A film can contain frequent cuts while seeming to stand still. A long shot, meanwhile, can be full of changes. Measuring pace solely by how often the picture changes overlooks movement within a shot, incoming information and the expectation of a decision. For a more precise judgement, identify a moment when your sense of time altered.
What happens between cuts?
Imagine an uninterrupted view of a kitchen. Someone searches for a key, another person calls from the next room, water overflows and a door opens in the background. Even without a cut, the demands on attention keep changing. A succession of short shots of the same waiting person might supply much less new information.
Start by describing the changes. Does someone move? Does a new task emerge? Do we understand something previously unclear? This produces a different observation from simply counting shots. You need not use a stopwatch: comparing two passages you remember clearly can already separate cutting frequency from a feeling of speed.
Expectation can stretch time
A closed door feels different when we know somebody is waiting behind it. While the anticipated encounter is delayed, every small movement can become significant. The same door in an establishing view might be understood almost immediately. Picture content alone therefore does not explain why an interval feels tense or empty.
When a passage seems slow, ask what you were waiting for. Was the goal clear? Did the film introduce fresh uncertainty, or repeat information already understood? Boredom is a real response, but this description turns a general verdict into something that can be discussed. Another viewer may have been following a different development in the same passage.
Include the transition
A quiet section after a hectic scene can feel particularly slow. It may provide room to register consequences instead of introducing the next task immediately. Avoid comparing only isolated extracts. Listen for music, conversation or other sounds continuing across the transition and linking the two sections.
Alternative cuts can change a film's rhythm, as the versions documented by the BFI demonstrate. That does not create a simple equation between shorter and faster. In your own comparison, ask which preparation, reaction or intermediate stage has disappeared. Only then can you explain whether the change accelerates an action or removes the context needed to follow it. A useful account of pace describes what happens to attention, rather than awarding speed a score.