Title: The Office
Scene: Season 3 Episode 1, Jim’s first scene
Context: This scene is the first we see of Jim after season 2 and Pam’s rejection of him, and as such, the audience is dying to see what has happened between the two. Shockingly he has transferred to a different state, and yet his first cutaway diffuses the anxious curiosity the audience feels. Jim as a character is one I am intentionally pulling from for my movie, and seeing how he acts during cutaways really helps show me how the scene should be set up and shot.
| Cue | Notes |
| -In a documentary/mockumentary style, often the camera follows one character, and so when a new character starts speaking the camera will not change angles but keep its focus on the original character | |
| -Really easy way to transition to a cutaway | -Voice over J-cut audio of the cutaway occurs usually when we can see the character’s initial reaction to the event that is going to be discussed in their cutaway |
| -Should we use the Jim look? | -A character looking directly at the camera (when it makes sense in the story) is an interesting way to characterize them and perhaps provide an opportunity for a more natural cut to a cutaway |
| -Cutaways often involve the character talking directly to the camera with their eyes moving from the background to directly at the camera, as they would in a normal conversation | |
| – Office-style cutaways really seem just like one-sided conversations, since we only hear the characters’ responses | -Cutaways conclude with some sort of social cue that would be found when ending a conversation or finishing a thought |
| -Sometimes the character will rephrase the question asked to them as a way to motivate dialogue | |
| 3/4 shot or even closer shot? | -Office-style 3/4 shot, referred to as a “talking head” in industry |
| -Actor emoting is directed at the camera as if they are a confidant or close friend, there is a sense of trust (or sometimes lack thereof) that is evident with the person behind the camera |
Cutaways, at least when in a comedy, are essentially conversations or interviews between a character and the camera. Characters speak to the camera sometimes in resonse to events as a way to characterize them by their thoughts and mannerisms. Office-style cutaways often seem at first like thought narration but this is usually just a way to transition to an insert shot. The use of J-cuts and cutaways are intrinsically linked and cutaways can benifit massively from use of this technique.