Shift vs. Cut

 

Oftentimes I use the term “shift” when referring to a “cut” to a new scene or shot. “Shift” replaces “cut.” This is a distinction I came across in the book Filmosophy by Daniel Frampton. In the book he proposes that moving sound images have a thinking all their own and there is a power available to us when we consider the moving sound image as a presentation of thinking. This thinking can then mingle with the thinking of the viewer and a new 3rd way of thinking emerges. This is all very interesting and complex, too complex to get into here. But when we consider the image as thinking we are open to the image showing story instead of telling story. And in showing story we are allowed to see “cuts” as changes in thought or “shifts” in thought. A shift in the thinking that the image is thinking and and a shift in the thinking available as interpretation. Again all good and theoretical, but so what?

For some it is a distinction not worth making. Yet for me it furthers the exploration of the emerging possibilities of being and thinking becoming available to humans, uncovering new ways to communicate to people. It is important for me to articulate the moments when the mood or thought change. It helps to infuse thoughtful feeling and intention into the process of creating moving sound images. Making the “shift” distinction expands the communication between team members and creatives so that collectively form can combine with content enhancing and deepening meaning and the viewing experience.

It may be subtle, the change from “cut”to “shift,” but when reading one of my moving sound image ideas consider how the meaning is different with “shift” instead of “cut.”