Shot

Published At: September 10, 2026

A shot, in video, is an unbroken run of frames captured in a single continuous take — everything between one cut and the next. The point where one shot ends and another begins is a shot boundary. Hard cuts produce an abrupt change from one frame to the next and can be detected programmatically by measuring pixel or luminance differences between consecutive frames, since a cut shows up as a sharp spike in that difference.

Shots sit between individual frames and scenes in a video's structure. A single scene usually spans several shots — a conversation cutting back and forth between two speakers is multiple shots but one scene.

Curious to learn more? Check out our post on how Mux detects shot boundries.

Related Terms:

• Frame
• Scene
• Clipping