Viewers retain opening and closing shots of a sequence most vividly — middle fades. Make first and last frames count.
Your audience forgets the middle. That's the brutal truth when you're cutting a sequence—it remembers what happens at the beginning and what sticks at the end. Everything in between? Fades like overexposure in the midtones. The Primacy-Recency Effect describes this psychological reality: people weigh first and last pieces of information exponentially higher than anything in between. On set and in the edit, you have to calculate this like exposure.
In practice, this means: your first shot of a scene carries the greatest weight. It establishes mood, perspective, emotional access—and ten more middle cuts won't erase that impression. A strong establishing shot, a clear facial expression, a precise camera movement—these set the psychological anchor. The final shot has a similarly strong effect. It's the last image that sticks in short-term memory. A diffuse, washed-out ending to an otherwise sharp sequence? Your audience carries that with them. That's why many films end with symmetrical or visually resonant shots—not by chance, but from an understanding of this weighting.
The middle shots are not worthless—they do work in terms of narrative flow, pacing, and technical information. But psychologically, they must support your first and last shots, not dominate them. A cutting error in the third of seven shots in a dialogue scene? Your viewer will notice it less than a faulty cut between the opening wide shot and the return shot. This is also a license: middle shots can be more "functional," less elegant, because they bind less attention anyway.
Practically, you use this when editing. If a sequence feels weak—rhythmically flat, emotionally inconsistent—first check the opening and closing. Often the problem lies there, not in the middle mass. At the same time: don't use the psychological forgetfulness of the middle as an excuse for laziness. A poorly cut middle of a sequence won't magically become understandable just because the edges are strong. It will just be perceived less consciously—but unconsciousness is not a mark of quality. Every shot counts, just not with equal weight.