Distinguish between a hard cut and a cut on action.

Distinguish between a hard cut and a cut on action.

• A. Hard cut is an abrupt transition between shots; cut on action preserves motion by cutting mid-action so movement continues across the cut.
• B. Hard cuts only occur during dialogue scenes.
• C. Cut on action requires special effects.
• D. Hard cut is when audio continues after the cut.

Answer: (A)

The idea here is how editing controls how motion feels across shots. A hard cut is an abrupt switch from one shot to another with no visual transition, which creates a clean, punctuated change in the image and can affect the pacing or rhythm of a scene. A cut on action, also known as a match-on-action cut, is designed to maintain the sense of motion by cutting while the action is in progress so the movement appears to continue across the cut, making the edit feel seamless.

Knowing this, the best description is that a hard cut is an abrupt transition between shots, while a cut on action preserves motion by cutting mid-action so movement continues across the cut. The ideas in the other statements don’t fit because hard cuts aren’t limited to dialogue scenes, cut on action doesn’t require special effects, and a hard cut isn’t defined by audio continuing after the cut.