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What is an axial cut?
An Axial Cut is a cut between two shots in which the camera angle and position doesn’t change.
Here’s an example of a scene in a wide angle:
Imagine the director wants to zoom into a close up. That is represented by a white box.
After zooming in, the camera rolls again, and this shot is recorded:
Now, the two shots are cut together. The resulting cut is an axial cut. The camera was just zoomed in (or out), and no other changes were made.
If the angle changes it’s no longer an axial cut.
It’s as if the director cropped the first shot and used the cropped portion as the next shot.
The cuts feel like an instant zoom in or zoom out of the shot, without the movement of the zoom.
You need at least two shots to make an axial cut, though you could string along more than two shots using axial cuts between them. There isn’t and shouldn’t be a change in continuity from one shot to the next, or in all the shots in a string of axial cuts.
Shots that are not axial cuts
Many cuts are attributed as axial cuts, but are anything but. Here’s an example:
The shot above is not an axial cut because the camera axis changed. The camera is lower in the second shot.
How do we know a cut is not an axial cut?
It’s simple. Look at the relationship between the subject and the elements in the background. As we zoom in or out, the relationship between the subject and the other elements shouldn’t change.
In the shot above from Ikiru, you can clearly see the position of the frames on the wall are different, and so is the angle of the camera. Therefore, this is not an axial cut.
“Axial” means that which relates to, or has the characteristics of an axis. If the axis (line drawn from camera to subject in relation to the ground) changes the cut is no longer an axial cut, by definition.
Is an axial cut a jump cut?
Traditionally, cuts are expected to be invisible. A jump cut is any cut that distracts the audience. Nowadays, you’ll find jump cuts more common than before, and audiences have grown to ignore them.
The axial cut breaks one of the classical principles of camera continuity: Every succeeding shot should be from an angle that is greater than thirty degrees away from the preceding shot.
This begs the question: Is an axial cut a jump cut?
Technically, if one goes by the definition of the classical Hollywood system, then yes. However, if you define a jump cut as any cut that distracts the audience, then the answer is, it depends.
Depends on who? On you, the audience. Take for example, the famous axial cut from Steven Spielberg’s Jaws:
Chief Brody’s position and relationship to the frame hasn’t changed at all. The shots get closer, as if they were just cropped from the original wide shot. The actor passing across just makes the cut more palatable. It hardly registered to most of the moviegoing audience.
This is clearly an axial cut, but it is not a jump cut. However, to some members of the audience whose attention was drawn to the cut, it is a jump cut!
How Akira Kurosawa uses an axial cut
Kurosawa was one of the more consistent users of the axial cut. Let’s take a few examples from some of his films:
In the above example from Ran you could argue the axial cut is not a jump cut, if your attention was not drawn to it.
In this example from Ikiru the perspective is not exact. The camera position has probably moved, because Kurosawa used a second camera. Study the nose and position of the hat. This axial cut was clearly intentional and designed to draw attention to itself!
Final example, also from Ran:
Akira Kurosawa was the director as well as the editor in most of his films. He knew exactly what he was doing when the used the axial cut.
He also shot multi-cam, which is filming with more than one camera at the same time. The second camera operator was given the freedom to find close ups that came handy later in the edit.
It also helped him avoid continuity errors in editing. As you can imagine, it’s hard to stay in continuity in large action scenes. To know more about film continuity, watch this:
What are some advantages of an axial cut?
Everything in filmmaking can work or not depending on the context. So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that there are some advantages of an axial cut.
1. Avoiding the time a zoom takes
A zoom movement takes screen time, even at its quickest speed. There is also the psychological aspect of moving in or out, and our attention is drawn to it.
An axial cut avoids the screen time taken to zoom in or out. This gives us a sense of reaching the next shot quickly, hence propelling the action forward faster. This makes a big impact in the pacing of the scene.
2. Highlighting something important
An axial cut to a close up highlights what the director wants the audience to see, as if drawing special attention to it. The axial cut from Ikiru with the hat is a good example.
3. Deliver impact
Axial cuts are a great way to deliver an impactful shot. The close up of the hat from Ikiru draws attention to the hat while also delivering a surprise (or shock) due to the severity of the cut.
The close up is too tight, and the large difference between the wide shot and the close up is the cause of this shock or impact. Sergio Leone uses this to great effect. E.g., study the final battles from Once Upon a Time in the West and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
What are some disadvantages of an axial cut?
There are two disadvantages to an axial cut:
1. It can become an unintentional jump cut
When done incorrectly, an axial cut becomes a jump cut and draws unncessary attention to itself.
For this reason axial cuts must be used with care and precision. E.g., in the example from Jaws, in the same scene later, Spielberg uses a dolly zoom shot. He had a dolly and the crew available on location yet chose to go for the axial cut. It was a conscious decision, and worked.
2. It can feel unmotivated or two-dimensional
A second shot just zoomed in our out might not present enough additional information or impact to warrant its existence.
When this happens the shot can feel unmotivated, even redundant.
An axial cut also feels two-dimensional when this happens. By using a zoom lens and zooming in or out you are taking the audience along the journey through the duration of the movement. With an axial cut the shot can just feel cropped, without energy.
How do you hide an axial cut?
You can hide an axial cut using two techniques:
- Add motion in both shots
- Hide the background in the close up
A great example of both techniques being used simultaneously is the final battle from Once Upon a Time in the West:
The camera pans so the actor has supposedly moved a little in the second shot. This is also used in the example of the hat from Ikiru shown earlier.
Secondly, the background in the close up is blurred. This further reduces the impact of the axial cut, thereby making it harder to discern. However, Leone loves extremes so you’re unlikely to miss the impact of witnessing a tight close up from a wide shot in one instant!
Ultimately, axial cuts are a matter of style. It’s a way of presenting shots while also delivering an impact.
It should not be used often or randomly. Axial cuts walk a fine line, like this example from Die Hard:
Is the third shot warranted? Or the second? Or both? You decide!
I hope you’ve found this article on axial cuts helpful. If you’d like to learn how to film a scene with a single camera, check out the wolfcrow online film school.
