Wednesday, March 08, 2006

A reader asked what UPCUT TO CU ON: means in the Lost script I posted the link to.

CU ON means CLOSEUP ON. I had never seen UPCUT TO: before, so I looked it up here.

upcut – (v) Chopping off the beginning of the audio or video of a shot or video story. Happens when the editor or technical director doesn't cut to a new audio or video source quickly enough. Opposite of downcut.

In the script, the new scene starts with Jack already talking; there's no hello-how-are-you, gee we are in a fine pickle aren't we. The cut is right to Jack saying "We have to get rid of the bodies." Personally I wouldn't have bothered with the UPCUT:. It's apparent from Jack's line that we're getting right down to business. But David Fury wants the director to shoot it so the editor can easily cut it the way he wants it. If you're writing tv on staff, you can specify all sorts of things you wouldn't specify in a feature script. You can, in fact, specify anything you like. The show's already sold. You're writing a blueprint for the production people and the director. You can say a little or a lot. That's part of the fun of writing TV.

8:19 AM

1 Comments:

Thanks for the definition of upcut you posted two years ago. I'm a computer student - not a writer, not an entertainer or film student or anything you might have predicted.

You never know who or when your gems of knowledge might be admired, eh?
anne-marie

By  Thumpaholden, at 7:18 PM  

Post a Comment

Back to Complications Ensue main blog page.