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What is a Jump Cut & When to Use It — 5 Essential Jump Cut Editing Techniques Explained | StudioBinder | YouTubeToText
YouTube Transcript: What is a Jump Cut & When to Use It — 5 Essential Jump Cut Editing Techniques Explained
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in this video we're going to look at the
history of the jump cut
what it is and how it can be used i'm
seeing things that don't make any sense
so how did the jump cut become a useful
tool for filmmakers and
why this is
what is
we're going to highlight five different
ways directors and editors intentionally
use jump cuts from the purely stylistic
the visually comedic do i carry my high
school diploma around with me what do
you do with your hair in the morning
what happens if there's inclement
weather where do you what do you wear
and at the end of the video we'll give a
couple of tips on how to avoid unwanted
jump cuts
but first things first what is a jump
a traditional jump cut is when a segment
and the two ends are spliced back together
together
this makes the shot feel like it jumps
bastard rats
now to be clear there is another way to
create the appearance of a jump cut
this involves cutting together two
separate shots with similar shot size
and composition to create a jump cut effect
effect
as we see here in eternal sunshine of
the spotless mind i'm listening i don't know
know
you erased me that's why i'm here that's
why i'm doing this in the first place
our examples in this video will include
both methods
but where did this technique come from
legend has it that the jump cut was
discovered by accident as french film
pioneer georges melliere was filming on
the street
his camera jammed as a bus drove by
but when he started recording again
a hearse was in the same position
when he played the footage back the bus
appeared to instantly change into a hearse
hearse
melier then used this newfound trick to
the jump cut was also one of many
radical editing techniques used by
russian filmmakers in the twenties like
sergey eisenstein
and ziga vertov [Music]
[Music]
then filmmakers like jean-luc goddard in
the french new wave embraced the
stylistic and disruptive effects of jump cuts
cuts
these filmmakers perfected the
disjointed and expressionistic qualities
of discontinuity editing now
now
let's discuss how filmmakers today can
use jump cuts effectively
one of the most common uses of the jump
cut is to achieve a heightened style
watch how jump cuts help create a
kinetic and stylish opening in guy
but beyond pure aesthetics
there are ways to use jump cuts to bring
this element of style into storytelling
especially those films that embrace a
more poetic and not quite realistic presentation
presentation
let's take a look at terence malik's the
tree of life
a film told through memories of the past
which are fragmented and impressionistic
malik uses jump cuts to enhance this
poetic treatment of memory with a
dreamlike experience rather than a logic
but a jump cut isn't only for stylish
aesthetics let's see what else they can do
energy
by jumping through time a jump cut can
or
they can turn a simple moment into
something intriguing
consider this scene from the usual
suspects the crew travels to new york to
pull off a smash and grab heist and as
the plane lands the jump cuts are timed
to a booming rhythm in the score
a shot like this is usually just a
throwaway transition but with some
dramatic music and bold jump cuts it
builds anticipation and momentum leading
with her boyfriend's life on the line
lola races against time to save him and
so the montages use jump cuts to
[Music]
they also clue us into lola's emotional
state which brings us to our next application
application [Music]
[Music] emotion
emotion
look i'm seeing things that don't make
any sense and i'm many people that are
supposed to be dead jump cuts can also
get us into the mind of a character to
convey emotions and mental states
usually this emotion is frantic panicked
stressed and so on you're not making any
sense no nothing makes any sense
nothing makes any sense
in june when paul snaps out of his
vision the jump cut combined with a
sudden jolt in the sound act as a visual
reality in la confidential bud white's
anger gets the better of him and he
if we slow it way down
you can see there are only a couple of
frames missing [Music]
[Music]
but this simple edit gives his anger an
extra push
director martin scorsese and his editor
thelma schoolmaker use this trick all
in the departed after a suspicious phone
call billy frantically packs in case he
needs to run watch this sequence and see
these jumps are only fractions of a second
second
they might even go unnoticed to the
untrained eye and yet they add a layer
of frantic energy to this moment that is
achieved by simply removing a few frames
in a previous video schoolmaker explains
the jump cut in this moment from the
irishman marty said just leave it as a
jump cut so we did
hello hello joe
joe joe
joe
the video is linked in the description
moving on montage
montage [Music]
[Music]
the primary function of the montage
sequence is to compress time
which makes the jump cut a natural fit [Music]
[Music]
even a training montage can utilize the
jump cut
go webb go
go
in bottle rocket jump cuts help us share
dignan's childlike exuberance [Music]
bobby one for you anthony far away
somebody hand me one i'm gonna throw it
out the window cherry bomb
did you hear that
director steven spielberg is a master of
blocking and staging
knowing where to place the characters in
the camera to tell a complete story with
images alone
let's take a look at this sequence from
schindler's list in which oscar
interviews candidates to be his new secretary
secretary [Music]
[Music]
pay attention to how spielberg keeps the
camera in a single angle but lets the
jump cuts and oscars body language tell
the story [Music]
but what if we use a jump cut with a
very deliberate shift in perspective
a subtype of the jump cut is called an
axial cut
this is a cut that punches in
or away from a subject along the same axis
the axial cut functions similarly to a
[Music]
axial cuts can be used to visualize a
jarring realization
like in catch me if you can
would you happen to have a picture of
okay okay
[Music]
i went to cricket craig newton i just
put down the royal edinburgh college to
help get the job here's a moment from
trainspotting that uses back and forth
axial cuts to accentuate spuds frenzied
energy when he interviews for a job on
drugs like what school did i go to how
many organs did i get could be like sex
could be none it's not important what is
important is that i am yes
this type of cut can be used in horror
movies like the ring to heighten
samara's supernatural powers [Music]
alfred hitchcock in particular was a fan
of the axial cut [Music]
in the birds lydia discovers her
two axial cuts are used to amplify her
shock and horror giving the audience a
similarly aggressive and unsettling experience
experience
as we mentioned jump cuts or the
appearance of jump cuts are often an
intentional technique
but if that is not the effect you are
looking for
remember the 30 degree rule
the 30 degree rule states that the
difference in angle between shot a and
shot b should be at least 30 degrees
assuming you're keeping the same shot size
size
this will give enough of a visual
if the angle is less than this it can
create the appearance of a jump cut [Music]
another option to avoid this would be to
keep the same angle but change the
shot's eye significantly
for example
feels much more natural than cutting
between two slightly different white shots
before you go be sure to subscribe and
enable notifications to stay in the know
for more filmmaking techniques
that's all for now jump on your next
project do you have any special skills
oh yes
i do i i do voices
yes we've come to this planet looking
for intelligent life oops we made a
mistake we're happy to be in america
don't ask for a green card
i want you in the worst way
well this is certainly a rough meeting
and it's not going very well for me i'll
tell you that i do a great impression of
nancy and i are still looking for the
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