- published: 29 Mar 2016
- views: 48955
The term cutting room floor is used in the film industry as a figure of speech referring to unused footage not included in the finished film. Outside of the film industry, it may refer to any creative work unused in the final product.
In fact offcuts of film are retained in a special cutting room bin and numbered during the editing process in case they are required later. The phrase 'bin ends' is an alternative term.
Although the omission of filmed material happens to some extent for every actor ever filmed, many famous actors' entire appearance in a particular project have ended up on the 'cutting room floor' at one stage or another throughout their careers, including Charlie Chaplin (when he accidentally walked onto the set of a "Keystone Cops" upon first arriving to Hollywood), Eric Stoltz's entire performance as Marty McFly in Back to the Future (when director Robert Zemeckis decided to recast Michael J. Fox halfway through filming because Stoltz's performance was not light-hearted enough), and Johnny Depp's performance in Platoon (Oliver Stone felt Depp's storyline distracted from the core of the story). Other examples are Kevin Costner (as the friend whose funeral is attended in The Big Chill), John Lithgow (as super-agent Harry Zell in L.A. Story), and Phyllis Diller (as a cranky neighbor in Juno).
Nitty-gritty, Nitty Gritty, etc. may refer to:
If hell broke out in the White House
How long would it take for word to carry here?
Would it stay hush hush till the weather changed
Till the sun warmed the snow and fears?
Well I would wanna know. I would wanna know
And it's strange to me that you could barely care
You say, like this stolen ground no one's golden now
We're all made of bronze and steel
Well why don't you leave, just leave
You make a horrible point with your eyes looking low
So leave, just leave
You're on the cutting board
The cutting board of the cutting room floor
You're gonna wake to a whole different scene
All your pretty lights and neon signs
Replaced with green
And as you curse the river bed
That you throw your compass in
There's comfort 'round the bend
But this house is filled with crooks and liars
We regret to inform you there's no love here for you
(I know you're coming with the worst intentions.
Bring the flood)
So take your hooks and pliers
We regret to inform you, you're the lowest form
So leave, just leave
You make a horrible point with your eyes looking low
So leave, just leave.
You're on the cutting board
The cutting board of the cutting room floor
You've got this crazy notion
You've ripped this out by the seems
You can't even fathom
How with every word you try to say
You dig yourself a hole you can't escape
And that's a little bit more than what you came here for
Isn't it funny how little respect you get
When you burn the world for a paycheck?
Leave, just leave
You make a horrible point with your eyes looking low
So leave, just leave
You're on the cutting board