Film Editing Techniques: Cross-Cutting 101

• November 7, 2018

• Film Editing Pro

Every year, it seems like the bar is pushed just a little higher with films and television. Film editing techniques are always evolving. The action is bigger, the drama is more dramatic and the suspense is even “suspensier” (not even close to being a word?)

Let’s just say that grabbing and holding audience interest isn’t getting any easier.

Although every situation is different, top editors have a reliable arsenal of time-tested techniques for increasing the pace of the film and keeping the viewer on the edge of their seats.

Chief among these tools is cross-cutting.

What is Cross-cutting?

Cross-cutting is a deceptively simple editing technique that delivers a big dramatic punch.

In a nutshell, cross-cutting is taking two or more film sequences and cutting between them as they progress. It sounds simple but is in fact a very complicated technique that requires a firm grasp on pacing and timing.

It can take a handful of scenes, which played independently, might each register as a 3 or 4 on the intensity scale. After cross-cutting, you could ratchet them up to a 9 or a 10 by weaving their progression together.

Here are the two main types of cross-cutting you’ll probably encounter.

Cross-cutting on a Micro Level

When cross-cutting occurs with a fairly quick back-and-forth pace between activities in one or two scenes, we can think of it as cross-cutting on a micro level.

Here’s a great example.

In a famous scene from the film Untouchables , there’s a shootout at Union Station between Kevin Costner’s character and some mobsters. During the chaos, a baby in a stroller gets bumped and starts rolling down the stairs.

The dramatic momentum of the falli