{
 "slug": "j-and-l-cut",
 "name": "J cut and L cut",
 "category": "transition",
 "group": "Cuts",
 "media": [
  "video"
 ],
 "checked": "2026-11-13",
 "effect": "Sound and picture change at different moments, so a cut feels like a conversation and not a switch.",
 "use_when": "Dialogue, interviews, voice-over that leads into the next scene.",
 "phrase": "J cut: her answer starts under the last second of his shot, then the picture cuts to her. L cut: his voice runs on over her listening face",
 "pitfalls": [
  {
   "text": "An automatic word-based edit makes straight cuts only; our editor cuts every segment straight with an 8 millisecond audio fade and lists J and L cuts as not done.",
   "evidence": "practitioner",
   "source": "Director Chair field notes on editing"
  }
 ],
 "per_model": [],
 "external_refs": [],
 "licensed": [],
 "site_names": [],
 "related": [
  "listener-acts",
  "late-reactions"
 ],
 "rights": "own-work",
 "evidence": "film-craft",
 "source": {
  "url": null,
  "note": "Definitions from Director Chair field notes on reading published videos"
 },
 "body": "",
 "shown_with": null,
 "url": "https://directorchair.ai/transition/j-and-l-cut",
 "markdown": "https://directorchair.ai/transition/j-and-l-cut.md",
 "prompts": {
  "seedance-2.5": "Scene: [your subject] in [your setting].\nShot 1 (0:00 to 0:05): one continuous shot. Cut: J cut: her answer starts under the last second of his shot, then the picture cuts to her. L cut: his voice runs on over her listening face",
  "seedance-2.0": "Scene: [your subject] in [your setting].\nShot 1: one continuous shot. Cut: J cut: her answer starts under the last second of his shot, then the picture cuts to her. L cut: his voice runs on over her listening face",
  "kling-3": "[your subject]. The scene is [your setting]. J cut: her answer starts under the last second of his shot, then the picture cuts to her. L cut: his voice runs on over her listening face.",
  "veo-3.1": "[your subject] in [your setting]. J cut: her answer starts under the last second of his shot, then the picture cuts to her. L cut: his voice runs on over her listening face. Framing and subject stay as in the start image."
 },
 "licence": {
  "code": "MIT",
  "text": "CC BY 4.0",
  "third_party": "Clips and card texts inside a \"licensed\" block belong to their makers and are shown with permission and credit."
 }
}