What are custard pies and cutaways


Custard pie

Traditionally, the pie of choice for throwing in actors' faces. However, the famous pies used in silent comedies were not made of custard at all, but filled with blackberries, which showed up better in black and white films. The first "custard pie" was thrown in A Noise from the Deep (1913), a MACK SENNETT film at the Keystone Studio. Not part of the script, MABEL NORMAND threw the pie in "FATTY" ARBUCKLE's face, creating a bit of comic business that has become a staple in slapstick-film comedy. The custard pie weathered the end of the silent era rather well, finding use in 1930s films by LAUREL AND HARDY and the THREE STOOGES, and later in such films as Beach Party (1963) and The Great Race (1964).

Cutaway

The name given to a cinematic device by filmmakers, which consists of a "cut away" from a scene to show something on the screen that either comments on or relates to the scene but is not actually a part of the scene. For instance, some cutaways that have become clichés include the moving hands of a clock, the setting (or rising) sun, a crowing rooster, and so on. Often, after the cutaway, the scene will pick up again at a later moment of development, allowing the director a certain flexibility in his portrayal of passing time.

The cutaway also provides the opportunity for a visual comment (often symbolic and/or comic) upon the action. For example, filmmakers have cut away to dogs covering their eyes with their paws when two lovers kiss, flowers wilting when a pompous person begins to speak, a volcano erupting when someone loses his or her temper, and so on.

Cutting on action

Splicing together a shot of a character in motion taken at one angle and a second shot of that same character while still in motion from a different angle. The purpose of this technique, used by directors and editors, is to make scenes more lively and less visually static. Cutting to a new angle of a character when he is at rest, rather than in motion, tends to create a plodding visual pace. Worse, such an edit is far more readily apparent to the audience. Cutting on action, on the other hand, makes editing far more fluid, seamless, and natural.

Even the simple edit to a new angle when a character turns his head enlivens a scene, making it more visually stimulating. To cut on action effectively, a director must shoot the same scene with at least two cameras at different angles, zeroing in on the actor in motion so that he will be in the same place on the set in both shots.

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