Journal of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (1950-1954)

254 RUDY BRETZ March switch. A definite action (and there are many such movements in wrestling) will leave no doubt or confusion in the mind of the audience as to which person is which. Cutting on action is possible, however, only if the attention of the audience is definitely centered on the action through which you intend to bridge the two shots. If you start with a long shot which includes several actions, the audience is as likely to be watching one as another. If the shot, let us say, shows four football players warming up before a game by kicking punts, and the director should wish to cut to a close-up of one of them, he cannot do this on the action of the kick. There is a three-to-one chance that the viewer may not be watching the same player that the director is looking at. If the viewer's attention happens to be on the wrong player, the new shot will suddenly be upon him in the midst of an action. It would be best in this case to cut before the kick, so that the complete action would be included in the close-up shot, just as one would do in cutting to another scene, when matching of action is unnecessary. Figure 1 Cutting on Reaction One of the most powerful motivations for a cut is to have someone in the picture look outside the frame. Immediately the audience wants to see what he is looking at. A shot of another subject — anything under the sun — is accepted, at least momentarily, by the eager viewer. The viewer has been shown what he wants to see. More than that, the director has contrived, by the device of having someone look, to make the viewer want to see the thing the director is going