In filmmaking, external rhythm (also referred to as cutting rhythm) is established by the duration of the shots that make up a scene. Lengthening or shortening the duration of the shots establishes a rhythmic pattern that can complement or contrast with the internal rhythm and content of a scene or sequence.
The kinds of transitions (e.g., cut, fade, dissolve, wipe) used from shot to shot or from scene to scene also affect the nature of the cutting rhythm.
Famous quotes containing the words external and/or rhythm:
“The soul, he said, is composed
Of the external world.”
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)
“The two elements the traveler first captures in the big city are extrahuman architecture and furious rhythm. Geometry and anguish. At first glance, the rhythm may be confused with gaiety, but when you look more closely at the mechanism of social life and the painful slavery of both men and machines, you see that it is nothing but a kind of typical, empty anguish that makes even crime and gangs forgivable means of escape.”
—Federico García Lorca (1898–1936)