Supercut

A supercut is a compilation of short video clips of the same type of action, a "fast-paced montage of short video clips that obsessively isolates a single element from its source, usually a word, phrase, or cliche from film and TV."^[1] The purpose is usually to create a comic effect.^[2]

Etymology

The word was apparently coined by Andy Baio, in a blog entry in April 2008. He defined it there as a "genre of video meme, where some obsessive-compulsive superfan collects every phrase/action/cliche from an episode (or entire series) of their favorite show/film/game into a single massive video montage."^[3]

Examples

• "In 2006, an audience that eventually grew to more than six million watched CSI: Miami’s David Caruso don a pair of sunglasses after making a glib remark about a victim. He kept doing it for seven minutes, in basically a möbius strip of shades and awful one-liners."^[2]
• Christian Marclay's 2010 art installation The Clock is a 24-hour supercut of references to time.^[4]
• "When country music critic Grady Smith sat down to write his list of the top 10 Best Country Albums of 2013 he made a startling revelation: All the chart-topping country songs of 2013 sounded exactly the same.
  Not in the sense that they all sound like country-pop songs — that's a given — but in the sense that even the lyrics are carbon copies of each other.
  Truck - check. Dirt road - check. Sugar shaker in painted-on jeans - check.
  In the hopes that country music fans 'will stop settling for this derivative junk,' Smith made a video to illustrate his point.^[5]
• "With the Internet and more specifically YouTube, local news is no longer restricted just to the municipalities that it serves. It is easier than ever for someone to capture a funny clip from television and upload it online. If you’re bored on the Internet searching for these clips – rest easy. A YouTube user did the heavy lifting for you, compiling 2013’s best local news bloopers in to one 15-minute super cut.
  The video begins with Kerryn Johnston, an anchor for a local TV news service in Australia. Johnston, reading off the teleprompter in Ron Burgundy-esque fashion, says, 'Good evening. Tonight I’m going to sound like drunk.'"^[6]

References

1. Baio, Andy. "Supercut.org [home page]". Retrieved 5 January 2014.
2. Berkowitz, Joe (December 12, 2013). "A Modern Genre: How To Make A Supercut". Master Class. Retrieved 5 January 2014. Supercuts bring attention to the phrases and devices that jaded movie and TV viewers already see over and over--the tics of film and television--and repeat them to comic effect,
3. Baio, Andy (Apr 11, 2008). "Fanboy Supercuts, Obsessive Video Montages". Retrieved 5 January 2014. This insane montage of (nearly) every instance of "What?" from the LOST series started me thinking about this genre of video meme … For lack of a better name, let's call them supercuts.
4. Stromberg, Joseph (December 28, 2012). "A 24-Hour Movie That May Be the Biggest (and Best) Supercut Ever". Smithsonian. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
5. Zimmerman, Neetzan (2013-12-23). "Proof That Every Country Music Song This Year Was Exactly the Same". Gawker.com. [tagged: Supercut]. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
6. Aversa, Ralphie (December 30, 2013). "All the Best News Anchor Bloopers of 2013 in One Glorious Supercut". Yahoo! News: Trending Now. Retrieved 5 January 2014.