cutting on action

Cutting on action refers to a cut that links together two compositionally similar scenes.

Although the two shots may have actually been shot hours apart from each other, cutting on action gives the impression of continuous time when watching the edited film.

Cutting on action is used, instead of accentuating the continuity elements of the action, to trick and confuse the viewer.

A variant of cutting on action is a cut in which the subject exits the frame in the first shot and then enters the frame in the subsequent shot.

Cutting on action or matching on action refers to film editing and video editing techniques where the editor cuts from one shot to another view that matches the first shot's action.