illustration to help further cement how to use it.
Let's say you're a fitness influencer on Instagram, and a montage is just the ticket to squeeze a week's worth of workouts into a snappy one-minute video. Quick snippets of you doing different exercises, set to a heart-pounding beat, can give your viewers a comprehensive look at your workout routine in no time.
To wrap things up, just remember that these editing techniques are like ingredients in a recipe – you can mix and match them to whip up a style that's totally you, or that sets the perfect mood for your video. And truly speaking, it's all about storytelling and keeping your audience hooked first. Good editing acts like a spinal chord in filmmaking, guiding commands that direct the eye (the camera) and the mind (the story) in a way that can truly elevate and stimulate our minds with amazing content. The secret to killer video editing isn't just knowing these techniques, but knowing when and how to use them to keep your content fresh and tell a killer story. You also don't need any fancy editing software to start off implementing these cuts and just use whatever you can get your hands on to start creating. I recommend Capcut if you have a system that can support it to start off. Now that's enough listening to me. So go on, get out there and test out these 5 essential cutting techniques for yourself! Happy Creating!