The Master Guide / 11 Editing · The cut
Only the hit points land on the music
Cut picture to picture, speech and the key sounds. Only the plan's named hit points must land on the music [proven].
Cut picture to picture, speech and the key sounds. Only the plan's named hit points must land on the music [proven].
The hit points: the key transitions, the reveal and the button.
Place each on its frame: frame = round(seconds × fps). At 24 fps, a beat at 12.40 s is frame 298. Mark the beats with markers on the music track, each on its frame (steps below).
Move a cut only within the take's usable frames. Never stretch a take to reach a beat.
Every other cut follows picture, speech and the key sounds.
The cut-on-beat rate and the average shot length are reported beside the references', never targets.
A music-first film keeps its bar lines. Re-cutting the track to suit the picture is your deliberate decision, not a fix.
Why: the editor of a Cannes Film Craft Grand Prix film mutes the music until the picture works, and five award editors warn against cutting on every beat.
Do it yourself
Mark the beats on the music track (Premiere)
Press M as the music track plays.
Drag each marker to its frame.