What is a Jump Cut & When to Use It — 5 Essential Jump Cut Editing Techniques Explained

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 the jump cut 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 to the inherently dramatic 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 cut exactly a traditional jump cut is when a segment in the middle of a shot is removed and the two ends are spliced back together this makes the shot feel like it jumps in time 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 as we see here in eternal sunshine of the spotless mind i'm listening i don't know you erased me that's why i'm here that's why i'm doing this in the first place i'm sorry you you know me i'm impulsive that's what i love about you 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 melier then used this newfound trick to create his cinematic illusions 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] then filmmakers like jean-luc goddard in the french new wave embraced the stylistic and disruptive effects of jump cuts these filmmakers perfected the disjointed and expressionistic qualities of discontinuity editing 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 richie's snatch [Music] 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 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 driven plot 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 accelerate an already energetic moment 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 into the robbery [Applause] with her boyfriend's life on the line lola races against time to save him and so the montages use jump cuts to visualize lola's adrenalized energy [Music] they also clue us into lola's emotional state which brings us to our next application [Music] 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 break back to reality in la confidential bud white's anger gets the better of him and he breaks the back of a chair if we slow it way down you can see there are only a couple of frames missing [Music] but this simple edit gives his anger an extra push down here's the girl director martin scorsese and his editor thelma schoolmaker use this trick all the time in the departed after a suspicious phone call billy frantically packs in case he needs to run watch this sequence and see if you can spot the jump cuts these jumps are only fractions of a 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 the video is linked in the description moving on montage [Music] the primary function of the montage sequence is to compress time which makes the jump cut a natural fit [Music] even a training montage can utilize the jump cut go webb go go go web 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 [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 let's find out in our final example 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 zoom by emphasizing something important [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 your son oh yes i have his own yearbook 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 father's body after an attack two axial cuts are used to amplify her shock and horror giving the audience a similarly aggressive and unsettling 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 this will give enough of a visual difference when cutting between shots 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 cutting from a wide shot to a close-up feels much more natural than cutting between two slightly different white shots [Music] 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 a hot dog nancy and i are still looking for the other half of my head

Channel: StudioBinder

Views: 247,459

Keywords: Jump cuts, jump cut, jumpcut, jump cut example, jumpcut tutorial, how to jump cut, jump cut editing, what is a jump cut, jump cut editing tutorial, jump cut tutorial, jump cuts video, creative jump cut tricks, how to do jump cuts, jump cuts tips and tricks, how to hide jump cuts, when to use jump cuts, how to make better jump cuts, hiding jump cuts, how to edit jump cuts, how to use jump cuts, jump cut tricks, making jump cuts, how to make jump cuts, jump cut definition

Id: 03zw4RNv0gE

Length: 13min 38sec (818 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 27 2021

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Jump cut editing has been a part of film language from the very beginning. Though its invention is believed to be a happy accident, the intentional use of jump cuts has evolved for a variety of purposes. In this jump cut tutorial, we’ll cover 5 different applications of this editing technique — not just how to jump cut, which is very simple, but also when to use jump cuts to tell a better story.