{{Short description|Film editing technique}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2024}} {{distinguish|Slow slicing}} '''Slow cutting''' is a film editing technique characterized by frequent lengthy shots. Though it depends on context, it is estimated that any shot longer than about fifteen seconds will seem rather slow to many modern-day viewers, especially those who are accustomed to mainstream Western movies, where slow cuts are uncommon.

Slow cutting can be used to establish a mood before fast cutting injects energy. Slow cutting may also be used in scenes of calm or reflection, and filmmakers can use slow cutting to slow down the pace, just as the second movement of a symphony or concerto typically does.<ref name="phillips"/>

==Films and television== [[File:The Stranger (1946) long take.webm|thumb|''The Stranger'' (1946), with slow cutting resulting in a lengthy shot]] Notable films that use the slow cutting technique are: ''Citizen Kane'', ''Russian Ark'',<ref name="brown"/> ''2001: A Space Odyssey'',<ref name="phillips"/> ''The Prisoner of Zenda'', ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'', ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'', ''Mr. Smith Goes to Washington'', ''Grapes of Wrath'', ''His Girl Friday'', ''Mildred Pierce'', ''Treasure Island'', ''Darby O'Gill and the Little People'', ''Psycho'', ''The Omen'', ''Rambo: First Blood Part II'', ''Robocop'',<ref name="salt"/> and ''A Clockwork Orange''.<ref name="amercine"/>

American director Ken Burns used slow cutting for his television documentary series about the Vietnam War.<ref name="fatah"/>

==Directors== Most of the early films directed by Michelangelo Antonioni use slow cutting.<ref name="phillips"/> Other directors known for the technique include: George Marshall, John Stahl, Edmund Goulding, George Cukor, John Farrow, and Ernst Lubitsch.<ref name="salt"/>

==See also== {{Portal|Film}} * Long take * Motion picture terminology * Fast cutting * Slow cinema

==References== <references>

<ref name="phillips">{{cite book |last1=Phillips |first1=William H. |title=Film: An Introduction |date=1999 |publisher=Bedford/St. Martin's |location=Boston; New York |url=https://archive.org/details/filmintroduction0000phil/page/n3/mode/2up |isbn=0-312-17818-2 |pages=154–164 |chapter=Editing: Pace And Time}}</ref> <ref name="brown">{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=William |author1-link=William Brown (author) |title=Supercinema: Film-Philosophy for the Digital Age |date=2013 |publisher=Berghahn Books |isbn=978-0-85745-949-7 |page=43 |edition=1st |title-link=Supercinema}}</ref> <ref name="salt">{{cite journal |last1=Salt |first1=Barry |title=The End Of The Great Speed-Up—And After |journal=Digital Scholarship in the Humanities |date=23 March 2022 |volume=37 |issue=1 |pages=218–228 |doi=10.1093/llc/fqab049}}</ref> <ref name="amercine">{{cite web |last1=LoBrutto |first1=Vincent |title=The Old Ultra-Violence: A Clockwork Orange |url=https://theasc.com/articles/the-old-ultra-violence-a-clockwork-orange |website=The American Society of Cinematographers |date=January 30, 2018}}</ref> <ref name="fatah">{{cite magazine |last1=Fatah |first1=Sonya |title=Alchemy And Archive; Ken Burns Is Putting The Finishing Touches On His Latest Film, The Vietnam War, Blending The Best Of Historical Material With Modern Editing Techniques To Create A Truly Immersive Experience |magazine=RealScreen |date=January 2017 |page=62}}</ref>

</references>

==Further reading== *{{cite book |last1=Lindgren |first1=Ernest |title=The Art Of The Film |date=1970 |publisher=Macmillan |location=New York |edition=2nd |url=https://archive.org/details/artoffilm00lind/page/n3/mode/2up}} *{{cite book |last1=Stephenson |first1=Ralph |last2=Phelps |first2=Guy |title=The Cinema As Art |date=1989 |publisher=Penguin |location=London; New York |edition=Revised |isbn=978-0-14-011981-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/cinemaasart0000step/page/n3/mode/2up}} *{{cite book |last1=Barker |first1=Adam |editor1-last=Elsaesser |editor1-first=Thomas |title=Early Cinema: Space, Frame, Narrative |date=1990 |publisher=BFI Publishing |location=london |isbn=978-0-85170-244-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/earlycinemaspace0000unse/page/n3/mode/2up}} *{{cite journal |last1=Tian |first1=Feng |last2=Zhang |first2=Yan |last3=Li |first3=Yingjie |title=From 2D to VR Film: A Research on the Load of Different Cutting Rates Based on EEG Data Processing |journal=Information |date=17 March 2021 |volume=12 |issue=3 |pages=130 |doi=10.3390/info12030130|doi-access=free }} {{open access}}

{{Film editing}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Slow Cutting}} Category:Cinematic techniques Category:Articles containing video clips