The cutting room · A free exercise
Free footage
for editing practice.
Four shots. Two cuts. Move one picture, and see what happens to the story.
Start with the archive film below, download a copy, then try this short exercise in your video editor. You do not need to shoot anything first.
Official archive download · Free worksheet · No sign-up
Cut 1 Begin with D
The pictures stay.
The order changes.
Cut 2 End with D
Keep the same extracts and lengths.
Move only shot D.
01 · Get a film to work with
Start with Leidschendam.
A train crosses a bridge. Boats pass through the village. Children play beside the water. This short Dutch archive film gives you several distinct views to arrange, without having to work through a feature-length download.
1921 · 1 min 57 sec · Archive short
Leidschendam
Haghefilm / Willy Mullens
- Archive
- Netherlands Institute for Sound & Vision, via Open Images
- Practice file
- MP4 · approximately 14.9 MB
- Reuse mark
- Public Domain Mark 1.0, displayed on the archive’s item page.
- Sound
- The MP4 contains an audio track; its contents have not been checked. Mute it for this picture-only exercise so sound does not change the comparison.
Take the next step
Download from
the archive.
Open the MP4 file If the file opens in a browser player, use its download control or save the linked file. On a phone, save it to Files before importing it into an editor.
Item record & other download sizes ↗The linked file is hosted by Open Images. You can download it directly; Monocurator does not rehost the film.
This is an existing, edited archive film. You will be making a new arrangement from it; the download does not contain alternate takes or camera rushes.
02 · Make two cuts
What changes
when D moves?
Use a video editor that can import the file, trim clips, reorder them and export a sequence. The exercise works with ordinary hard cuts.
Download the worksheet1 page · PDF · With Momo & space for notesChoose four short extracts.
Watch the downloaded film and mark four different shots. Take roughly 3–5 seconds from each, choosing a clear action or view. Label your extracts A, B, C and D. Keep a shot long enough to see what matters.
A starting set for this film is listed below. The cues refer to the archive’s shot description; find the action in your copy, then choose your own in and out points.
Put D first.
Build D → A → B → C. For this picture-only experiment, mute any imported sound. Use hard cuts, without titles, transitions or speed changes. Export it as “Cut 1”.
Move D to the end.
Duplicate the sequence and make A → B → C → D. Keep every extract exactly the same length and leave the sound unchanged. Export “Cut 2”. Only D’s position should differ.
Watch both. Name the difference.
What does the first shot make you look for? Does D feel different when it arrives last? Note one specific connection between two images. The comparison is useful even if the change is smaller than you expected.
Four places to start
Archive description cues, not frame-accurate edit points.
- AAround 00:00
- An electric train crosses the railway bridge over the Vliet.
- BAround 00:10
- The Leidsekade, a church in the background, and a boatman propelling his boat.
- CAround 00:25
- A drawbridge, with the church of St Peter and St Paul behind it.
- DAround 00:53
- Children playing beside the water.
Try the children as D. Does beginning with people change how you look at the places that follow? What happens when the children become the final image instead?
03 · Look at what you made
Compare the cuts.
Then make a choice.
At the beginningWhat did you expect the sequence to be about?
At the endWhich image or connection stayed with you?
Your next editWhich arrangement supports your intention, and what would you change next?
If someone else is available, show both cuts without explaining your intention first. Compare their reading with yours.
The small print, made useful
Files, credits
& next steps.
Can I reuse this footage?
The archive identifies this item with the Public Domain Mark. That mark identifies material with no known copyright restrictions; Creative Commons describes copying, modifying and distributing it, including commercially. Check the linked item record for your particular file and use, since other rights and local rules can still matter.
Use the file linked here or review the terms of another copy separately. A soundtrack added to a different upload is not covered merely because the original film is old.
A useful credit to keep with your edit
Leidschendam (1921), Haghefilm / Willy Mullens. Netherlands Institute for Sound & Vision, via Open Images. Public Domain Mark 1.0. Edited for a Monocurator shot-order exercise.
Keep the archive’s item URL in your project notes. The credit identifies the source; it does not imply that the archive made or endorses your edit.
My editor will not import the file.
Try the MP4 option on the archive’s item page. Other formats may need conversion in your editor. A playlist file such as M3U8 is not the same as a single downloadable movie file. Preserve the picture’s proportions instead of stretching it to fill a widescreen frame.
Try a second experiment.
Once you have compared shot order, keep your preferred order and change just the length of one shot. Or add a line with our free silent-film title card maker and see how words change the reading. Make one change at a time so you can tell what it did.
Use the worksheet again.
Monocurator’s original exercise sheet is free to download, print, share and adapt for personal practice and teaching. Its blank shot fields work with another suitable film or footage you shoot yourself.
Read the illustrated film terms guide, or choose a free film lesson for your class.
Film details, download options and shot cues: Netherlands Institute for Sound & Vision, via Open Images, Leidschendam. Reuse explanation: Creative Commons Public Domain Mark. The exercise and diagrams are Monocurator’s own. Sources checked 15 September 2026.