Crosscutting Explained: 3 Examples of Crosscutting in Film

Crosscutting is a film editing technique in which a sequence is edited in post-production to combine two or more separate scenes. A scene that has been crosscut will cut away from one scene to another, implying a relationship between the scenes. The different scenes may be taking place in the same location and time or in different locations at different times.

Crosscutting is used in video editing for a few notable reasons.

• Suspense: Cutting in and out of scenes builds suspense by momentarily leaving questions unanswered. Crosscutting can leave audiences wondering how the scenes are connected and how they will intersect. Crosscutting can also misdirect audiences to build suspense.
• Speed: Crosscutting can help determine the rhythm of a scene. In the same way that a long take slows down a scene, crosscutting speeds it up. A crosscut that involves a split-screen can also literally speed up the action by showing twice as much information in half the time it would’ve taken to show each scene separately.
• Juxtaposition: Crosscutting can show two competing or contrasting points of view. It can also convey juxtaposition through cinematography—such as close-ups intercut by long shots, for example.

Crosscutting is used extensively in filmmaking. Consider a few examples of crosscutting in film production.

1. 1. The Godfather (1972): Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather uses both parallel editing and crosscutting to move the story along. While the film's protagonist, Michael Corleone, attends the baptism of his nephew, a string of murders is carried out at his behest. The violent murders juxtaposed with the religious ceremony adds an intensity to the film that would otherwise not have been possible without cross-cutting and parallel editing.
2. 2. The Silence of The Lambs (1991): The climax of Jonathan Demme’s The Silence of the Lambs contains a scene in which FBI agents surround a building while a serial killer dialogues with a victim inside. Crosscutting enables the audience to simultaneously have the point of view of both the agents and the serial killer.
3. 3. A Corner in Wheat (1909): This short film by D.W. Griffith is one of the first films to employ crosscutting. In this film, Griffith specifically uses parallel editing to contrast scenes of wealthy businessmen with people waiting in line for bread.
   

Crosscutting and parallel editing may be similar, but they are not synonyms. Crosscutting is a general term for any time a scene is intercut with another, while parallel editing refers to instances where two or more shots are depicting parallel actions happening simultaneously. A film editor using crosscutting may intercut multiple scenes happening at different times, whereas parallel editing typically intercuts two different scenes from two separate locations that are happening at the same time.

An example of parallel editing comes from Christopher Nolan's 2010 film Inception. Nolan uses parallel editing to show four separate scenes that are taking place in four different locations all at the same time. Parallel editing allows the four scenes to appear as parallel actions rather than completely separate scenes.

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