Match on Action

A match on action shot is where an action is shot from lots of different angles, then cut together to make it seem seamless, thus keeping continuity, by tricking the audience in to thinking that the action was shot in one go.


Here is a good example from bbc's 'Merlin', which uses the match on action shot a lot (between 50 seconds - 1 minute 20):

This example of a match on action shot uses approximately 20 differing shot; including close up of the dagger, the dagger and the hand, close ups of the characters faces and mid shots of the characters, which have been cut together to make this single action scene entertaining for the audience and seamless; keeping continuity. All of these varying shots connote meaning, contributing to the overall meaning of the scene to make it entertaining.