Cut to a Reaction Shot While the Speaker Keeps Talking

A reaction shot shows the listener while someone else is talking. It tells the viewer how to feel about the line they just heard. The speaker's voice keeps running under the reaction, so the cut adds a face without breaking the sentence.

Gather the footage

You need a clip of the listener from the same session as the speaker. A few seconds is enough. The best reactions are small: a look, a breath, a nod. Scan the listener footage for the moment their face changes, and trim the clip so that moment is near its start.

Place the reaction

1. Play the speaker's clip and pause on the word where the reaction should begin. Use the Left and Right arrows to settle on the frame.
2. Click Overlay in the left panel and choose the reaction file. It lands on an upper video track at the playhead and covers the speaker. A clip already in the project can come from Media, where you open the three-dot More actions button on its card and choose Add overlay.
3. With the new clip selected, open the Volume tab in the right panel and turn on Mute audio. The speaker's voice keeps playing from the main track.
4. Open the Trim tab and press and drag Trim end to the left until the clip ends where the reaction should stop. Releasing the bar stops it.
5. Play the whole stretch, from a few seconds before the cut to a few seconds after it.

If the reaction was filmed in a different shape from the project, open Framing and choose Fill so the picture covers the frame.

Time the cut

• Cut to the listener as a key word lands, or just after it.
• Hold long enough for the viewer to read the face.
• Return to the speaker when the thought moves on.
• Use a few well placed reactions. Each one means more when there are fewer of them.

A reaction that arrives before the key line has landed can tell the viewer what to feel too early. One that arrives a beat after the line gives the face time to answer it.

Cover a seam in the speaker's take

If you removed a pause from the speaker's clip, a reaction placed over the join hides the jump in the picture. The voice stays in sync, because it still comes from the main track. This is also a good home for a reaction when the speaker's framing changes size at the join.

Compare with and without

Find the eye at the left edge of the upper row. Hide track removes the reaction from the picture, and a second click shows it again. Play the moment both ways and keep the version that reads best.

Cut to the listener

Find the line in your next interview that lands hardest and add a reaction over it in DepCut. Then hide the track and see how much the face adds.