Stage 32 Glossary

insert shot

An insert shot is the shot that occurs in the middle of a larger scene or shot, usually a close-up of some detail or object, that draws audience attention, provides specific information, or simply breaks up the film sequence (e.g., a quivering hand above a gun holster in a Western, a wristwatch face, a letter, a doorbell button, a newspaper headline, a calendar, a clock face, a key inserted into a car's ignition); filmed from a different angle or focal length from the master shot and is different from a cutaway shot (that includes action not covered in the master shot). Also known as "cut-in."