What does Line Cut mean?
Line Cut is a live television editing technique in which a director or technical director cuts between camera feeds in real time during a broadcast, selecting the best available shot at each moment as the program unfolds. Line cutting is standard practice in multicamera live television including news programs, talk shows, award ceremonies, sporting events, and reality competition shows. The resulting feed — called the line cut — is what broadcasts to viewers and becomes the default edit unless the production chooses to do a post-production edit afterward.
Example:During the live awards ceremony, the director line cut between audience reaction shots, stage wide shots, and close-ups of the presenter in real time, making split-second decisions as the announcements unfolded.
Example: The child performer’s parents watched the live talent competition and noticed the cameras cutting rapidly between the judges, audience, and their child on stage — all of those transitions were the result of a director’s live line cut decisions happening in the control room.
Did you know?
Line cutting requires a different skill set from traditional film or single-camera editing. A live TV director must anticipate what will happen before it does — knowing when a presenter is about to make an announcement, when an audience member is likely to react, or when a performance is building to a climax — and pre-position cameras accordingly. The best live directors describe it as playing chess at high speed.
You can also find “Line Cut” and related terms in this category: TV and Commercials.
