A hidden cut is a cut intended to be imperceptible. At the end of the first shot, the camera moves closer or zooms in on a plain, typically dark-colored object that fills the whole frame. Thus, it provides the chance to implement an unobtrusive cut.

The following shot shows the camera zooming out or moving away from the previous or another similarly-colored object. Instead of using camera movement or a zoom, this kind of cut can also be affected by a moving subject or object that temporarily covers the whole frame.

In a sense, the hidden cut is a special form of a fade-out, fade-in transition. The fading simply serves as part of the shot (rather than achieved through editing).