Video Editing Terms

Listed below are 6 terms editors often use. These video editing terms are just a few words you should know regardless if you are a beginner or a professional. It would also be helpful to know these words if you frequently work with video editors or work in another field of video production, as it would be easier to communicate your wants, needs, and changes to them.

1. Cut In 

A cut in getting a shot of what the person is doing, for example, a shot of someone’s hands pouring coffee into a cup. It can also be known as an insert shot.

2. Foley

Foley is the reproduction of everyday sounds that are added in post-production. For example, high heel shoes clicking on the ground or the sound of a page-turning. A foley artist is someone whose job it is to create all of these sounds for films.

3. Montage

A montage is a series of series cut together, usually with music playing in the background. It’s normally used to show time passing.

4. Rough Cut

A rough cut is the first pass of a video project. It is usually just trimming out the fat of unusable/unwanted footage. Most of the time, it’s devoid of any color correction, music, text, etc.

5. Storyboard

A storyboard is a board of images used to help visualize what your video project will look like. It’s a great way to plan ahead and not waste any time while on set shooting.

Storyboard Example from Canva

6. Wipe

A wipe is a transition that has one seen wiped away to the next. It was more so used in older films, but not used very often today.

The video below shows an example of this transition from the movie Star Wars Episode IV – A New Hope: