Try this screenwriting trick to enrichen you prose
The art of the match cut
I’m constantly looking for ways to expand my writer’s toolkit. Some of the most innovative techniques might not be that innovative at all; they just come from different fields.
Through a screenwriting course, I learned about match cuts. A match cut is when one scene cuts to a matching scene. The two scenes might match on any number of factors, like a shape, color, or movement. One classic example is a match cut from a close-up of an eye to a visual of the sun. Both the irises of the eye and the sun are circles. Depending on the color and brightness settings, we might be able to see little flares from the center of the iris that match solar flares.
Graphic Match Cuts
Perhaps the most common type of match cut in filmmaking is, unsurprisingly, graphic, or visual. This includes scenes that are matched on a shape, color, or direction.
Shape Example 1:
Under the neon lights, the irises of her eyes shone blue.
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The moon was swollen full in the sky.
This is a pretty straightforward example. The image we have of her irises, a perfect circle, is replaced with another perfect circle, the moon.
Emotionally, this could imply that she’s a force of nature, as mysterious and powerful as the moon.
Shape Example 2:
I dipped my hand in the creek one last time and watched the water ripple around my skin.
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It’d gotten so hot the asphalt undulated on the drive back home.
This is a more abstract example. The ripples of the water are replaced with the ripples that appear above hot asphalt.
Emotionally, this match cut provides contrast. In a literal sense, we move from cool to hot. In a more abstract sense, we move from a refreshing escape into nature to stifling man-made technology (asphalt roads).
Color Example 1:
On the way out, Ellie stroked her jade snake plant for good luck.
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She caught a glimpse of herself in a windowfront: stunning in her emerald green dress.
This is a pretty straightforward example. The jade green plant is matched with the emerald green dress.
Emotionally, this scene might imply that Ellie has a natural beauty about her. It could also imply that she’s resilient and independent, the way a snake plant is.
Color Example 2:
I took her hand, but the engagement ring glinted as if to remind me she belonged to someone else.
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Just an hour ago I’d spotted her across the room, glittering in her white sequined dress.
This is a more abstract example because it’s not quite a color but more a color effect. Both the diamond and the dress are sparkling white.
Emotionally, this packs a punch to the gut. The narrator was about to have an intimate moment with the engaged woman, but is rudely reminded of why they can’t be together. The white sequined dress might have been worn to an engagement party or even the wedding. Alternatively, perhaps the two met for the first time in a long time at a formal-ish party. Whatever the occasion, the dress probably made the engaged woman look stunning, making the narrator’s loss even more devastating.
Direction Example 1:
“We’ll see,” Jacob said, pounding his baseball mitt. He threw the ball at his father.
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Jennifer caught the keys her mother tossed her. “Thanks, mom!”
This is a pretty straightforward example. Jacob starts the motion by tossing something, and Jennifer completes the motion by catching something.
Emotionally, it could imply that Jacob and Jennifer’s household (if they’re siblings) is busy. Perhaps they’re teenagers who can’t sit still. If the two are not related by blood, this match cut ties them together by portraying them as people on-the-go. Perhaps this is the beginning of a love story before the two ever meet, foreshadowing how they could work well as a pair.
Direction Example 2:
“Fine,” the chef spat, throwing flour down on his work station.
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Samantha groaned and smeared her hands all over the oil painting laying flat on the table in front of her.
The chef starts the motion by throwing down flour. Samantha smears her hands all over the painting the way the chef would smear flour on a workstation.
This is a more abstract example because the two movements only match because of the order in which they’re presented. It’s not clear if Samantha threw down anything; presumably she’s been painting. If Samantha didn’t throw anything before smearing the canvas, it wouldn’t make sense to start with Samantha, then cut to the chef spreading flour over his workstation.
Emotionally, it seems that both the chef and Samantha are frustrated. In fact, Samantha is so frustrated she ruins a work-in-progress, maybe even a completed work. This foreshadows what might become of the chef’s creation. At the very least, it could hint at what he really wants to do: mess everything up before he’s even begun.
Other Sensory Match Cuts
Filmmakers also use audio match cuts to pair scenes based on a particular sound. As prose writers we have additional senses to our advantage, including tactile, olfactory (smell), and taste.
Audio Example
An insistent beeping. She woke and remembered she was on Mars. Beneath the beeping, the space station was infinitely quiet. She squeezed her eyes shut as if doing so could undo the decision she’d made months ago.
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On Earth, she used to wake Sunday mornings to the sound of the microwave beeping. It drove her nuts that her wife couldn’t keep it down in the kitchen. Feet shuffling, plates clinking, bacon sizzling. Is that why she’d decided to leave it all behind?
These scenes are connected through the sound of electronic beeping, while the (lack of) background noise provides contrast. The space station in Mars is quiet, while the astronaut’s home on Earth was loud.
Emotionally, this match cut evokes longing and regret. While once unappreciated, the din of Sunday mornings was a sign of life, love, and caring. The silence of the spaceship emphasizes not only the astronaut’s alone-ness but also the physical distance that lies between her and her wife.
Tactile Example
He was entirely too close, his breath hot on her cheek, but thankfully his wife came to whisk him off to meet other partygoers.
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She stood under a vent that huffed out muggy air. She wondered when the filters had last been cleaned.
These scenes are connected through the feeling of muggy air, from a man’s mouth or from an old HVAC system. Emotionally, the two are both connected in that they’re both unpleasant. With the suggestion of an old HVAC system, which might have a mildewy smell, we might also imagine an olfactory match, with the man’s breath smelling unpleasant as well.
Try playing with match cuts
There are other match cuts like direction or idea match cuts that are a bit more abstract. You might also be able to find some other way to pair scenes, such as through a particular cloth pattern, a coat, a particular phrase said in dialogue, or much more.
Try sharing an example of a match cut in the comments and incorporating this technique into your own writing to the give readers a richer experience.
