Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Buffer shot

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was merge‎ to Glossary of motion picture terms. Liz ^{Read! Talk!} 08:30, 17 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Buffer shot

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Wikipedia is not a dictionary; sources for this are not apparent and if they were, this appears to be just a minor film technique. "Noddy" already covers use in news and interviews. There are currently no references. Nominating for AFD rather than boldly merging to see if there's any writing on buffer shots that I am missing. Mrfoogles (talk) 01:00, 26 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Merge to Glossary of motion picture terms per WP:ATD.4meter4 (talk) 01:16, 26 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Film-related deletion discussions. WCQuidditch ☎ ✎ 02:10, 26 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Merge to Cutaway (filmmaking) -- Dr Greg talk 02:22, 26 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
They’re both editing techniques using insertion of material but their respective goals are opposite (variety/continuity), so merging is not necessary and might be confusing, don’t you think? -Mushy Yank. 05:02, 26 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Keep: It’s covered in reliable sources so I cannot see why it should be merged into another page. -Mushy Yank. 04:56, 26 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Note: This article has significantly changed since its AfD nomination. -Mushy Yank. 04:57, 26 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Merge to Glossary of motion picture terms. While there have been several sources added, the entire article is a few sentences and could easily be merged into the article. AnotherWeatherEditor (talk) 15:30, 26 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Could, but why should it be merged? -Mushy Yank. 16:45, 26 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@Mushy Yank The article is currently a WP:DICDEF. DICDEF articles are not allowed, so we usually handle content like this inside glossaries. The encyclopedia won't lose any of this content it will just be housed in a different spot to comply with DICDEF. The cats can even remain on the redirect page so we won't lose navigation there either. Best. 4meter4 (talk) 19:07, 26 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Language-related deletion discussions. -Mushy Yank. 16:46, 26 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Merge to Cutaway (filmmaking) per Dr. Greg. This is a very closely related idea and could easily be accommodated there. I'd go so far as to argue that a buffer shot is a particular case of a cutaway. WP:NOPAGE definitely applies here, and I think this merge target makes the most sense. 35.139.154.158 (talk) 17:41, 26 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose merge to Cutaway (filmmaking) per the comment by Mushy Yank. Buffer shots have a different goal and merging would lead to confusion. Glossary of motion picture terms is the better target as I already indicated above.4meter4 (talk) 19:04, 26 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Comment: It seems like the three related articles here are Buffer shot, Cutaway (filmmaking), and Nod shot. A nod shot is a kind of buffer shot which is a kind of cutaway. For example, see the first paragraph of Cutaway:

"The most common use of cutaway shots in dramatic films is to adjust the pace of the main action, to conceal the deletion of some unwanted part of the main shot, or to allow the joining of parts of two versions of that shot. For example, a scene may be improved by cutting a few frames out of an actor's pause; a brief view of a listener can help conceal the break. Or the actor may fumble some of his lines in a group shot; rather than discarding a good version of the shot, the director may just have the actor repeat the lines for a new shot, and cut to that alternate view when necessary."

Which basically describes a buffer shot. Commenters above have argued cutaways are mostly not meant for this, but according to the article itself, they often are. Mrfoogles (talk) 20:28, 26 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The dictionary definition is "a shot that interrupts the main action of a film or television program to take up a related subject or to depict action supposed to be going on at the same time as the main action" by Merriam Webster. Mrfoogles (talk) 20:32, 26 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

(as nom) Merge to Cutaway (filmmaking) given that the article content is already there, there just aren't any citations. Mrfoogles (talk) 20:34, 26 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Comment.@Mrfoogles, 35.139.154.158, Mushy Yank, Dr Greg A buffer shot is not a cutaway and a cutaway is not a buffer shot. They both use film splicing, but they are two different film editing ideas. I would support them being together in a larger article on film splicing, but not together under the name cutaway. Likewise nod shot could be included in the film splicing article.4meter4 (talk) 20:49, 26 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]
@4meter4 can you clarify what the difference is? I and I assume most of the people here don't have a film editing background. Film splicing sounds the same as Cut (transition) on first glance but I'm going to assume those aren't necessarily the same. Mrfoogles (talk) 07:14, 4 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@DesiMoore So a "buffer shot" is sort of the "Correction fluid" of film making. It's a way to fix a mistake on camera through cutting out an unusable image on film and replacing it with a usable one without having to record new audio or film. The mistake could be anything from an actor tripping, to a boom mic being caught on film, to a person on the film crew accidentally being caught in a shot. Rather than reshoot a scene, they will do what's called a "buffer shot" by splicing in other footage from within that scene, such as another character's reaction (but not necessarily that). The point is, buffer shots don't change the scene in any meaningful way. There is no change in location, and the intent of the scene is not altered, and no new audio is recorded. Its sole purpose is to hide/remove visual errors caught on film through film splicing.

A Cut (transition) is different than a "buffer shot". A cut is specifically the footage used to link or transition from one scene into the next. This is usually done by film splicing in stock footage but can be done through other techniques such as fadeaways. It serves a completely different purpose/function than a buffer shot. These are planned transitions and are not a means of fixing accidental problems within a scene.

A Cutaway (filmmaking) is a purposeful shot designed from the beginning to cut from one space/location abruptly to another within a scene. It's intentional from the outset (its in the script). It could be done for humorous juxtaposition/irony for example. It could also be done for something as simple as a phone conversation between two characters where one sees one person talking on the phone in one location and then they cutaway to the another person talking on their phone in a different location. It is not used as a transition and is not used to cover up a mistake within a scene because it was planned from the beginning. Like the others, it does use film splicing.

A "nod shot" or "reaction shot" is a particular kind of stock footage shot that can be used in several ways. It's a standard within news media, and sometimes is done on sitcoms and other character dialogue centered shows. It could be used to cover up a mistake, it which case its acting as a "buffer shot". But it could also be used to finish up a scene which has audio but no accompanying image (happens more often in TV news) which would make it a "filler shot", or it could be used within a transition which would make it a cut. This type of footage probably wouldn't be used in a cutaway because cutaway footage tends to be very specific and requires a carefully planned shoot that most stock footage could not achieve. The point is, that all of these terms are defined by their purpose/goal. The only thing they have in common is the fact that they all use film splicing. Hope this helps clarify. Best.4meter4 (talk) 17:13, 4 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for clearing that up. Valuable information indeed! DesiMoore (talk) 15:26, 5 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion and clearer consensus.
Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, asilvering (talk) 02:40, 3 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Merge to Glossary of motion picture terms. Although the article is well-cited, it is clearly WP:DICDEF. Merging to the glossary will create the least confusion, since a buffer shot is neither a cutaway nor a nod shot.--DesiMoore (talk) 15:39, 3 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion and clearer consensus.
Relisting comment: Relisting as opinion is divided between two different Merge target articles. Can we settle on the most appropriate one?
Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, Liz ^{Read! Talk!} 03:40, 10 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Merge to Glossary of motion picture terms, of the two suggested merge targets. Glossaries are under-utilized here on Wikipedia, and merging to a glossary rather than a related term seems preferable here. TompaDompa (talk) 15:31, 14 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.